Marsannay: scree, oolite and the first fault
The northern door of the Côte de Nuits, cut west to east across Marsannay-la-Côte. Tap a layer to read it.
Swipe the plate sideways to see the whole section.
Seen from above, on the same scale: the section is cut along the line A–A′. Premiers and grands crus in coloured pencil; the vineyards we pour from in ochre. Vineyards: INAO, Délimitation parcellaire des AOC viticoles (2026), Licence Ouverte 2.0.
Schematic. The line crosses the slope just north of Marsannay village. Marsannay has no premiers crus yet (about a dozen are proposed), so its lieux-dits have no INAO outlines: Le Chapitre and Clos du Roy lie 2 to 3 km north at Chenôve, Les Longeroies and Champ Forey about 1 km north, En Clémengeots and Champ Salomon about 1 km south toward Couchey. All are drawn dashed at the heights the growers give, not at their place on the line; positions come from grower notes and local street names and are to be checked against the cadastre. Layer boundaries follow Brenna Quigley's descriptions for Sylvain Pataille (via Becky Wasserman) and the general Côte de Nuits sequence; the section has not been checked against the BRGM 1:50,000 sheet for Gevrey-Chambertin.
8 layers, youngest at the top
Single vineyards we pour from. Tap one on the plate.
Why Marsannay tastes the way it does
- Frost-shattered scree (grèzes litées) drains fast and warms early, so the wines are bright rather than heavy.
- The slope is gentle and the piedmont wide, so the best ground is a band at 270 to 300 m, not a steep cliff face.
- North toward Chenôve the scree is thick over oolite; south toward Couchey it thins and clay over Ostrea beds takes over, giving more structure.
- Below the fault, iron-red marl and old river gravel make the Aligoté and Bourgogne ground.
Did you knowMarsannay is the only village of the Côte d'Or allowed to make rosé under its own name. Le Chapitre, long sold as Bourgogne, has recently been brought into the Marsannay appellation.
Pas Mal wines on this ground
Marsannay rouge, blanc and rosé
- Marsannay Es ChezotsDomaine Laurent Pataille
- Marsannay Es Chezots Vin MilleDomaine Laurent Pataille
- Marsannay Les LongeroiesDomaine Laurent Pataille
- Fleur de PinotDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Fleur de Pinot 1500mlDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Fleur de Pinot 1500ml (3-pack)Domaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay BlancDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Blanc (Magnum)Domaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Blanc Charmes aux PrêtresDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Blanc Le ChapitreDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Champ SalomonDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Chardonnay RoseDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Clos du RoyDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Clos du Roy 1500mlDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay En ClémengeotsDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay L'AncestraleDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay L'Ancestrale 1500mlDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Le ChapitreDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Le Chapitre 1500mlDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Les Grasses TêtesDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay RougeDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Marsannay Rouge 1500mlDomaine Sylvain Pataille
Aligoté and Bourgogne from Marsannay parcels
- Bourgogne AligotéDomaine Laurent Pataille
- Aligoté Champ ForeyDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Aligoté Le Petit PuitsDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Aligoté LongeroiesDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Bourgogne AligotéDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Bourgogne Aligoté Clos du RoyDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Bourgogne Aligoté La Charme aux PrêtresDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Bourgogne Aligoté Les Auvonnes au PépéDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Bourgogne Blanc Les MéchalotsDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Bourgogne Pinot Beurot Pinot GrisDomaine Sylvain Pataille
- Bourgogne RougeDomaine Sylvain Pataille
Fixin, just south
Sources: Brenna Quigley via Becky Wasserman: Sylvain Pataille pages for Le Chapitre, Clos du Roy and En Clémengeots; Burgundy Report, Marsannay village profile (2017); BRGM 1:50,000 geological map, sheet Gevrey-Chambertin; AWS Terrain Tiles.