Côtes declined, as there was no market for their wine, which was relatively more expensive.


“By 1925, some people realized the mistake of planting Gamay


and began to replant other varieties.” As early as 1928, a 30-page dossier promoted the idea of an area called the Hautes-Côtes. “In 1935, however, the legislation restricted the varieties that could be used for regional wine, to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, so the area planted to Gamay lost even its regional appellation. This and the economic crisis in the 1930s accelerated the decline. It took another 30 years for the Hautes-Côtes to get organized.” At Domaine Thevenot-Le Brun, fourth-generation Nicolas Thevenot, current president of the syndicate of growers on the Hautes-Côtes, picks up the story. “At this time, the region was called the ‘Arrière Côte’—nothing to do with wine and a disaster on the label,” remarks Nicolas. When his grandparents, Maurice and Anne-Marie Thevenot, established a home in the Hautes- Côtes in the village of Marey-lès-Fussey in the 1960s, it was typical for small landholders in the surrounding villages to grow various arable crops and soft fruit as well as vines, since the former were a significant part of the economy. “Still in the ’50s, and right through to the ’90s, there was lots of red fruit—currants and raspberries—while at the same time vines were being replanted on the land abandoned after phylloxera. My grandparents planted vines but in the ’90s still had 10ha [25 acres] of blackcurrants, which they sold to cassis producers.”


The history of wine on Thevenot’s estate, however, goes back much further. In the 12th century, the abbesses of the Abbey du Lieu Dieu produced wine from a 7ha (17-acre) south-southeast- facing vineyard. “They left during the French Revolution, and the vineyard was abandoned after phylloxera,” Nicolas tells me. His great-grandfather bought this land in the 1930s, cleared the trees to graze cattle until the 1960s, when he began to dream of a vineyard again, which he began planting in 1973. I went to have a look at this vineyard, which is protected from the north wind by woodland and has a very thin topsoil with the usual calcareous clays. “The vineyard is chalky and very rocky. Chardonnay [1.5ha (3.7 acres)] is planted where the clays are white-yellow. Pinot Noir is planted on the section with redder clays.” The Pinot Noir from this vineyard—Clos du Vignon—has silky tannins, while I particularly liked the Chardonnay for its sapidity and tension. But to return to the history, Nicolas continues: “The movement for an Hautes-Côtes appellation began in Orches, when a number of growers formed a cooperative.” Claire Naudin tells me her grandfather was among those involved in the application to upgrade the territory. Finally, on August 4, 1961, the Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune and Bourgogne Hautes- Côtes de Nuits denominations were officially ratified. The former covers 27 villages between Les Maranges and Magny-lès- Villiers, while the latter encompasses 20 villages between Magny-lès-Villers and Reulle-Vergy.


THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 111


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