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Monthelie is a village in the Cote de Beaune sub-region of Burgundy. It has had its own communal appellation since 1937, under which its vineyards and wineries produce predominantly red wines made from Pinot Noir. A small quantity of Chardonnay-based white wine is also made under the Monthelie appellation; currently this represents only about 13% of the total output, but it is increasing.
Monthelie is only a small village but produces a surprising amount of wine every year, making its economy almost entirely dependent on viticulture and wine-production. The land and people are so entirely focused on producing wine that the village has an old saying that une poule y meurt de faim durant la moisson (a chicken would die of hunger during the harvest there). A comparison of the population (less than 200) with the appellation's annual wine output (65,000 bottles) confirms that this saying still holds true.
Classic Monthelie wines are similar to those of neighboring Volnay (the villages are only a mile apart) but are not quite as full flavored or elegant. They are, however, generally considered to be superior to the red wines of Auxey-Duresses (also just a mile away, in the other direction), a fact which emphasizes the intensely fine-grained nature of Burgundy terroirs.
While the Monthelie name is traditionally associated with red wines, there has been an increase in the past 30 years in its Chardonnay production, particularly in the vineyards at the southern end of the parish. The soils of these sites, which border the famous white-wine village of Meursault, are deeper and slightly more fertile than those up on the hillsides, and thus better suited to producing Chardonnay than Pinot Noir.
Monthelie is home to 15 Premier Cru climats, concentrated in one area to the east of the village, bordering the better vineyards of Volnay. These produce about a quarter of all Monthelie wines, and the village's most respected ones. Nonetheless, they are not generally considered among Burgundy's finest Premier Cru sites.
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