“The wines from Bourgogne boast a longer history than any others.”
Here are some key dates in the long winegrowing history of Bourgogne, listed in chronological order.• 312: Eumenes’ Discourses: oldest known documented reference.
• 1115: Clos de Vougeot Château built by monks from Cîteaux.
• August 6, 1395: Duke Philip the Bold (1342-1404) publishes ordinance governing wine quality in Bourgogne.
• 1416: Edict of King Charles VI setting the boundaries of Bourgogne as a wine producing area (from Sens to Mâcon).
• November 11, 1719: Creation of the oldest mutual assistance organisation, the "Société de Saint Vincent" in Volnay.
• 1720: Champy, Bourgogne's oldest merchant company was founded in Beaune and is still in business today.
• 1728: The first book devoted to the wines from Bourgogne, written by Father Claude Arnoux, is published in London.
• July 18, 1760: Prince Conti (1717-1776) acquires the "Domaine de La Romanée", which now bears his name.
• 1789: French Revolution. Church-owned vineyards confiscated and auctioned off as national property.
• October 17, 1847: King Louis-Philippe grants the village of Gevrey the right to add its name to its most famous Cru – Chambertin. Other villages were quick to follow suit.
• 1851: First auction of wines grown on the Hospices de Beaune estate.
• 1861: First classification of wines (of the Côte d'Or) by Beaune's Agricultural Committee.
• June 15, 1875: Phylloxera first detected in Bourgogne (at Mancey, Saône-et-Loire).
• 1900: Creation of the Beaune Oenological Station. April 30, 1923: Founding of La Chablisienne, Bourgogne's first cooperative winery.
• April 29, 1930: A ruling handed down by the Dijon civil courts legally defines to the boundaries of wine-growing Bourgogne (administrative regions of Yonne, Côte-d’O, and Saône-et-Loire, plus the Villefranche-sur-Saône area in the Rhône).
• December 8, 1936: Morey-Saint-Denis becomes the first AOC in Bourgogne.
• October 14, 1943: Creation of Premier Cru appellation category.
• October 17, 1975: Crémant de Bourgogne attains AOC status.
• Jully 17, 2006: Creation of Bourgogne's 100th appellation: “Bourgogne Tonnerre”.
