Cote de Nuits Wine

The Cote de Nuits is the northern half of the Cote d'Or wine sub-region of Burgundy. It specializes in red wines made predominantly from Pinot Noir (which accounts for about 95% of plantings here) and is widely considered to be the 'home' of Pinot Noir. The remaining 5% of Cote de Nuits wines are white, produced from Chardonnay; the best are made under the Vougeot and Musigny Grand Cru appellations.

While the Cote de Beaune, to the south, is larger and more prolific, the Cote de Nuits favors quality over quantity. It is home to some of the finest red wine vineyards in the world and includes 24 of Burgundy's 33 Grand Crus.

The principal town is Nuits-St-Georges, known as Nuits until it adopted the name of its most-favored vineyard, Les Saint-Georges, in the late 19th century. Although located at the southern end of the cote, Nuits-Saint-Georges is less than 10 miles (16km) from the most-northerly Cote de Nuits vineyards in Marsannay – demonstrating the small size of the area in question. Tracing the calcareous spine of the Cote d'Or escarpment, the Cote de Nuits is long and thin, measuring only 15 miles (24km) from end to end and two miles (3.2km) across at its widest point.

Interspersed among the Grand Cru sites of the Cote de Nuits are numerous Premier Cru vineyards, concentrated on the upper and lower mid-slopes of the Cote d'Or. These sites – numbering around 135 – produce wines under the Premier Cru tier of their respective communal appellations.