A winegrowing area located just south of the CÔTE D’OR in France’s BURGUNDY region. This area has no APPELLATION of its own, and unless the wines are part of one of the five villages entitled to an individual appellation, the wines go into one of the basic Burgundy appellations such as BOURGOGNE AC or BOURGOGNE PASSE-TOUT-GRAIN AC. The five villages with AC status start in the north with Bouzeron and its BOURGOGNE ALIGOTÉ DE BOUZERON AC, which produces white wines from the ALIGOTÉ variety. The rest of the villages—RULLY, MERCUREY, GIVRY, and MONTAGNY—produce red wines from PINOT NOIR and white wines from CHARDONNAY. Mercurey is the largest appellation of the area and has a high enough profile that there is some pressure to rename formally the Côte Chalonnaise to what occasionally is used now, Région de Mercurey. The VINS MOUSSEUX of the Côte Chalonnaise, which fall under the CRÉMANT DE BOURGOGNE AC designation, are a specialty of the area and considered quite good by many sparkling wine enthusiasts.