The name Beaune is used in connection with wine in so many different ways that a little clarification may be in order:
A wine sold as “Beaune” may be red or white (very little white is made); if red, it must be made from Pinot grapes and come from one or more specifically listed vineyards in the township of Beaune. Some of these vineyards are very good, an some, of course, mediocre.
“Côte de Beaune,” unless this name is preceded or followed by another appellation in the same size letters, means exactly the same thing as “Beaune.”
A “Savigny-Côte de Beaune,” however, is not a wine from Beaune at all, but one from the neighboring village of Savigny; a “Pernand-Côte de Beaune” similarly comes from Pernand, etc., etc.
A “Côte de Beaune-Villages” is a blend of wines from villages near Beaune, but not from Beaune itself.
Owners of the more famous Beaune vineyards almost always indicate the superior origin of their wines by adding the vineyard name, as Beaune Feves, Beaune Greves, or Beaune Clos des Mouches.
The Hospices de Beaune (of which more later) is a charity hospital, whose endowment consists principally of vineyards; the wines from these vineyards, many of which are not in Beaune proper, are nevertheless sol as Hospices de Beaune.
As wines, those of Beaune, while rarely achieving supreme greatness, are among the most agreeable of Burgundy, soft, fine, well-balanced, with their full share of distinction. Here are a few of the more famous vineyards;
**Les Fèvs (11)
**Les Grèves (79)
**Clos des Mouches (62)
**Bressandes (46)
**Marconnets (25)
*Les Cras (12)
*Clos de la Mousse (9)
*Champimonts (41)
Pommard. No other Burgundian name, not even Chambertin, has acquire the world-wide fame of Pommard; to the uninformed, its name is almost synonymous with fine red Burgundy although, as one outstanding French authority has said, “more of this ‘Bourgogne-pour-tous’ is drunk every week the world over than is produce in ten years at Pommard.” The name is easy to pronounce and easy to remember, but its best wines are not equal to the best Volnays, and no better than the best Beaunes. The legal maximum production of authentic Pommard per year is hardly more than 100,000 cases, and if poor vintages and short crops are taken into consideration, the real output of goo Pommard is no more than a third as much.
If you want one of the best (an they can be truly excellent), there is one rule to follow: insist on a vintage and a good vintage; insist on labels that carry not only the name Pommard, but the name of a vineyard as well, as Pommard Rugiens, Pommar Epenots, Pommard Pézerolles; insist on a wine that is estate-bottled. They may be long to seek and hard to fin but when you find one, the chances are that it will be that wine, pur, loyal, vermeil et marchand, which was Pommard in the days of its obscure and honorable past. The best vineyards:
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