Bonjour,

The Burgundy Region is southeast of Paris. It’s one of France’s distinct and famous wine regions. The region is not very populated and not particularly a tourist region. It has many industries but we focused on the wine industry. Most of the Burgundy grapes are produced in the valleys and slopes west of the Saone River. Grape varieties, according to our local guide, are planted based on the soil type. It’s for this reason that the red grapes are grown mostly on the slopes and the white grapes are grown mostly in the valleys.

Burgundy wines are known for their top quality and small quantities. Large vineyards that were once owned by Dukes or wealthy families are now mostly divided into many small vineyards. Most of this was due to the French Revolution and inheritance laws. Burgundy is known for both red wines and white wines. The most prominent red variety is Pinot noir which is made into a dry red wine. The most prominent white grape is Chardonnay. But there are many other varieties grown in Burgundy such as Gamay and Aligot.

1. We drove the national road through the Cote d’Or – the golden hills. The road is actually through a relatively flat valley and the ‘gold’ in golden hills is for the color of the grape vines in the fall. You can see that the vineyards are extensive and you can see one of the small villages in the picture. We passed many small villages in the Cote d’Or.

2. This view shows the valley where it meets the slopes going up the hills. If you look at the distant vineyards, you might notice that there are many small vineyards abutting each other, but different vineyards.

3. The vineyards and wineries are integral parts of the villages and towns in the Burgundy region, which is what I’m trying to show in this photo.

4. From our bus, we could see dozens of vineyards and each separate small vineyard had one person out working it. We never saw two people in the same vineyard. I also noticed that the rows were only about three feet apart but as this photo shows, the vineyard was recently cultivated. I wondered how they cultivated the vineyard, since the rows are so narrow.

5. This is how they cultivate narrow vineyards. This tractor goes over the row of grapes and cultivates two rows at once.

QUIZ Question: What is the percent of red grapes and the percent of white grapes grown in Burgundy? (according to our local guide)

Voila,

Bill