Charlemagne
Styles
Principal grape varieties
Accessory grape varieties
Terroir
Natural factors
- The geographic zone lies at the northern tip of the "Côte de Beaune" vineyard, a rectilinear relief of tectonic origin oriented northeast–southwest.
- This relief separates the calcareous plateaux of the "Hautes Côtes", at elevations of between 400 and 500 metres above sea level to the west, from the Bresse plain, a Tertiary rift valley lying at approximately 250 metres above sea level to the east.
- The climate, with a cool oceanic tendency, exhibits moderate and regular rainfall of approximately 750 millimetres per year and a mean annual temperature of 10.5°C.
- The slope corresponds morphologically to the "Montagne de Corton", an isolated spur of the Côte set apart between two valleys draining the hinterland, with at the foot of the slope the limestones of the Middle Jurassic "Dalle nacrée" splitting into flagstones known locally as "laves".
- These limestones are overlain by an Upper Jurassic marly series rich in silica, present in the form of "chailles" or fine sands and silts, forming silty soils that are susceptible to erosion and of low fertility across the upper half of the slope.
- The geological sequence is capped by a layer of hard limestone forming a wooded escarpment at 385 metres above sea level, which defines and characterises the distinctive landscape of "Corton".
- The delimited parcels are situated between 240 and 350 metres above sea level on the slopes of the Montagne de Corton, with varied aspects ranging from east through south to west.
Human factors
- In 775, the Emperor Charlemagne donated vineyards to the collegiate church of Saulieu, and the lieu-dit "En Charlemagne" on the Montagne de Corton most probably corresponds to that gift.
- The lieu-dit name "En Charlemagne" has been associated, at least since the eighteenth century, with the production of white wines, with the cru firmly establishing its reputation during the nineteenth century.
- The vines are trained at planting densities exceeding 9,000 vines per hectare, with a varietal composition based on the Chardonnay grape variety.
- In 1855, Dr Lavalle classified in his work the white wines from the part situated on Aloxe-Corton as "vins hors ligne" and those facing toward Pernand-Vergelesses as "première cuvée".
Product characteristics
- The wines display a golden colour and are characterised by their richness and power, with a nose that often expresses aromas of ripe fruit, spice, and dried fruit.
- On the palate, the structure is at once supple and firm, underpinned by pleasant notes of minerality that contribute freshness; these wines, sometimes austere in their youth, have a great capacity for ageing.
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 196 m from the INAO parcel delimitation; the parcels themselves appear as you zoom in.
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