The appellation was created on 31 July 1937 and its area, covering 19 villages, was defined in 1961. It covers 632.45 hectares of red and rosé and 151.84 hectares of white. The vines grow on the slopes of the valleys cut into the limestone plateau, between 275 and 480 metres, mainly facing south, south-east and south-west, on limestone and marl from the Middle and Upper Jurassic.

After phylloxera, the Hautes-Côtes lost close to half their vines between 1910 and 1936. Since the 1950s two generations of growers have replanted and revived the appellation, patiently, as the Bourgogne wine board puts it. Average production over 2017 to 2021 was 22,185 hectolitres of red and rosé and 5,514 of white a year.

The reds are cherry red with ruby hints, with cherry, blackcurrant, raspberry and wild strawberry, fleshy fruit and crisp, fairly structured tannins. The whites are pale yellow to pale gold, with lemon, apple, peach, quince and hazelnut, balanced between freshness and smooth fruit.

Among the estates with a page here, Domaine Naudin-Ferrand is based at Magny-lès-Villers, on the boundary between the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, and works about 22 hectares.

The wines above gather the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits available here. See also Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vosne-Romanée or the full range of Burgundy wines.