When the Roman Empire disappeared at the
time of the great invasions, religion became one of the last
strongholds of civilisation. The same was true of the art of
wine making.
The fall of the Roman Empire did not entail complete disappearance
of viticulture. A supply of wine was indispensable to the Christian
ritual. So it was that the bishops and religious communities
in Burgundy took over the viticultural activities.
At the very beginning of the middle ages, numerous
donations were made to the religious communities, increasing
their vineyard estates :
- at the beginning of the 7th century, the abbey at Bèze
was given the future " Clos de Bèze " in
Gevrey
- in 775, Charlemagne gave his Aloxe-Corton vineyards to the
church in Saint-Andoche de Saulieu.
Christianity was therefore an essential factor in the propagation
of the vine in episcopal and monastic France.
Wine was also used in diplomatic circles to honour celebrities
and became an important factor of the economy. It was, however,
with the birth of the great monastic orders in the Middle
Ages that winemaking gained considerable importance.
The capital town of Burgundian wines, Beaune, owes its development
to wine. Moreover, in the Middle Ages, the wine from the Côte
d'Or was called "Beaune wine".
909 : : Founding of the Abbey at Cluny
by the Duke of Aquitaine, Guillaume le Pieux. Its independence
from the lords and bishops and its direct links with the Papacy
made it very powerful. And the abbey had its influence on
wine making.
Thus, in Burgundy, the history of the vine and of wine has
always been associated with religious history.
