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Burgundy targets Unesco World Heritage
The Côte d’Or is aiming to become the third French wine region to acquire Unesco World Heritage status.
Burgundy’s candidature has been given a real boost as the region pledges €400,000 a year to join the World Heritage List, a move which has the potential to greatly increase the region’s income through tourism and wine sales.
The announcement was made at the historic Hospices de Beaune auction last month.
The road to inclusion on the World Heritage List can take five years but the funds, which will be made available annually between 2011 and 2013, should give Burgundy a greater chance when it submits its application to the French government’s minister of culture and the environment at the end of 2011.
Burgundy’s vineyards applied for World Heritage Cultural Landscape last year, backed by the municipalities of Dijon and Beaune.
Unesco defines a cultural landscape as “combined works of nature and humankind, that express a long and intimate relationship between peoples and their environment”, which fits in neatly with the Burgundian notion of terroir.
The president of the association for Burgundy’s application for Unesco World Heritage, Aubert de Villaine, himself a winemaker and co-owner of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, aims to bring this global recognition of "outstanding universal value" to Burgundy.
The potential for a lucrative rise in tourist revenue is a huge attraction to vineyard regions, many of which are hoping to supplement falling income with new and innovative ways of attracting visitors.
The forecast for an increase in tourism in Burgundy, should its bid be successful, is 15-20% on top of an anticipated rise in local wine sales and exports.
The Burgundy "dossier" opened in April 2009 and joins a list of candidates to be presented by France to Unesco.
Twenty one international experts from The United Nations World Heritage Committee will examine the dossier and make the final decision after evaluating Burgundy’s geographic and historic credentials, which justify the bid.
Champagne is also seeking to join the World Heritage List, after its unsuccessful bid in 2009, however Unesco will only allow France to put one region forward.
At present the only French wine regions which can claim to be cultural heritage sites are St-Emilion and the Loire.
Jerome Butcher, 09.12.2010