Bonnes Mares is an ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée 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 ...

'' (AOC) and

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 ...

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

for

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple grap ...

in the

Côte de Nuits The Côte de Nuits () is a French wine region located in the northern part of the Côte d'Or, the limestone ridge that is at the heart of the Burgundy wine region. It extends from Dijon to just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges, which gives its name to ...

subregion of

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

, with

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

as the main grape variety. The AOC was created in 1936. It is shared between the two communes of

Chambolle-Musigny Chambolle-Musigny () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or ''département'' in eastern France. It is one of the wine villages situated on the Côte-d'Or escarpment, and is one of the twelve Côte d'Or communes of France which added or adopted the name ...

(where the main part is located) and

Morey-Saint-Denis Morey-Saint-Denis () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France. Population Wine Morey-Saint-Denis is situated in the Northern section of the Côte d'Or called Côte de Nuits. It is one of the principal wine producing vill ...

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.département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

.The Burgundy Report: A.O.C. Bonnes-Mares
/ref> Bonnes Mares is located a little to the north of the Chambolle-Musigny village, and borders the

Route des Grands Crus The Route des Grands Crus (roughly, "road of the great wines") is the name of a tourist route situated in Burgundy, France. The approximately 60-kilometre route runs along the foot of the Côte d'Or escarpment, from Dijon in the north to Santen ...

in the east and the Grand Cru vineyard Clos de Tart in the north. In 2008, of vineyard surface was in production within the AOC, and 522 hectoliter of wine was produced, corresponding to 70,000 bottles.

History

The origin of the

's name is unknown, although it is known to have been used since the High Medieval period,BIVB: Bonnes Mares (Fiche)
and at least three different hypotheses exist. The most commonly prevailing assumption is that it may come from the ''bonnes mères'' ("good mothers"), nuns of the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

order at

Notre-Dame de Tart Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the ...

. A second hypothesis holds that it originates in the verb ''marer'', to cultivate, which would give a translation of "good vintage". The third hypothesis, favored by the

Drouhin Maison Joseph Drouhin is a French wine producer based in Burgundy that was founded in 1880. The estate owns vineyards in Chablis, the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune and Côte Chalonnaise, as well as in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Drouhin is ...

family, is based on the myth of a winegrower who is said to have unearthed in this vineyard a sculpture representing three goddesses of

fecundity Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the natural capability to pr ...

, the ''bonnes mères''.

AOC regulations

The main grape variety for Bonnes Mares is Pinot Noir. The AOC regulations also allow up to 15 per cent total of

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

Pinot blanc Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produces white ...

and

Pinot gris Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...

as accessory grapes, but this is practically never used for any Burgundy Grand Cru vineyard. The allowed base yield is 35 hectoliter per hectare, a minimum planting density of 9,000 vines per hectare is required as well as a minimum grape maturity of 11.5 per cent

potential alcohol Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice (must) and, hence, indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar.AOC regulations, last updated 2009
/ref>

Wine style

The style of Bonnes Mares wine is in general full-bodied and tannic. A difference in soil types over the length of the vineyard is often reflected in the style of wines, which can be either more in the style of

Morey-Saint-Denis wine Morey-Saint-Denis wine is produced in the commune of Morey-Saint-Denis in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy. The ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) Morey-Saint-Denis may be used for red and white wine with respectively Pinot noir ...

or in the style of

Chambolle-Musigny wine Chambolle-Musigny wine is produced in the village of Chambolle-Musigny in Côte de Nuits of Burgundy. The ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) Chambolle-Musigny may only be used for red wine with Pinot noir as the main grape. There are 2 ...

, meaning lighter and more elegant.Wine Doctor: Côte de Nuits Part 1
accessed on December 1, 2009

References

{{coord, 47, 11, 31, N, 4, 57, 29, E, source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Burgundy (historical region) AOCs

History

AOC regulations

Wine style

See also

References