Yonne

World heritage and Chablis wines

Yonne is the north-western quarter of Burgundy. After the French revolution, in 1790, when the départements were formed Yonne was pieced together from the Tonnerrois, the Sénonais, the Auxerrois, the Avalonnais and Puisaye. To the northeast Yonne borders to Aube, to the northwest it’s Seine-et-Marne, to the west Loiret, to the south Nièvre and to the east Côte d’Or.

The département takes its name from the river of the same name. The river Yonne rises near Chateau-Chinon, flows through Clamecy, Auxerre, Joigny and Sens before entering the Seine, about 273 kilometres from its source.

Before the phylloxera, in the 19^th century, this was the largest wine-producing area in France. 36000 ha were under vine, a vast area compared to the 6000 ha of today. In his book “Yonne” Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun (1816–1889) tells us that from 1877 to 1880 production dropped from 2 802 853 hectoltres of wine to 194 755 hectolitres.

Chablis is of course the most well known vignoble. Tonnerre is the most recent to receive an appellation of its own. And the Grand Auxerrois has many different appellations – and less known grape varieties – to discover. I am particularly fond of the Saint-Bris, made from sauvignon blanc.

Up here you find towns such as Auxerre and Sens. In Vézelay you find the impressive Basilique Ste-Madeleine, a 12th-century monastic church described as a masterpiece of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture. Since 1979 it is part of UNESCO's World Heritage.

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