I recently read a Geographic Expeditions newsletter that began with an excerpt from a Jonathan Keats piece titled “Why Wikipedia is as Important as the Pyramids” in Wired magazine. In it, Keats campaigns for Wikipedia to become the first digital World Heritage Site. His article debates the relevance of some of UNESCO’s 936 World Heritage Sites and outlines how UNESCO has grappled with the concept of intangible cultural heritage (for example, music versus monuments, mines or water systems). This brought to mind the bid by Burgundy’s Côte d’Or to classify its “climats”, or vineyards, among UNESCO’s hand-picked honorees. From my viewpoint, Burgundy’s climats cover both the intangible and the tangible angles of cultural heritage.

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