Bourgogne Passe-tout-grains
Styles
Principal grape varieties
Accessory grape varieties
Terroir
Natural factors
- The vineyard stretches approximately 250 kilometres from north to south, spanning the territory of more than 300 communes spread across four departments.
- In the Yonne and the Châtillonnais, the vineyards are planted on the cuestas of the Paris Basin, bearing sediments dating from the Upper Jurassic, at altitudes of between 150 and 300 metres.
- From Dijon to the outskirts of Lyon, the vines occupy the western edge of the Bresse graben, a tectonic structure that subsided during the Alpine uplift, on calcareous or marly substrates dating from the Jurassic.
- In Saône-et-Loire in particular, outcrops of metamorphic and granitic basement rock from the Primary era locally generate acidic soils on which vines are grown.
- The rather cool oceanic climate of the Burgundy wine region has a mean annual temperature of 11 °C and a moderate, regular rainfall pattern with no pronounced summer drought.
Human factors
- The name 'Passe-tout-grains' referred to intermediate wines positioned between 'fine wines' and everyday production, distinct from 'ordinary' wines made from common varieties at high yields.
- Between 1919 and 1930, court rulings extended the appellation 'Bourgogne Passe-tout-grains' to the whole of the Burgundy wine region and reserved it for red and rosé wines produced predominantly from Pinot noir, before it was recognised as an AOC by decree in 1937.
- The wines are produced, in accordance with traditional practice, from a mandatory blend of the varieties Gamay and Pinot noir, in proportions that allow the aromatic expression of both varieties to come through together.
Product characteristics
- The colour is fairly intense and sometimes tinged with violet; the wines are fairly low in tannin, very fruity, and show great finesse.
- A short ageing period preserves these characteristics and yields wines to be enjoyed in their youth in order to appreciate their fruity identity, which aligns with the profile of fruity, easy-drinking reds that keep for two to three years.
Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.
About this boundary
On the map, at overview zooms, this appellation is drawn as a silhouette of its vineyard generalised at 250 m from the INAO parcel delimitation; the parcels themselves appear as you zoom in.
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