Aloxe-Corton () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or (; literally, "Golden Slope") is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in Eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

region of eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aloxois'' or ''Aloxoises''

Geography

The commune lies about 4 km north by north-east of

Beaune Beaune () is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and the center of Burgundy wine production and business. The annua ...

and 40 km south-west of

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

at the northern end of the

Côte de Beaune The Côte de Beaune area is the southern part of the Côte d'Or, the limestone ridge that is home to the great names of Burgundy wine. The Côte de Beaune starts between Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune, and extends southwards for about 25 km ...

. There, the village of Aloxe is dominated by the Corton hill, nestled between the neighbouring communes of Ladoix-Serrigny and Pernand-Vergelesses. The D974 road forms the south-eastern border of the commune but does not enter. Access to the commune is by the D115D running north-west off the D974 to the village then continuing north-west to join the D18 road south of Pernand-Vergelesses. There is an extensive network of country roads throughout the commune which is entirely farmland, with the edge of the Bois de Corton in the north forming the northern border.Google Maps
/ref> The only stream in the commune is the Fosse des Branots in the south flowing to the east. There are no villages or hamlets in the commune other than Aloxe-Corton.

Climate

Aloxe-Corton has a

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Aloxe-Corton is . The average annual rainfall is with May as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Aloxe-Corton was on 31 July 1983; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 9 January 1985.

Etymology

Aloxe-Corton comes from the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

"al" meaning "high place". In French, Aloxe-Corton is pronounced "Aloxs-Corton". The name of its Grand Cru vineyard Corton was added to that of the village on 22 March 1862.

History

Legend has it that the Emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

granted the lands in 775, initially planting some 70 vines. The vines were located in the area of "Curtis Otto" (i.e. '' Corton''). The beneficiaries were the Canons of the Collegiate Church of St. Andoche Saulieu. ;Postcards on Aloxe-Corton ''Henri Poisot'' has a large collection of postcards of the village with nearly one hundred and fifty and still growing. He also has a large number of photos and old documents. Henri Poisot published a book entitled: ''1728-1999 - History of the Cartography of the Great Vineyards of Burgundy'' , a book of 102 pages with three folding maps. The book is available only from the Athenaeum in Beaune and from the Author.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Aloxe-Corton

Twinning

Aloxe-Corton has twinning associations with: *

Ürzig Ürzig is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The municipality lies surroun ...

(Germany) since 1966.

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 134 inhabitants.

Sites and Monuments

Aloxe-Corton has three castles and a church: *Château de Corton Grancey built in part in 1749. The Cellars and the winery were built in 1834 *Château Corton André, built at the end of the 19th century, it replaced a charming 18th century house *Château de Corton transformed between 1885 and 1890 to replace some very old buildings that had belonged to the family of ''Vergnette de la Motte'', for several centuries. Before that it belonged to the

Cîteaux Abbey Cîteaux Abbey (french: Abbaye de Cîteaux, links=no ) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. It is notable for being the original house of the Cistercian order. Today, it belongs to the Trappists ...

*Church of Saint-Médard from 1890 by Pinchard which replaced an ancient chapel which stood on the ''Place du Chapitre'' for almost 1000 years. It contains several items that are registered as historical objects: **Bas-Relief: Christ appearing to Saint Benezet (16th century) **Painting: Benefits of the faith, expectations, and true love (16th century) **Painting: Saint John the Baptist, Saint Catherine, Saint Gilles and a donor (1579) There is also a

Lavoir A lavoir (wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by laund ...

(Public laundry) (1902) which is registered as a historical monument.Ministry of Culture, Mérimée

Wine

Cuverie Corton Grancey - Louis Latour - Aloxe-Corton

Aloxe-Corton is one of the wine communes of the

. The southern and eastern parts of the Corton hill, including most of its vineyards, are located in the commune, including vineyards used to produce wines under the two

Grand Cru Cru is a wine term used to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. It is a French word which is traditionally translated as "growth", as is the past participle of the verb "croître" (to grow); it literally means 'grown'. The ...

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

Corton (mostly red, some white) and

Corton-Charlemagne Corton-Charlemagne is an '' Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for white wine in Côte de Beaune subregion of Burgundy. It is located in the communes of Aloxe-Corton, Pernand-Vergelesses and Ladoix-Serrigny with C ...

(only white).

Wineries

* Domaine Maurice Chapuis * Domaine Bruno Collin * Domaine Franck Follin-Arbelet * Domaine Comte Sénard * Domaine Michel Voarick * Domaine Freddy Meuneveaux * Domaine Louise Perrin * Domaine Latour * Château de Corton-André * Domaine Jean * Domaine Carlos

Bibliography

*''Historical Notice on the village of Aloxe-Corton'', Charles Bigarne,

, 1899 *''Monograph on the Commune of Aloxe-Corton'', Joseph Delissey,

, 1968, *''Aloxe-Corton'', Claude Chapuis,

, 1988 *''Aloxe-Corton - History of a Village'', Henri Poisot,

, 2007,

References

External links

Official websiteAloxe-Corton on the old IGN website

Aloxe-Corton on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Aloxe'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aloxecorton Communes of Côte-d'Or