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 bou ...

'' (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. Vineya ...

for red wine 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, with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. The AOC was created in 1936. It is shared between the two communes of Chambolle-Musigny (where the main part is located) and Morey-Saint-Denis in the Côte-d'Or

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

.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 order at Notre-Dame de Tart. 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 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,

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 or in the style of Chambolle-Musigny wine, meaning lighter and more elegant.Wine Doctor: Côte de Nuits Part 1
accessed on December 1, 2009

References

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History

AOC regulations

Wine style

See also

References