Chambolle-Musigny
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| Commune of Chambolle-Musigny | |
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| Street in the center of Chambolle-Musigny | |
| Location | |
| Longitude | 04° 57' 12" E |
| Latitude | 47° 11' 11" N |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Bourgogne |
| Department | Côte-d'Or |
| Arrondissement | Dijon |
| Canton | Gevrey-Chambertin |
| Mayor | Régis Baudrion (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Altitude | 238 m–445 m (avg. 264 m) |
| Land area¹ | 7.57 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
313 |
| - Density (1999) | 41/km² |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 21133/ 21220 |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| ² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel). | |
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Chambolle-Musigny is one of the twelve Cote d'Or communes of France which added/adopted the name of their most well-known vineyard as a suffix to the original name of the village.
[edit] Wine
The trend of adding such a suffix started in 1847 by Gevrey successfully applying to the king to add Chambertin as a suffix to its name. This trend started off as a result of a clever marketing strategy to piggyback the premier cru and village level AOC wines on the name-recognition of their most successful vineyard. In Chambolle's case, what was previously known as Chambolle AOC, now Chambolle-Musigny AOC could borrow the fame of Musigny to sell its wine.
The importance of viticulture to this commune is monumental. Chambolle's wine production is almost exclusively red from the Pinot Noir grape. Towering high above the other vineyards stands Le Musigny, a 10.86 ha piece of land owned and exploited by no less than ten different wine producers. Producers include Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue, Domaine Georges Roumier, Domaine Leroy, Domaine J.-F. Mugnier, Maison Louis Jadot and Maison Joseph Drouhin. It is most famously described as "the queen of all Burgundy" and "an iron fist in a velvet glove". Classed as a Grand Cru vineyard, it is one of two such classed vineyards on the commune.
The other is the majority of Les Bonnes Mares. 13.54 ha lie in Chambolle with a further 1.52 ha technically within neighbouring Morey-Saint-Denis (which like Chambolle adopted the name of one of its four Grands Crus, Saint-Denis). Bonnes Mares is generally considered to be firmer and more tannic. Most producers of Musigny also happen to own or exploit land in Bonnes Mares.
There are two dozen Premier Cru vineyards, most at least of good quality. One bears special mention, however. Les Amoureuses, a small 5.4 ha climat is considered better than the other 23 Premiers Crus. It is generally considered to be a very close sibling to Musigny itself, with perhaps less longevity and less all-out power; but one which is closer in style to Musigny than Bonnes Mares. The wines tend to be very expensive like a Grand Cru as well and most producers blessed enough to own a parcel of this tiny vineyard enjoy high incomes.
"There are no shortcuts to understanding the region of Burgundy.... If you want to become a Burgundy expert, be prepared to memorize 1,000 names, take a course in French pronunciation and expect to get lost in a maze of appellations (officially delineated wine zones). In addition, get ready to part with a good chunk of change—Burgundy wines are expensive. It is like buying designer wine, you pay for the name. And the smaller the appellation within burgundy, the rarer the wine and the higher the cost" [1].
[edit] Photo Gallery
 The town's cafe, bar and grocery store. |
 War memorial, with a message from Charles De Gaulle. |
 The post office |
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 In Chambolle-Musigny |
