1931 Bonnerot / Perroud Map of Bouchard Père et Fils Vineyards in Burgundy, France

This scarce 1931 pictorial map of the Bourgogne Côte d'Or region, issued for the bicentennial of Bouchard Père et Fils, one of the great Bourgogne vineyards.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the west, this pictorial map covers from Aloxe (now Aloxe-Corton) to Chassagne and Puligny, near the world-renowned vineyard of Montrachet, in the Côte de Beaune subregion of Burgundy. Along with towns, the principal vineyards of Bouchard Père et Fils are numbered, corresponding to an index at bottom. The chateau in Beaune that appears at bottom right was bought by the firm in 1820. The Coat of arms at top-center is that of the Bouchard family (the wolves' heads on the side were later embellished, with fangs and tongue sticking out, during the Second World War as a subtle sign of resistance to the German occupation). Fitting with the bicentennial theme, the map reflects the style of an early 18th-century copperplate engraving, but a close examination of the fine lines in the illustrations reveals it to be an etching.

Illustrations throughout depict people drinking, dancing, and otherwise enjoying themselves, sometimes too much, as with a man vomiting at center towards right or the fellow drinking straight from the barrel at right. Others depict jousting, hunting, sword fighting, and other forms of violence, likely references to local history. Near Beaune, a French royal is seen enjoying some of the local product. An illustration of a group of monks near Beaune honors their contribution to developing viticulture in Burgundy throughout the Middle Ages. At bottom-right, the Chateau De Poncie Fleurie in Beaujolais, beyond the scope of the map, is depicted.

Bouchard Père et Fils

The French vintner Bouchard Père et Fils was founded in 1731 by Michel Bouchard, a cloth merchant who began buying and selling wine alongside cloth. By 1738, he and his family had settled in Beaune and in 1775 they acquired their first vineyard (in Volnay). The firm grew substantially in the late 18th century, in part due to the secularization of Church lands (including vineyards) during the French Revolution, and by the early 19th century was among the larger wine producers in Burgundy. In 1820, Bouchard Père et Fils was able to acquire the historic Château de Beaune, built in the 15th century by King Louis XI, using its vast cellars for storing and aging wine. The firm currently owns Burgundian vineyards totaling 130 hectares, of which 12 are classified as Grand Cru and 74 as Premier Cru.

Burgundy Wine

Burgundy in eastern France is one of the most esteemed and storied wine-producing regions in the world. The region is known for a particularly suitable soil and climate for vineyards, a viticultural tradition dating back into Antiquity, and an especially strong sense of terrioir, that is, the environmental and technical factors that distinguish one agricultural (in this case, viticultural) region from another. Burgundy holds a higher number of appellations d'origine contrôlée, a system for identifying and celebrating terrioir in different localities, than any other French region.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by one Bonnerot and engraved (etched) by Perroud. No further information is available on either of these artists, nor on the piece more generally, suggesting that it was produced in a small run for Bouchard Père et Fils. It has no known presence in institutional collections nor history on the market.