Montrachet

Montrachet is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for white wine from Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune subregion of Burgundy. It straddles the border between the two communes of Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet and produces what many consider to be the greatest dry white wine in the world. It is surrounded by four other Grand Cru vineyards all having "Montrachet" as part of their names. Montrachet itself is generally considered superior to its four Grand Cru neighbours, as reflected in its higher price.

Montrachet is located in the south of the Côte de Beaune, which is the southern half of the Côte d'Or, which in turn is the most important of the several wine producing subregions of Burgundy.

The Montrachet vineyard is almost equally divided between Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. Both of these appellations have, as is customary, appended the name of their most famous vineyard (in this case a shared one) to the name of their main village. The wine from the Chassagne side is usually known as Le Montrachet while the wine from the Puligny side is known as Montrachet.

In 92 AD the Roman emperor Domitian forbade planting new grapevines outside Italy. Indeed, some of the vines of Burgundy were ripped out to lessen competition. The vines that remained sufficed for local needs. The edict was annulled in 280 AD. The Montrachet vineyard was first planted in the Middle Ages. Although the date of its establishment is unknown, Pierre and Arnolet de Puligny gifted wines in "Mont Rachaz" to the Abbey of Maizières () in 1252.

During the 19th century Montrachet along with Burgundy as a whole was ravaged by a succession of vineyard diseases. In the mid-nineteenth century oidium struck. At the end of the nineteenth century phylloxera struck, eventually overcome by the grafting of European vines on American stock.

...
Wikipedia