The southern half of BURGUNDY’s famous CÔTE D’OR, which contains the GRAND CRU, PREMIER CRU, and village vineyards responsible for many of the renowned Burgundy wines. The Côte de Beaune includes twenty different villages, seventeen with their own APPELLATIONS—ALOXE-CORTON, AUXEYDURESSES, BEAUNE, BLAGNY, CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET, CHOREY-LÈS-BEAUNE, LADOIX-SERRIGNY, MEURSAULT, MONTHÉLIE, PERNAND-VERGELESSES, POMMARD, PULIGNY-MONTRACHET, SAINT-AUBIN, SAINT-ROMAIN, SANTENEAY, SAVIGNY-LÈSBEAUNE, and VOLNAY. Three other villages—Cheilly-lès-Maranges, Dezize-lès-Maranges, and Sampigny-lès-Maragnes—are grouped in a separate appellation, MARANGES AC. The Côte de Beaune area is well known for both its red wines, made from PINOT NOIR grapes, and white wines, made from CHARDONNAY. Even though the Côte de Beaune produces superb red wines, led by the grand cru CORTON, they are somewhat overshadowed by the red wines from the CÔTE DE NUITS in the northern half of the Côte d’Or. However, the white wines from the Côte de Beaune area are considered to be the best in the world. The superstars are the wines from the grands crus of MONTRACHET, BÂTARDMONTRACHET, BIENVENUE-BÂTARD-MONTRACHET, CHEVALIER-MONTRACHET, CORTON-CHARLEMAGNE, and CRIOTS-BÂTARD-MONTRACHET, and from the numerous outstanding premiers crus vineyards. Wines from individual villages like Meursault also have stellar reputations. In addition to the appellations for grands crus, premiers crus, and the individual villages, there are two others—Côte de Beaune AC and Côte de Beaune-Villages AC. Côte de Beaune AC is an appellation for four vineyard sites, located on a hill above the town of Beaune, that don’t qualify for higher-quality appellations. Côte de Beaune-Villages AC is an appellation for wines from sixteen of the area’s villages (Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Pommard, and Volnay are exempted). This appellation applies to wines BLENDED from the various villages, and it’s used by villages that are not well known and benefit from using the better-known Côte de Beaune-Villages AC on their labels. The area has a famous vineyard owner HOSPICES DE BEAUNE, a charitable organization that was founded in 1443. See also HAUTES-CÔTES DE BEAUNE; BEAUNE.