At the beginning of next year president Sarkozy will decide if he will choose Champagne or Burgundy to be the French candidate for the 2012 UNESCO world cultural heritage. There is of course also the possibility that none of them will win. There are other cultural candidates.
Burgundy is stressing the climats in its application. Climat is something very Burgundian. It is the name of the many small vineyards and parcels of land that have been identified, often a very long time ago, as specific terroirs. The Côte d’Or has hundreds of them, they are all called something and this name is often mentioned on the label. Some are more famous of course, like the grand cru or the premier cru, but also many climats in the village-appellations are recognized as having a specifically favourable terroir.
Champagne, in its application, is stressing not only the landscape of vineyards, but also the treasures that are found underneath Reims and Epernay. The cellars with millions and millions of bottles. Read more about the Burgundy application here: www.climats-bourgogne.com and more about Champagne here www.paysagesduchampagne.fr
In 1999 Saint Emilion in Bordeaux was included as a UNESCO world cultural heritage. Some other wine regions on the list are the Douro-Valley in Portugal and Tokay in Hungary.
Who do you think deserves it (if any)?
One Response
On the basis of their websites Burgundy looks much better – the Champenois don’t even seem to have bothered to translate into English.
Whereas the Champenois have their heritage of the amazing crayères in Reims as well as the classic Houses and cellars in Epernay, I think the Burgundians have a more compelling story combining fascinating history of dukes and abbeys, with beauitful towns, villages, vineyard landscape as well as, of course, their gastronomy and wine heritage.
Let’s hope Sarkozy is well advised!