The wine route and the Couchois

Short History

Antiquity

The edict of the Roman emperor Domitian in 92 prohibited the planting of new vines outside Italy; he had the vines in Burgundy partially uprooted to avoid competition. But Probus cancelled this edict in 280.

Short History

Middle Ages

From the beginning of the sixth century, the establishment of Christianity had favored the extension of the vine by the creation of important domains attached to the abbeys. In 1395, Philippe le Hardi decided to improve the quality of the wines and forbade the cultivation of Gamay in favor of Pinot Noir in his lands. Finally, in 1416, Charles VI fixed the limits of production of Burgundy wine by an edict. In 1477, after the death of Charles the Bold, the vineyards of Burgundy became part of France, under the reign of Louis XI.

Short History

Nineteenth Century

In the decades 1830-1840, the moth came along and attacked the leaves of the vine. It was followed by a cryptogamic disease, powdery mildew. Two new plagues of the vine arrived. The first one was the mildew, another cryptogamic disease, the second one was the phylloxera. This insect, which came from America, put the Burgundy vineyard in a bad light. After long research, it was finally discovered that only grafting would allow the vine to grow in the presence of phylloxera.

Short History
XXth century

As early as 1952, Édouard Dessendre and a few other winemakers revived the production of pinot noir, which had never been completely abandoned. The interest in quality viticulture was moreover a family tradition (even before the phylloxera crisis, his grandfather Jules knew how to graft, and he was able to pass on his knowledge to his colleagues; he was also the first to introduce in Burgundy the vineyard plow, which he had seen working in Anjou during his military service). Édouard Dessendre selected one hundred and eleven of the healthiest Pinot Noir vines in his vineyards. From these plants, he developed a clone that reached veraison 24 days earlier than the others. The young winemakers of Saint-Maurice, determined to pursue a policy of quality, began to plant pinot noir, some gamay à jus blanc and aligoté on the best terroirs with southern and southeastern exposure.

Short History
Twentieth century

Appearance of the straddle carrier in the 1960s-70s, replacing the horse. The techniques in viticulture and oenology have evolved well over the last 50 years (green harvesting, sorting table, stainless steel vats, electric and pneumatic presses etc.). Appellation created in 2000.

Short History
XXIst Century

With the heat wave of 2003, the harvest began for some estates that year in mid-August, a month early, very early harvests that had not been seen since 1422 and 1865 according to records.

The planted vineyard area is 5.90 hectares in 2008, 8 hectares in 2019. The total potential production area is 250 hectares.