Olivier Poels 5:40 p.m., April 05, 2022

It is undoubtedly one of the most emblematic places in Burgundy wine.

Le Clos Vougeot is both a place and a vineyard.

We owe its creation, in 1098, to the monks of the abbey of Cîteaux.

From the beginning of the 12th century, the monks who had received numerous lands in the Côte d'Or planted pinot noir vines.

In order to benefit from a place to vinify their grapes, they built a vast building known as the cellar of Vougeot, from 1164. The building, as we can still see it today, was completed in the 16th century by dwellings in the Renaissance style (current castle).

It is now the headquarters of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, which organizes several annual celebrations there.

All around, the vineyard is gradually structured.

Around 1330, it became a “clos”, that is to say a plot surrounded by walls.

Clement VI, Pope of Avignon is a great lover of this wine.

To please him, the monks subdivide the Clos into three parts which give the pope's cuvée, the king's cuvée and the monks' cuvée.

It was the beginning of a phenomenon that was to develop over the centuries, culminating, at the time of the birth of the AOCs, in the creation of crus and climats that make Burgundy so special.

In the aftermath of the revolution, Clos de Vougeot became the property of a banker: Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard (who also acquired Romanée conti).

The phylloxera crisis impacted the Burgundy vineyard and scared away investors.

So much so that when the Ouvrard heirs put the Clos up for sale in 1887, no one bought it.

It was not until 1889 that 15 traders from the region agreed to buy it.

This is the beginning of the fragmentation of the Clos.

As for the castle, it was bought in 1920 by Etienne Camuzet, deputy of Cote d'Or and winemaker in Vosne-Romanée.

In 1934, the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin was born… it became the owner of the château in 1944.

The Méo-Camuzet estate is today one of the best ambassadors of this appellation!

Initially, there was Chardonnay in the Clos Vougeot, the latter was uprooted in the middle of the 19th century.

The area of ​​the Clos extends over a little over 50 hectares divided today into more than 130 plots operated by around 80 different owners.

It is one of the largest Grands Crus in Burgundy.

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