The regional appellation of Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits produces red wines from higher slopes (as the name suggests) above the escarpment of the Côte de Nuits. Sometimes known as the Champs-Elysées of the Bourgogne, this narrow strip of Côte de Nuits hillside can be just 200 meters wide in some places, though it stretches for over 20 kilometers. The producers on this vein of rock are specialists in red wines. You can probably guess why—drainage, climate, soil and love, all married together in the bottle. The buzz phrase in Burgundy these days, especially after several recent years of drought, is the 'quality is moving up the hill'. In other words, the perfect Burgundian growing conditions are at a higher altitude these days than they were a decade ago. It really is all about the terroir. As you gain height on the hilltops of the Côte de Nuits, a mixture of scree and silt begin to enrich the marl—and as luck would have it, this happens to be in areas which have the perfect balance of sun and shelter. That’s why there are over twenty vineyards designated as Grand Cru here. This is the most northerly region in Europe to make such high-quality red wines— often challenging, as rain and damaging hail can threaten the delicate crop. The fact that the quantities made are relatively small can also mean high prices—that is, unless you know where the great value and quality is to be found (hint: it’s often amongst the smaller producers).
Hautes Cote de Nuits