Coulanges-la-Vineuse

Coulanges-la-Vineuse

Located in the heart of the Auxerre vineyards, Coulanges-la-Vineuse is a village full of character, combining Burgundian charm with winegrowing tradition. With its picturesque lanes, stone winegrowers’ houses and vaulted cellars, the village bears witness to a rich past linked to vines and wine. Renowned for its fruity red wines and gourmet rosés, Coulanges is an invitation to stroll and discover. Here, heritage and conviviality come together on a daily basis, in an authentic setting where winegrowing culture sets the pace for local life. A must for lovers of Burgundy and fine wines.

The history of the village of Coulanges dates back to the 2nd century AD, when the Romans planted the first red Auxerrois vines. Rome christened the area Colongiae Vinosiae, which literally translates as “wine colony”.

In the Middle Ages, the village became a powerful wine-growing seigneury, developing a high-quality vineyard and a thriving cereal crop. Coulanges’ name incorporates this place with the land, through the word “lès” meaning “near”. From the end of the Middle Ages, Coulanges-lès-Vineuses was characterized by its important wine-growing activity.

As the population grew rapidly and prosperously, a fortified wall was built around the hilltop village around 1458. Times were troubled during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and Coulanges suffered the full weight of history with the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of Religion. In 1568, the Prince de Condé obtained the surrender of the wine-growing seigneury after the Irancy massacre. In the 16th century, the seigneury of Coulanges belonged to the Beauvoir de Chastellux family, who struggled to keep the town within the Catholic fold. Huguenot attacks multiplied, and Coulanges was often heavily ransomed. At the time of Henri III’s assassination, royalists from Auxerre withdrew from the episcopal city and occupied Coulanges. To free itself from the threat, the League laid siege to the château and massacred some of its opponents on June 4, 1589.

Saint-Christophe church

The church in Coulanges is dedicated to Saint Christophe, but also to the pilgrim saint. Saint Christophe is the protector of travelers. Baptizing a church in the name of Christophe is a symbol of protection and security. Saint Pèlerin d’Auxerre, Sanctus Peregrinus in Latin, was the first bishop of Auxerre in the 2nd century. Peregrinus died a martyr on May 16, 304 at Bouy in the Nièvre region. A priest and Roman citizen, he was made bishop in Rome by Pope Sixtus II and given the task of evangelizing the Yonne region. Peregrinus was also a patron saint of travelers.

Listed as a Monument Historique since 1947, the church of Saint Christophe de Coulanges features mostly 18th-century architecture. The church’s current imposing size may come as a surprise, but it is justified by late reconstructions and the wealth of its parish. The church building was destroyed and then rebuilt, after several devastating fires had taken their toll on its structure.
In May 1676, the first fire ravaged the village, consuming a large part of the church. The 14th-century bell tower remained standing, but was weakened. The church was quickly rebuilt thanks to generous funding from the lords of Coulanges and the diocese.

In 1732, a second fire swept through the village and the newly inaugurated church was once again ravaged. The medieval bell tower survived, but the fire destroyed its roof and framework. In 1734, the Intendant of Burgundy was asked to create a new wine tax to finance reconstruction work on the church. A total of 110,000 livres had to be raised to build a new nave and a choir large enough for the numerous parishioners. Craftsmen from Auxerre and Paris worked to plans drawn up by the famous Franco-Italian architect Servandoni, who presented two projects. One in 1738 was judged too small, and the second in 1740 was accepted. Ten years after the fire, the church was completed and consecrated by the Bishop of Auxerre in 1742. However, the work was carried out quickly, and in 1751 structural consolidations were carried out as a matter of urgency.
Architecturally, the ground plan is elongated, with a short transept and flat chevet. The nave is divided into three bays, with the choir ending in a semicircular sanctuary to which two apsidal chapels are attached. The west facade of the church features two superimposed architectural levels. The first contains the monumental door surmounted by a triangular pediment. The second, narrower level is flanked by ailerons and pyramidions.

The church’s Gothic bell tower features a square-based tower and an octagonal storey housing the spire and bells. The bell tower is the only medieval vestige of the original building. Completed in the 14th century, it withstood several devastating fires.

The internal elevation of Saint Christophe church is on two levels, with large arcades and high round-headed windows. The nave and aisles, as well as the choir and transept, are covered by groined vaults. The transept crossing and the two chevet chapels are covered by a typical 18th-century cupola.

©Eglise Coulanges Ot Auxerre|Ove Rasmussen

©Pressoir De Coulanges Mairie De Coulanges La Vineuse

The wine press

The magnificent Coulanges press dates back to the 18th century, and is one of the few so-called “abattage” presses still in good condition. In Burgundy, the most famous of this type is that of Clos-Vougeot. Its imposing dimensions make it one of the largest presses of its type still in existence in Europe. Both the press and the building were listed as Monuments Historiques in 2002, and were in use until 1921.

This gigantic medieval press features a particularly well-preserved mechanism: equipped with 4 Saint-Fargeau oak beams 10 m long, a 4m5-deep anchor well and a double system of cleat wheels, installed during the First World War. The beams fall onto a large central pulley, crushing the grapes and producing between 750 and 800 liters of juice. The juice was then collected in a magnificent limestone vat, still visible today.

The Renaissance house

In the 16th and 17th centuries, wealthy nobles built an Italian Renaissance house in the heart of Coulanges. The couple who commissioned the house were Edme Leclerc, a Parisian bourgeois, and Léonarde Pilleron, a wealthy Coulangeoise. Edme was royal secretary to Queen Mother Anne of Austria in Paris until 1666. Edme moved to Coulanges after the death of the Queen Mother and married Léonarde.

The interior of the house is richly decorated with 17th-century painted floors, listed as a Monument Historique since October 12, 1929. It was in 1666 that Edme Leclerc, the royal secretary, commissioned this painted work for his wedding. The ceilings are decorated with ochre from the ochre factories of Auxerre. The work was created by Italian artists. Art historians have found similarities with the decor of the Château d’Ancy le Franc. The rich iconographic program features the intertwined monograms of Edmée Leclerc and Léonarde Pilleron. Seventeenth-century gardens also featured fashionable flowers. The representation of tulips on the plasterwork is a direct reference to the French court, where Edme practiced his craft. This flower, originally from Asia, was considered the official flower of the royal court gardens and was fashionable in all the princely parks of Europe. There are mythological fables and portraits of the owners, commissioned at their weddings.

The year of construction of the current façade is 1561, visible on a cartouche on the façade. The façade must have been covered with ornamental sculptures and Renaissance-style architectural elements. Today, all that remains of the building’s former splendor are a few clues. Six stone corbels indicate a porch-like projection. The first-floor windows and the carved frame of the roof window are the last remaining evidence of the house’s former wealth. The first-floor windows are richly decorated with sculpted overmantels of female Caryatids and male Atlantes. This is the origin of the house’s name. The architectural elements known as caryatids come from Greek architecture. A caryatid is a statue of a woman wearing a toga and supporting an entablature on her head.

©Scene Champetre De Chasse A Courre S. Vacant

Vines in Coulanges

Vines have been planted in Coulanges-La-vineuse since Gallo-Roman times. On the Gallo-Roman site of Escolives-Sainte-Camille, you can admire a high relief dating from the 2nd century: the little grape-picking Amur. It bears witness to the presence of wine from this period onwards. A history that lasts!

Wine was exported to Paris by boat down the Yonne and Seine rivers. Like Saint-Bris, the second most important winegrowing seigneury in the Auxerrois region, Coulanges-la-Vineuse is a medieval village dominated by winegrowing. Wine merchants, coopers, winemakers, wine-growing peasants… the majority of Coulangeois were linked to the vine trade until the end of the 18th century. The vineyards of Coulanges, located on the left bank of the Yonne, were highly reputed on royal tables such as those of Charles V, Henri IV and Louis XIV. Writings attest to the fact that Coulanges wine was even sometimes prescribed by order of the physicians of the French court. The reputation of Burgundy wines, and in particular the Rouges de l’Auxerrois, quickly spread beyond France’s borders, and were exported to many of Europe’s royal and princely courts.

In the 18th century, Coulanges-la-Vineuse had around 250 winegrowers and no fewer than 17 coopers. Unfortunately, in the 19th century, phylloxera arrived in France in 1860 via the vineyards of Bordeaux, spreading rapidly to all French vineyards. Burgundy was not spared, and this devastating insect destroyed the Chablis and Auxerrois vineyards as early as 1870. Coulanges and the other Auxerrois appellations only came back to life thanks to grafting onto American plants around 1900.

Since 1990, the regional appellation Bourgogne Coulanges La Vineuse has been officially recognized and reserved for wines from 7 communes: Coulanges-la-Vineuse, Migé, Mouffy, Jussy, Escolives-Sainte-Camille, Val-de-Mercy. Today, the vineyards of Coulanges cover around 130 ha and are situated between 155 m and 310 m above sea level, on the slopes of a landscape of small valleys carved out by erosion and benefiting from a favorable microclimate with south and southeast exposure. The subsoil is composed of Kimmeridgian limestone, clay and marl.

What is the Kimmeridgian?

The Kimmeridgian is a geological epoch of the Upper Jurassic, dating back some 150 million years. Soils from this period are composed of marl and limestone with oyster fossils, which play a key role in the minerality of the region’s wines.

Saint-Christophe church

The wine press

The Renaissance house

Vines in Coulanges

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