[ Home > Internet Wines & Spirits - Wines > Burgundy/Beaujolais > Jadot Beaune Bressandes 2005 ]
The picturesque city of Beaune has since the 14th century been the commercial pulse of the Burgundian wine trade. Its vineyards, the most extensive of the Côte de Beaune, cover 1,111 acres between Savigny, to the north, and Pommard, to the south. There are no grand cru vineyards in the commune of Beaune, yet its 36 premier cru vineyards occupy 795 acres, over double the 317 acres under the Beaune village appellation. Vineyards under the Côte de Beaune-Villages appellation constitute a further 128 acres. The Beaune and Beaune premier cru vineyards are ranked as such for both red and white wines, yet the latter account for only 4.5 percent of the average annual production of 11,929 hectolitres (137,200 cases). History estimates that Beaune was colonized in 52 B.C. on the site of one of Julius Caesar's military camps. Speculations on the original name vary: from "belna," a small villa; or "Belen," a Gallic deity; or a corruption of "Belisana," alias of the goddess Minerva. Beaune's importance grew after the destruction of the city of Autun in the 6th century, and Gregory of Tours' history of France, written in 570, already documented its importance in the culture of the vine. Formally chartered as a city in 1203, Beaune remained the residence of the dukes of Burgundy until supplanted by Dijon in the late 1300s; it was during the bloody period that followed Beaune's destruction by fire in 1401, under Louis XI and Charles XIII, that the massive fortified walls and pentangular castle, which still stand today, were built. The Les Bressandes vineyard is located in the northern part of the commune at the top of the slope above Les Toussaints, Les Cent Vignes and Les Fèves, and occupies 42 acres. Bressandes is generally considered to be among the five or six finest premiers crus of Beaune, and takes its name from three ladies from the city of Bresse who were once proprietors of this and other vineyards in the Côte de Beaune. Although the northern climats usually produce bigger, more robust wines, the sandy chalk soils of Bressandes lend it a vivacious elegance. Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot is proprietor of 2.47 acres in this premier cru which yield a perfumed, well structured, full-fruited wine of generous body and supple texture, with a fine, silky finish. |
|
Copyright 2007 Internet
Wines & Spirits. All rights reserved.
|