Appellation
Nuits-Saint-Georges
Identity card
VillageAOPRedWhite
Burgundy › Côte de Nuits · Recognised on 11 September 1936
- Grand cru
- Premier cru
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Red and white, from Nuits-Saint-Georges and Premeaux-Prissey.
- Red premier cru: at most 48 hl/ha and at least 11% natural alcohol.
- About 300 ha (2009), 148 of them premier cru; about 6 ha of white.
Grape varieties
Red
Allowed as a small share of the red wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris (15% at most of the vines in each plot)
Only interplanted among the vines
Production rules
50
hl/ha
Maximum yield
10.5
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
9,000
vines/ha
Minimum planting density
Minimum ageing: At least until 15 June after the harvest
- Maximum yield
- How much wine a hectare may produce under the appellation (a higher, exceptional ceiling often exists). The lower it is, the less can be made: one of the levers on how concentrated the grapes are. For reference: 35 hl/ha to 80 hl/ha across 128 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest. For reference: 9 % ABV to 14 % ABV across 78 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum planting density
- The fewest vines allowed per hectare. For the same yield, more vines means fewer grapes on each. For reference: 4,000 vines/ha to 9,000 vines/ha across 136 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum ageing
- A minimum ageing period the specification requires before the wine may be sold to consumers.
Terroir
- Lie of the land: Côte face either side of the Meuzin; upper part of its fan
- Soils: Frost-shattered gravel above, clayier soils below
- Soils: Meuzin fan: gravelly, limy alluvium
Wine style
- Red
- Cherry
- Strawberry
- Blackcurrant
- Leather
- Truffle
- White
- balanced
- broad
- elegant
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
24 December 2024
Arrêté du 24 décembre 2024 homologuant le cahier des charges de l'AOC « Nuits-Saint-Georges » (JORF du 3 janvier 2025 ; BO du MASA des 13 et 27 février 2025). Appellation initialement reconnue par le décret du 11 septembre 1936.
Labelling terms
- "Premier cru" and/or the name of one of 41 listed climats
- A registered lieu-dit may be added, in letters at most half the AOC's size
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Nuits-Saint-Georges »— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) / Ministère de l'agriculture
- Reference bookThe Oxford Companion to Wine— Oxford University Press
- Official sourceAPI Découpage administratif — communes (géolocalisation)— Etalab / Direction interministérielle du numérique (DINUM)
- Official sourceDélimitation parcellaire des AOC viticoles de l'INAO (jeu de données ouvert)— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO) / data.gouv.fr
A village appellation of the Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges is made in two communes, Nuits-Saint-Georges and Premeaux-Prissey, on either side of the Meuzin valley. It has no grand cru, but its specification classifies forty-one climats as premier cru. It is almost entirely an appellation for Pinot Noir reds, described as powerful and long-lived in the premiers crus; white wine, from Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc, remains marginal. The town, which rose in the 18th century to become Burgundy's second wine-trading centre alongside Beaune, added to its own name, in 1892, that of its best-known cru, Saint-Georges.
The village
Nuits-Saint-Georges is a village appellation of the Côte de Nuits, the line of slopes that runs for about 25 kilometres between the plateaux of the Hautes-Côtes to the west and the Bresse plain to the east. It is made in two communes: Nuits-Saint-Georges and Premeaux-Prissey.
The landscape is cut by a steep-sided valley carrying a small, intermittent river, the Meuzin. Vines cover the slope on both sides of that valley, along with the upper part of the alluvial fan the Meuzin has spread where it leaves the hills, on which part of the town itself stands. Soils are thin and limy at the top of the slope, more clayey and deeper lower down.
The town is an old wine centre. In the 18th century merchant houses set up here, and Nuits became, in its specification's words, Burgundy's second wine-trading centre alongside Beaune. In 1892 the commune added to its name that of its best-known cru, Saint-Georges. The appellation was recognised by decree on 11 September 1936, and a list of climats entitled to the "premier cru" mention followed in 1943.
The style
The appellation is almost entirely red. Pinot Noir is its only principal variety; Chardonnay accounts for only about 2% of plantings, mostly around Premeaux-Prissey, and the whites, from Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc, remain marginal.
The specification describes reds of intense purple that smell of cherry, strawberry and blackcurrant when young, then move towards leather, truffle and game. It calls the premiers crus powerful, massively tannic and able to age for a long time in bottle. The whites are described as balanced and broad.
There is no grand cru in Nuits-Saint-Georges. The premiers crus are the top of the ladder.
The Premiers Crus
The premiers crus are not separate appellations but mentions of the village appellation. A wine may be labelled "Nuits-Saint-Georges premier cru", with or without a climat name; it may also carry the name of a classified climat straight after "Nuits-Saint-Georges". The specification names forty-one classified climats. Here they are, in the order and spelling of the official text:
- Aux Argillas
- Aux Boudots
- Aux Bousselots
- Aux Chaignots
- Aux Champs Perdrix
- Aux Cras
- Aux Murgers
- Aux Perdrix
- Aux Thorey
- Aux Vignerondes
- Chaines Carteaux
- Château Gris
- Clos Arlot
- Clos de la Maréchale
- Clos des Argillières
- Clos des Corvées
- Clos des Corvées Pagets
- Clos des Forêts Saint-Georges
- Clos des Grandes Vignes
- Clos des Porrets-Saint-Georges
- Clos Saint-Marc
- En la Perrière Noblot
- La Richemone
- Les Argillières
- Les Cailles
- Les Chabœufs
- Les Crots
- Les Damodes
- Les Didiers
- Les Hauts Pruliers
- Les Perrières
- Les Porrets-Saint-Georges
- Les Poulettes
- Les Procès
- Les Pruliers
- Les Saints-Georges
- Les Terres Blanches
- Les Vallerots
- Les Vaucrains
- Roncière
- Rue de Chaux
The text does not say which of the two communes each climat lies in. It writes "Chaines Carteaux" without a circumflex, and "Les Saints-Georges" with an s, although its own historical section speaks of "Saint-Georges".
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