Region & History

Order a Marc de Bourgogne after dinner in Burgundy and you won't get a distant cousin of Cognac, but a brandy distilled from grape pomace: skins, seeds and stems left behind in the press after pressing. What's called grappa elsewhere goes by the name Marc here, and what sounds like a byproduct of the harvest has its own set of origin rules in the region.

Marc de Bourgogne carries a protected designation of origin, the AOC. According to the trade association, the area covers 388 communes across four départements: Côte-d'Or, Saône-et-Loire, Yonne and Rhône. The pomace must come from this area, and ageing, distillation and maturation all take place there too. The current rules trace back to a decree of 17 March 2011, the same day the AOC Fine de Bourgogne was established, replacing the older designation "Eau-de-vie de vin de Bourgogne."

Champagne has two brandies of its own. Marc champenois, protected within the EU as Eau-de-vie de marc champenois, comes from the pomace left over from Champagne pressing. Eau-de-vie de vin de la Marne, also known as Fine champenoise, is instead distilled from wine of the Marne. It has nothing to do with the Cognac designation "Fine Champagne."

Further south come Marc du Jura and Marc de Savoie. These too are protected geographical indications for pomace brandy. Marc du Jura is amber in colour, since maturation in wood is mandatory.

Compared with the big names of the spirits world, Marc de Bourgogne is a small player: the trade association cites around 400,000 bottles a year, a quarter of which are exported. That's exactly why it's worth looking closely at the differences, since Marc and Fine are often lumped together even though one comes from pomace and the other from wine.