Burgundy

Burgundy is a land of long meals, with the best materials, richest of the ancient duchies but of course most famous still for its wines. There are several districts and eminent wine regions, including Cote d’Or, the most famous and important, composed of Cote de Beaune to the south and Cote de Nuits to the north.

There is also the Chardonnay dominant Chablis, the red and white Cote Chalonnaise, and the whites of Maconnais. Immediately to the south of Maconnais is Beaujolais, which is quite different in terms of scale, style, soils and grape.

There is hardly a grand house in Burgundy, unlike the more elegant Medoc. Most of the few big holdings came from the church, and was broken up by Napoleon, resulting in one of the most fragmented wine-growing districts. Average holding is a mere 6 hectare, but already bigger than it used to be.

This fragmentation results in one of the drawbacks of the wine – the unpredictability, as even when pinning down a wine to a particular climat, a particular commune in one particular year, there could be in many cases six or seven people owning small parcels, with the wines coming from different cellars.

Monopoles are rare, and even small growers have parcels in two or three vineyards. Clos de Vougeot’s 50 ha vineyards are divided among more than 90 growers, for example.

There is still about 65% of burgundy bought in barrel from grower when it is new by negociants, who blend them to make marketable quantities of standard wine, as a district wine.

Reputations of large negociants vary enormously, but Bouchard Pere et Fils, Joseph Drouhin, Faiveley, Louis Jadot, and Louis Latour are reliable, and they also own significant vineyards. There are some new negociants from the end of 20^th century, like Dominique Laurent and Verget.

Nearly 100 appellations are present in Burgundy, with a quality classification as well. Bourgogne can be applied to wine made from grapes grown in any part of Burgundy. Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire and Bourgogne Passetoutgrains are another two, with the former a mixture of local Burgundian grapes and the latter allowing Gamay with at least a third Pinot Noir.

Bourgogne Aligote is a relatively tart white wine made from Burgundy’s other white grape. There is the mini-appellation of Bourgogne Vezelay.

I have tasted the following Bourgogne AOC wines:

Bernard Dugat-Py, Bourgogne	2005
Bernard Dugat-Py, Bourgogne Cuvee Halinard	2007
Maison Leroy, Bourgogne	2001
Maison Leroy, Bourgogne	2003
Maison Leroy, Bourgogne Blanc	2000
Anne Boisson, Bourgogne Aligote	2009
Louis Jadot, Bourgogne Aligote	2008