A long, thin, disjointed region encompassing three main types of rock, though a multitude of terroirs. There are only four main grape varieties, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Aligote. In the north Chablis is sited on very chalky clay and produces steely, stony Chardonnay.

You’ll also find a newish appellation of St-Bris, growing Sauvignon Blanc as you might expect only an hour from Sancerre.  After a long drive southwest you arrive in the Cote d`Or, or Burgundy proper as we improperly call it. Here is limestone. Vineyard sites classified by monks form a patchwork over the hills to the east of the D974, forming an almost unbroken landscape from the southern suburbs of Dijon’s sprawl to Chagny. South of that, the Côte Chalonnaise is a fragmented region with its wine villages a distance apart from one another.

Finally the Maconnais, plump with value Chardonnay reaches down to Beaujolais and geological change gives us Gamay loving granite in the form of rolling hills. And here we find that Rabelaisian quaffing wine of pleasure, the Beaujolais itself.

There are five classifications of Beaujolais: Beaujolais, Beaujolais Supérieur, Beaujolais Villages, Beaujolais Nouveau and the 10 Beaujolais Crus. As with the rest of Burgundy, the producer's name on the bottle is often the most important factor.