Between the Hill of Corton and Beaune, the hills of the Cote de Beaune recede a little on either side of the little river Rhoin and open up to the vineyards of Savigny-LesBeaune. These vineyards are of ancient lineage; for much of their history, they belonged to the Dukes of Bourgogne, neighbouring religious houses, or the Knights of Malta. An imposing 14th-century castle testified to the appellation’s aristocratic standing. The soil of the Cote is derived predominantly from the subsidence of the Saone River floodplain, which resulted in a 200-metre drop about the Morvan Plateau, creating a long hillside with very regular slopes and eastern and south-eastern exposures. This fault also freed minerals trapped in the soil for thousands of years. The vineyards stretch across the gentle slopes of the hillside, allowing the vines to take full advantage of exposure to the sun. The vines are manually harvested.