At the beginning of the 20th century,
the Beaune Chamber of Commerce was above all a representative
body for wine shippers of liberal politics and constituted an
important counterbalance to the protectionist Dijon Chamber.
From 1900 to 1905, the larger Wine Houses
helped set up research and quality control by financing a
large part of the building of the oenological station responsible
for analyses used to detect fraud.
1900 : The French Red Cross having proposed sending Bouchard
Père & Fils wines to the Universal Exhibition ;
the company continued to expand abroad with the opening of
trade to China. Thus, it was thanks to the Houses like Bouchard
Père & Fils, who controlled the major part of wine
sales before the 20th century, that the wine of Burgundy became
more widely known.
1919 : The "appellations d'origine" system was
created and further clarified by additional legislation in
the 1930s ("Appellations d'Origine Contrôlée").
For the Burgundy region, the significant economic result of the
First World War (1914-1918) was that winemaking became the
primary activity and no longer a secondary source of income
for most growers.
Despite a series of crises and wars during the 20th century,
the wines of Burgundy maintained their world-class reputation,
strengthened by the creation of the "Appellations d'Origine
Contrôlée" system (AOC).
In the 1950s, modernization gave a new start to the region.
Today, a winery or "domaine" in Burgundy is considered
a business in its own right.
While modernization has been a boost, the success of the famous
"Grands Vins de Bourgogne" still rests on a commitment
to quality on the part of the growers and winemakers of Burgundy.
