Terroir Insight: Bouchard Beaune Greves Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus

One of the legendary wines of the Beaune appellation is Beaune Greves Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus a signature wine from Bouchard Pere et Fils.

As the name suggests the vineyard is located inside the vast Beaune Greves vineyard – one of the best 1er crus of Beaune – and the Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus plot is located in what is widely considered the best part of Beaune Greves … in the very center of the vineyard

So lets go to Beaune and find the precise location of the famous Beaune Greves Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus.

Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus – the plot

Beaune Greves is a very large vineyard located just above the city center of Beaune. The total area of Beaune Greves is 31.33 ha and while it’s quite fragmented there are some very large plots – one is the cadastre no 112 – the famous Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus – see map below.

The cadastre plot no 112 is 3.9176 ha and has a small road leading up from the bottom of the plot to a small house located near the center of the vineyard – see map below.

The history of Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus

The name Vigne de L’Enfants Jésus presumably dates back to 1638 when Anne of Austria gave birth to King Louis XIV. 

It is said that Marguerite du Saint-Sacrement the founding Carmelite of Domestiques de la famille du Saint Enfant Jesus predicted the birth of the long awaited heir to the French throne. The Queen, Anne of Austria₅, was 37 when she gave birth to her first child after four stillbirths. To celebrate this the Camelite order named it’s most prominent Beaune vineyard – Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus. 

The vineyard was under the ownership of the Carmelite order until the French revolution and was then sold as bien national. 

The ownership history of Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus

The Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus has been under Bouchard ownership for more than 100 years, and while some sources indicate that Bouchard acquired the vineyard just after the revolution as bien national this does not find much support in the literature.

The cadastre maps from 1826 suggest that the ownership after the revolution was quite scattered, as the vineyard known today as Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus was divided into numerous plots. The small road going from the right side of the cadastre map below ends in the center of the current Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus (just left of the “s” in Greves).

Moving on to Lavalle¹ in 1855 – he mentioned Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus specificly as owned by M. Buretey and that Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus was considered to be the best part of the Beaune Greves appellation – thus also one of the very best vineyards in the Beaune appellation.

Moving forward to Danguy & Aubertin² they also mention Vigne de L’Enfant Jésus very specificly as owned by Antonin Bouchard of Bouchard Pere et Fils.