Located at the gates of Dijon, Marsannay built its prosperity on its proximity to the ducal city. While the other villages were swallowed up by the spreading conurbation, Marsannay managed to preserve its cultivated land and rebuild a quality wine-growing tradition, which today make it the true gateway to the Route des Grands Crus.
Besides its vineyard, the village boasts a lovely architectural heritage, which includes the Saint-Urbain chapel, founded between the late 9th and early 10th centuries to house the relics of the saint, which were regularly transferred from Dijon to Marsannay. Reinforced in 1142 by Duke Eudes II, it was then converted into a monastery as early as 1255. A dovecote, still visible today, was added to it in the 13th century. Too little known, the ducal wine presses still survive today. Housed in an old building from the early 15th century, in the heart of old Chenôve, they operated until 1926.
Well exposed, the Marsannay vineyard is ventilated by a wide combe and is planted on gentle slopes between 260 and 320 m in altitude. After vainly attempting to be incorporated into the Côtes de Nuits-Villages, the commune obtained its own full appellation in 1987: Marsannay red and white, with a delimited area of 312 ha, and Marsannay rosé, with an extended area of 513 ha. The appellation area includes the commune of Couchey and, in part, that of Chenôve. A unique case in Burgundy, the appellation here covers all three colours; the rosés are indeed a village speciality created in the 1920s. Most often produced by the saignée method, they prove very fragrant, delicate and long on the palate. They are the ones that contributed to the first return to favour of Marsannay wines. The red wines are robust, with aromas of black berries and spices, and a touch of musk as they age, recalling those of their illustrious neighbour Gevrey-Chambertin.
Marsannay, the crowning achievement
Among the finest climats that would deserve classification as Premiers Crus are Les Longeroies, Les Favières, Les Grasses Têtes and Les Es Chezots in Marsannay, and, in Chenôve, the venerable Clos du Roy, which was originally the private walled vineyard of the Dukes of Burgundy, who had their grapes pressed on site. There has been a strong rise of Marsannay white wines in recent years, all the more so in the Côte de Nuits, where this colour is extremely rare. Marked by exotic aromas, they are generally rich and full-bodied.
The initiators of the revival
While Joseph Clair initiated the creation of the rosé wine made from pinot noir, another leading figure in the Beaune wine world, André Boisseaux, contributed from the late 1980s to the reputation of the Marsannay AOC by purchasing several plots and building the Château de Marsannay. His work has been carried on by Olivier Halley who, since acquiring the estate about ten years ago, has deployed enormous resources to raise it to the rank of the very greatest. A successful gamble, since the wines, of remarkable quality, are now sold in many countries and are found on the finest tables.
