Given the current fashion for everything Burgundian, the underestimated village of Givry should be at the top of the list for those seeking high-quality Burgundy that doesn’t require a bank loan to buy. It’s a historic terroir with tremendous potential and talented producers pushing the limits of what’s possible here in the central eastern part of the Côte Chalonnaise region.
The first vineyards in Givry date to Roman times, but their renown began in earnest with the establishment of Ferté abbey in 1113AD. Ferté was founded by the monks of Cîteaux, near Dijon, who also built the Clos de Vougeot at roughly the same time. The wines’ reputation gradually grew, and by the 14th century, wines from Givry were served at the table of Pope Clement VI in Avignon. Although the original Ferté abbey was destroyed during the 16th-century Wars of Religion, wine production continued to thrive.
By the 18th century, the priest-historian Claude Courtépée called Givry the best wine of the Côte Chalonnaise, noting that it had been the everyday wine of King Henri IV. Givry was still prized in the years following the French Revolution, and in 1832 noted authority André Jullien praised its finesse and bouquet.
The latter years of the 19th century, however, brought scourge after scourge to the region. Jacky Rigaux’s comments in the informative work La Côte Chalonnaise (October 2018, de Monza/du Meurger) tell us that grape moths were followed by powdery mildew (oidium) and finally by the phylloxera bug. Efforts to combat these problems were not always successful. Noted Givry vigneron Baron Paul Thénard tried injecting the soil with carbon
