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The wines
From Yonne to Mâconnais, Burgundy possesses some of the most
prestigious soils of the world. Here the wines ripen, mature and
improve with time be they white or red.
See: the Burgundy wine list
See
: The
Burgundy wine list
A
bit of history
Although it may seem as though it has been around forever, vine
cultivation only became widespread with the Roman conquest. Burgundy
wine quickly acquired its title of nobleness and the church was
particularly interested in it. The bishop was the first instigator.
It was his duty to own the vineyards, through which he earned prestige
and resources.
Thus from the beginning of the Middle Ages on, the bishops of Langres,
Auxere and Autun became significant owners of Burgundian vineyards.
The cathedral chapters followed close behind: the canons of Langres
recovered the Clos de Bèze in 1219. Today still, a number
of wines bear the name Clos de Chapitre (literally "chapters'
field") in Gevrey, Chambertin, Fixin, and Aloxe-Corton. The
abbots then began to take interest in wine-growing. The Cluny abbey
was the first to cover the region surrounding Mâcon and the
south of the coast by Chalon with vines, then other great abbeys
in the north of Burgundy, such as Vézelay, started.
In
the 12th century, Cîteaux became the capital of Burgundian
wine-growing with the influx of donations, forest clearing and the
building of storerooms in Meursault, Aloxe-Corton and particularly
in Vougeot from where would later come the Clos de Vougeot, the
Cistercian monument to the glory of God and wine. The Clos de Vougeot
was confiscated during the Revolution, at the same time as the Cistercian
order was outlawed. It now belongs to the brotherhood of knights
of Tastevin.
The dukes of Burgundy were called the "princes of the best
wines of Christianity". The even presented their wines to the
kings. Even Charles the Reckless offered some to his worst enemy,
the treacherous Louis XI who particularly appreciated the wine from
Volnay. We also know that Louis XIV particularly liked the Nuits
wines, that Madame de Pompadour was crazy about Romanée-conti
and that Napoleon the First had a weakness for Chambertin wine.
Until the end of the 18th centuryBurgundy wine was above all the
"ruby wine" but even if black vines commonly dominated
in its manufacture, they were frequently accompanied by white grapes,
cultivated in a scattered fashion in the same plots of land as the
red. At the birth of the modern red wine, the separation of the
different colours was clearer: chardonnay was progressively planted
separately in homogenous patches. And thus pinot and chardonnay
had separate fates.
 The
Burgundy wine business was built up from the 18th century on in
Beaune then in Nuits-Saint-Georges and Dijon. These first wine merchants
sent their wines all over France but also abroad: to England, Scandinavia,
Prussia and even America!
In 1878, phylloxera, a little insevt imported from America, ravaged
in very little time the Burgundian vineyards provoking ruin in the
wine-producing world. Luckily the grafting of French plants onto
immunised American plants allowed vineyards to be regenerated, but
from now on they were planted in rows. This was the opportunity
to keep only the best plots and thus the quality of the wines was
guaranteed.
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The
plots
In Burgundy, the vineyards look like an immense mosaic constituted
of little patches of vines often enclosed by low stone walls. The
complex composition of the soil of each plot can vary in the space
of just a few metres, its depth, its altitude, its exposure gives
the wine its character with aromatic nuances and particular flavours.
Six large plots are listed: Chablis, Côte de Nuits, Côte
de Beaune, Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais and Pouilly-sur-Loire.
Chablis
:the most northern of Burgundy's vineyards is renowned all over
the world for the quality of its great dry white wines which are
fruity and elegant. Over a little more than 4000 hectares in Chablis
and twenty or so villages set up on the clay-limestonesoils of the
Serein valley, the chardonnay vines give birth to four levels of
appellation: Chablis grand cru, Chablis premier cru, Chablis and
Petit Chablis.
Côte de Nuits :the most prestigious of the Burgundy
vineyards spreads its vines along a narrow band of hillside that
has lightly limestone soil, well exposed towards the east between
Marsannay and Corgoloin. The notions of "soil", "climate"
and "vineyards" brought about by the monks of the great
abbeys of the 10th century take on all their dimension here. It
is the pinot noir vine heaven which reigns over 3000 hectares shared
out between eight villages which each carry delicious names. All
the great red wines of Burgundy, except for Corton, are born here
including Chambertin, Clos-de-Vougeot and Romanée-Conti.
Côte de Beaune :the historical capital of Burgundy
wines, the town of Beaune gave its name to this majestic coast which
stretches over 5000 hectares from the village of Ladoix-Serigny
to the hillside of Maranges. Well sheltered, the Cote de Beaune
enjoys a microclimate and a very varied soil which produces the
best white wines of Burgundy, dry and yet supple and rounded, finely
perfumed, perfectly balanced such as Meursault, Corton-Charlemagne
or Montrachet, a wine which, according to Alexandre Dumas, one must
drink "on one's knees having removed one's hat"! The côte
de Beaune also produces a very beautiful range of ample, harmonious
and distinguished red wines such as Volnay, Pommard and Aloxe-Corton.
Côte Chalonnaise : the vineyard of côte chalonnaise
is the natural extension of the côte de Beaune. It has the
smae vocation of producing great wines on admirably exposed soils
favourable to the growing of the two great vines of Burgundy, the
chardonnay and the pinot noir. Rully, Mercurey, Givry and Montagny
are the four jewels of this very beautiful 4000 hectare vineyard.
The little village of Bouzeron produces a Burgundy Aligoté
with a personality that is unique in Burgundy.
Mâconnais : the most southern and largest vineyard
in Burgundy stretches over 6500 hectares in a region full of contrasts
and harmony. From Tournus to the edge of Beaujolais, the chardonnay
vine finds a favourite soil in order to give birth to great white
wines, fresha nd fruity with subtle and bewitching flavours: Mâcon,
Mâcon-villages, Saint-Véran, Pouilly-Fuissé,
Pouilly-Vinzelles and Pouilly-Loché. From the gamay vine
come the red Mâcon wines with a beautiful bright red colour
and a nuance of purple whose freshness and red berry flavours are
surprising.
Pouilly-sur-Loire : the 1000 hectares of Pouilly-sur-Loire
and Pouilly-Fumé vineyards are situated in teh region of
Nièvre. The sauvignon vine that is developed on the marly
soil gives aromatic, strong, spicy wines with a characteristic taste
of gunflint tinged with tuberose, boxwood and broom.
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The
vines
 The
vine is the type of grape which gives a wine its nose and taste
whilst expressing the character of the soil. Burgundian wine-growers
only use six different vines for their 95 appellations.
The
white grape vines :
Chardonnay (elegance, power, fragrance, complexity) produces
the great white wines of Yonne, the Côte-d'Or, côte
chalonnaise and Mâconnais.
Aligoté
(vivacity, flavour) producees Burgundy-Aligoté throughout
Burgundy and the appellation "Aligoté-bouzeron"
in Bouzeron on the Chalonnais coast.
Sauvignon
is at the root of sauvignon from Saint-Bris in Yonne.
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The
red grape vines :
Pinot noir (fragrance, solidity) gives the great reds of
the Côte d'Or, côte chalonnaise and part of the wines
from Mâconnais.
César
(solidity, colour) is combined with pinot noir to make Irancy.
Gamay
noir with white juice (roundness) gives Beaujolais, and combined
with pinot noir, the Burgundy passe-tout-grain.
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Great
wines: the summit of pleasure
The summit of pleasure: complex, fine and heady, the great wines
charm the palate. They make up the cream of Burgundian wines. Only
eight great wines exist on the côte de Beaune and 24 on the
côte de Nuits. They make up, at the most 1% of all Burgundian
production. The names of these admirable red and white wines which
age for 20 or 30 years, such as Chambertin, Corton, Montrachet,
make people dream. Their price measures up to their prestige: from
400 to 5000 French francs.
These wines are venerated. When it is time to harvest the grapes,
Japanese tourists come to photograph the walls of Montrachet and
Clos Vougeot. Apparently Texan multi-millionaires would die for
the wines of Romanée-Conti!
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How
to serve a Burgundy wine
 Like
all regions of France, Burgundy has its own particular glass, a
sort of chalice with a wide opening which allows the aromas to develop.
But one can drink a volnay or corton-charlemagne in a Bordeaux wine
glass. The service temperatures: for whites: serve young wines (aged
from 3 to 5 years) at 10/12°c, older wines (from 10 to 20 years
old) at 12/14°c. Reds: from 12 to 14°c for delicate wines
and from 16 to18°c for more solid wines.
A
tip: decant young wines into a carafe 30 minutes before serving
in order to develop their flavour. This treatment is not as necessary
for old Burgundian wines which are better left in their bottles.
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