The Monastic Legacy

Burgundy's precision comes from medieval monks, particularly the Cistercians, who arrived in the 12th century. Their vow of self-sufficiency meant growing their own food and wine. More importantly, their scholarly approach meant documenting everything.

The monks noticed that vines halfway up a slope ripened differently than those at the bottom. They observed how a slight change in angle toward the sun affected flavor. They marked where water drained after rain, where frost settled, where the soil changed color. Over centuries, they divided Burgundy into a patchwork of named vineyards called climats (clee-MAH)—1,247 of them, now UNESCO World Heritage sites.

This obsessive classification created a different model than Bordeaux. There, châteaux own large estates. In Burgundy, the Revolution broke up church lands into tiny parcels. Today, the famous Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru has over 80 owners. Each makes wine from their rows of vines. Same vineyard, same classification, potentially 80 different wines.