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Bourgogne Cote Saint-Jacques is the appellation which covers the red, white and rose wines from the 32-acre (13-ha) Cote Saint-Jacques vineyard site in northern Burgundy.
The wines are produced under the conditions of the generic Bourgogne appellation and must be made exclusively from grapes grown in the Cote Saint-Jacques climat. It faces south, overlooking the town of Joigny.
With its location in the far north-western corner of Burgundy, Joigny is closer to Paris than the main wine-growing areas of the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits. As a result, its wines were once extremely popular in Parisian society, particularly between the 11th and 17th centuries when there were around 2000 acres (800ha) of vines planted here. Today, only a small portion of that large vineyard remains. Malbec was once the predominant grape variety, but now the area is almost exclusively planted with Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay.
In 1995, the Cote Saint-Jacques was singled out as the finest single vineyard site around Joigny and it is one of only a handful that are permitted to append their names to the Bourgogne title. The other sites are all located in the Cote d'Or, nearly 100 miles (160km) away to the south-east. Bourgogne Cote de Saint-Jacques is the most northerly of Burgundy's appellations.
