Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles and the 1861 classification

dateOne rarely see plots, sections or vineyards promoted to Grand Cru in Burgundy – the classification is very stable although some changes have been seen over the years.

La Grande Rue was promoted to Grand Cru in 1992 and Clos des Lambrays was promoted to Grand Cru in 1981. In 1929 a part of Chambolle Musigny Combe d’Orveaux was included in Grand Cru Musigny, and in 1989 a further plot of this vineyard was included in Musigny.

In Cote de Beaune a part of Puligny-Montrachet Les Caillerets was included in Chevalier-Montrachet in 1939. This promotion is somewhat interesting, as the plot promoted was considered of lower quality than the rest of Puligny Montrachet Les Caillerets in the 1861 classification. A further plot of Les Caillerets was included in Chevalier-Montrachet in 1974.

The 1861 Classification of Puligny Les Caillerets

I was looking at the very detailed map of the 1861 Calssification of Burgundy published in the book Plan statistique des vignobles produisant les grands vins de Bourgogne³

A closer look at the Puligny part of the map revealed a rather strange finding, as a small area of the Puligny-Montrachet Les Caillerets was classified as 2^mes Cuvées (yellow) while the rest received a top classification .. i.e. 1^eres Cuvées (pink) – see map below.

Map from Batault-Morot, E. Plan statistique des vignobles produisant les grands vins de Bourgogne. (1861)

The cadastre plots 13 – 19 (yellow on the map) are classified 2^mes Cuvées and they were in 1861 apparently considered of lower quality than the rest of the Caillerets vineyard.

On the cadastre map from 1839 one see these plots in detail, and it becomes clear that these plots are in fact identical to the plots included in Chevalier-Montrachet in 1939 and 1974. The plots 18 and 19 (outlined with red) are the plots currently used for producing the Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles from Louis Latour and Louis Jadot.

The short history of Les Demoiselles

The 1er cru vineyard Puligny-Montrachet Les Demoiselles is according to the official records (cadastre) a part of the vineyard Puligny-Montrachet Le Caillerets.

The term Les Demoiselles is however used both for wines coming from the 1er cru Les Demoiselles and for the Chevalier-Montrachets made in the northern part of the vineyard.

In 1913 both Louis Latour and Louis Jadot acquired a 0,51 ha plot of Le Caillerets from the widow of Léonce Bocquet. These vineyards today carries the name “Les Demoiselles” in homage to the daughters of an early 19th-century Beaune General, Adèle and Julie Voillot, who were the owners of the vineyard and died without marrying^{5 & 6}.

In 1939 Louis Jadot and Louis Latour were able to get the plots on Les Demoiselle promoted to grand cru and included in Chevalier-Montrachet⁴ In total 1.02 ha of Les Demoiselles was promoted to Chevalier-Montrachet on that occasion.