€5 million over a decade for Burgundy’s Unesco-listed dry-stone walls and huts

urgundy’s ‘Climats’ span 60 kilometres of hillsides from Maranges to Dijon and have been listed as a ‘cultural landscape’ by Unesco since 4 July 2015. On Friday 4 July 2025 local elected representatives, winegrowers tasked with managing the ‘Climats de Bourgogne’ association, the Minister of Planning François Rebsamen and the director of Unesco, Audrey Azoulay, convened at an official meeting to review progress on the tenth anniversary of the listing.

All of them stressed the practical impact of the listing. From 2015 to 2017, a review of the 220km of dry-stone walls was conducted, revealing that a large portion of them were in poor condition. This led to one of the key achievements of the Unesco era – the heritage fund. “The fund, which is primarily financed by our patrons, has totalled 5 million euros in a decade, providing resources for 219 restoration projects, including 7.5 km of dry-stone walls and 17 ‘cabottes’ [Ed. traditional stone huts located in the vineyards]”, shared Gilles de Larouzière, chairman of the ‘Climats du Vignoble de Bourgogne’ association.