Clément L'Hôte, Auteur à Bourgogne Wines

At the end of January, the winegrowers of Chablis, Dijon and Châtillon believed that they would lose their right to the AOC Bourgogne, to the benefit of Beaujolais municipalities. At the origin of this fright, a project of the INAO finally abandoned. "Long live Burgundy, long live Beaujolais, no to Burgundy in Beaujolais". This Thursday, February 6, the 400 winegrowers demonstrating in Montreuil have a clear message. For them, the wine stamped "Burgundy" must be produced in historic Burgundy, the one that goes from Chablis to Mâcon. Logic? Perhaps, but a proposal by experts from inao, the Institute responsible for French Appellations of Controlled Origin (AOC), suggests the opposite. "If Beaujolais becomes Burgundy, then why wouldn't Crémant de Bourgogne be Champagne?" To understand, let's go back a few weeks. At the end of January, a proposal from INAO experts reached the ears of the general public. The report proposes to remove the communes of Chablisien, Châtillonnais and Dijonnais from the Burgundy AOC area, while retaining villages in the... Beaujolais. The Burgundy winegrowers, almost unanimous, are rebelling against a proposal according to them absurd. "If Beaujolais becomes Burgundy, then why should Crémant de Bourgogne not be Champagne or Luberon a Côtes du Rhône? ", denounces from the outset the interprofessional bureau of Burgundy wines (BIVB). The response is organized. A petition gathers more than 6000 signatures in a few days, and the demonstration mentioned above is announced. https://twitter.com/VinsdeBourgogne/status/1221833903083872262 INAO is trying to defuse the crisis through the press, stating that this report is only a "decision-making tool at the disposal of the national committee". Either a simple idea, not yet voted. Too late, the winegrowers are angry. Because if an AOC is a pride, a symbol, it is above all a brand. The one that values a product. The word "Burgundy", which makes you dream from New York to Hong Kong, guarantees a minimum price. A "Burgundy" sells twice the price of a "Coteaux Bourguignons", the lower appellation. No wonder Beaujolais producers are campaigning for their integration into the area. While those of Burgundy defend tooth and nail their place, while seeing with a bad eye the arrival of Beaujolais. An arrival that may, according to some, depreciate the appellation. A delimitation begun in 1937 and... never completed This determination finally makes the INAO bend. On Wednesday, February 5, the proposal was removed from the agenda of the national committee, which met the next day. Despite this, militant winegrowers want to drive the nail, and buses leave from all over Burgundy on the night of February 5 to 6, around 2 a.m. Arrived in Montreuil, in front of the headquarters of the institution, they are received by the officials. They promise that Chablis, Dijon and Châtillon will not leave the area. A victory celebrated by a Burgundian ban, as we see little in the Paris region. https://www.youtube.com/watch?vvHPAa9urSlM But on the question of Beaujolais, the Inao remains unclear. Thus the case will have made a lot of noise, mobilizing the deputies and questioning the national media, without having changed the situation. Because, since 1937, the delimitation of the borders of Burgundy wine remain officially unfinished. In its northern and southern ends, the Yonne and Beaujolais, the boundary of the zone has yet to be specified. Different generations of lawyers have been at odds for more than 80 years on the criteria to be used. History and tradition? Grape varieties, geology? In any case, the situation is an exception in the wine France. This complex legal file will therefore be reopened in the coming months or years. New conflicts, in the streets or in court, seem difficult to avoid. Source: decree of the Prefecture of Côte d'Or setting the price of wines for the 2018 harvest

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