Clos de la Roche

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard lies within the Côte de Nuits, a rectilinear tectonic ridge extending approximately 25 kilometres in a general north–south direction.
• This ridge separates the calcareous plateaux of the Hautes Côtes, to the west, reaching between 400 and 500 metres in elevation, from the Bresse plain to the east, a Tertiary graben lying at around 250 metres.
• The temperate oceanic climate, nuanced by continental or southerly influences channelled up through the Rhône corridor, receives moderate rainfall of around 750 millimetres per year and has a mean annual temperature of 10.5°C.
• The delimited parcels are situated in the lower half of the Côte ridge, between 270 and 300 metres in altitude, on a bed of hard Bajocian limestones known as calcaires à entroques.
• The marly layer lying above the calcaires à entroques is probably the source of intermittent water inputs, which offset the soil's limited water-holding capacity.

• Small-scale ownership has long predominated on the lieu-dit Clos de la Roche and the neighbouring lieux-dits, a distinctive feature of this part of the commune of Morey-Saint-Denis.
• In 1860, the Viticulture Committee of the arrondissement of Beaune ranked the lieu-dit Clos de la Roche and all or part of the neighbouring lieux-dits in the first class of crus of the Côte.
• The vines are planted at densities exceeding 9,000 plants per hectare, in keeping with the practices prevailing in the Côte de Nuits, with the grape variety composition based on Pinot noir.
• The established practice is to age the wines over a lengthy period, which confers on them an aptitude for cellaring.

• The wines display a coloured robe and a powerful structure, with a complex bouquet often dominated by aromas of cherry, raspberry, or blueberry intertwined with notes of coffee, truffle, or violet.
• These wines generally possess a remarkable capacity for ageing, and a few years of cellaring tends to soften and reveal them.

• The topographical situation of the parcels protects them from the risk of frost as well as from morning mists, while providing an east-facing exposure to the rising sun that favours rapid warming of the soil.
• The substrates of fractured limestone and of marls and limestones facilitate drainage, limit excess water, and provide at depth sufficient coolness to sustain vine activity during periods of water stress.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 4 novembre 2011, JORF 8 novembre 2011
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — BIVB