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Burgundy (''Bourgogne'' in French ) is the name given to certain Wine s made in the Burgundy region of France . Red Burgundy wines are usually made with the Pinot Noir grape, and white Burgundy wines are usually made with Chardonnay Grape s, as dictated by the AOC . Geographically, the wine region starts just south of Dijon and runs southward to just short of the city of Lyon . The area of Chablis stands on its own to the northwest of Dijon, about as close to Paris as it is to the heart of Burgundy. The main Wine Region s in Burgundy proper (those that are entitled to the ''AOC Bourgogne'' designation) are the Côte De Nuits , Côte De Beaune — which collectively are known as the Côte D'Or — and further south the Côte Chalonnaise . Also viticulturally part of Burgundy are Beaujolais , Chablis , and Mâcon , and they show some similarity. However, a wine from one of these regions would rarely be referred to as a "Burgundy." Burgundy is home to some of the most expensive wines in the world, including those of s'' are at the top, followed by '' Premier Crus '', then '' Village '', and finally generic ''Bourgogne''. Bourgogne is where grapes other than Chardonnay and Pinot Noir begin to be introduced, allowing Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris , two Pinot Noir mutations that were traditionally grown and now are in decline in the area. Other Burgundy AOCs that are not as often seen are Bourgogne Passetoutgrains (which can contain up to two thirds Gamay (the grape of Beaujolais ) in addition to Pinot Noir), Bourgogne Aligoté (which is primarily made with the Aligoté grape), and Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire . The latter is the lowest AOC, and Grand definitely refers to the size of the area eligible to produce it, not its quality. There are certain regions that are allowed to put other grapes in miscellaneous AOCs, but for the most part these rules hold. From about the year 900 up to the French Revolution, the Vineyard s of Burgundy were owned by the Church. After the revolution, the vineyards were broken up and sold to the workers who had tended them. The Napoleonic Inheritance Laws resulted in the continued subdivision of the most precious Vineyard holdings, so that some growers hold only a row or two of Vine s. This led to the emergence of Négociants who aggregate the produce of many growers to produce a single wine. It has also led to a profusion of increasingly small family-owned Wineries , exemplified by the dozen plus "Gros" family Domaine s. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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