Cote de Chalonnaise

The Côte Chalonnaise is named after the town of Chalon-sur-Saône, located on the Saône. Its location made the town an important trading center of the Celts in Gaul. The region was later used by the Ancient Romans with wine being one of the commodities traded up and down the river. More than 20,000 amphorae stamped with Roman emblems have been found in graves in this area. In the 18th it was a vital link on the Canal du Centre which linked the wine regions of the south of France to the key markets in the north.

In the 1980s, the region experienced a renaissance highlighted with a substantial jump in quality wine production. With the price of Burgundy wine steadily escalating, the Côte Chalonnaise developed a reputation for consistent quality for lower cost than some of the more well known villages of Burgundy. This lead to a sharp increase in the price of wines from the Côte Chalonnaise which brought an influx of investment and money to the region. By the early 21st century, the prices on the wine market were beginning to experience some market correction.

South of the village of Santenay in the Côte de Beaune region is the city of Chagny which begins the Côte Chalonnaise. The climate and vineyard soils of the Côte Chalonnaise are very similar to those of the Côte d'Or, though the rainfall is slightly less. However, unlike the Côte d'Or, the vineyards of the Côte Chalonnaise do not run along the slopes of a single escarpment but rather are three isolated on patches of limestone. The first patch of vineyards located northwest of Chalon-sur-Saône includes the villages of Bouzeron, Rully and Mercurey which is separated by only a few kilometers from the second patch of vineyards around the village of Givry. Located due west from Saint-Rémy and southwest of Chalon-sur-Saône this patch is nearly 5 kilometers from the third patch of vineyards that make up the Montagny region.

The landscape of the region is much more agrarian than other parts of Burgundy with pastures and orchards interspersed among vineyards. The soft rolling hills of the area reach altitudes between 750-1,050 feet (230-320 meters). These hills provide some protection from frost and hail damage. The soil is predominately limestone mixed with sand and clay and the occasional iron deposit. Around the city of Mercurey, the soil has a high concentration of iron-enriched marl. The diversity in slopes and soils creates a myriad of microclimates that can greatly influence the varying quality of wine from the Côte Chalonnaise, even among vineyards labelled as premier cru.