What's Going On in the World of French Wines

When we talk about the most important grape varieties in the wine world, there is no doubt that when it comes to red grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon is considered the King. Few grapes have proven as age-worthy, as consistently reliable and as downright delicious as Cabernet Sauvignon.

Thanks to work in the late 1990s by grape geneticist Dr. Carole Meredith and the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology, we can trace the origins of Cabernet Sauvignon to a chance meeting in a vineyard in Southwest France between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc that occurred sometime during the 17th century (sounds romantic, right?). Although there had been some speculation that Cabernet Sauvignon had more ancient origins, there was also a theory (which the DNA research confirmed), that the aromas that Cabernet Sauvignon shares in common with Cabernet Franc (lead pencil, tea leaves, black currants) and with Sauvignon Blanc (grassy, herbal) pointed to some sort of relationship between the three grapes. But regardless of what Cabernet Sauvignon has in common with Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, it is a distinctly unique grape that has, over time, outshown its parents.

There is a bit of a chicken and egg debate in the wine world about Cabernet Sauvignon. Is it so popular because it is fairly easy to grow (thus meaning that there is so much of it out there that we can’t avoid it), or is it because we like it so much that producers around the world have sought out ways to grow as much of it as they can? Most likely, the answer is a little bit of both. In terms of marketing, Cabernet Sauvignon is tough to beat. With a high level of name recognition and a top reputation, most producers and wine drinkers hold it in very high esteem. And many of its viticultural characteristics make it very easy to love. Cabernet Sauvignon is a very thick-skinned, hardy grape with good disease-resistance and the ability to grow well in a variety of soils and climates (although it does have a preference for well-draining soil and moderate climates).

Cabernet Sauvignon is, like Chardonnay, very much a winemaker’s grape. It requires a good deal of skill to handle Cabernet’s tannic nature and while it has a great affinity for oak, the integration of Cabernet Sauvignon and oak also demands a producer’s full attention. Cabernet Sauvignon produces wines that are medium to full-bodied, tannic, high in acid and very capable of extensive aging. Common primary aromas and flavors (going from cool climate to warm climate characteristics) are cinnamon, menthol, eucalyptus, mint, violet, berry, plum, blackcurrant, cassis, black olive, prune, licorice. As Cabernet Sauvignon ages, you will typically find notes of earth, tobacco, cigar-box, milk chocolate, tobacco, coffee, mocha, lead pencil, herbal tea, and leather on the nose and palate.

As mentioned above, Cabernet Sauvignon’s birthplace was most likely somewhere in the Southwest of France, but it did not take long for it to spread, and with it, a reputation for producing high quality wines. The region considered most synonymous with Cabernet Sauvignon is, of course Bordeaux. Although most Bordeaux wines are not made with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon (most are a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc), it is still considered by most (especially those on the Left Bank in Bordeaux) to be the most important of the three. Cabernet Sauvignon is also grown in the Loire and these days, throughout the South of France as well. It is what the grape can do in Bordeaux, though, that has really set the standard for Cabernet Sauvignon around the world. The gravelly soil of the left bank of Bordeaux is, in particular, considered ideal for growing top quality Cabernet and growers around the world, notably in California, Australia and Italy, have looked to achieve similar results.

If you are looking to get a sense of what Cabernet Sauvignon tastes like, I suggest you taste through any of the following wines from my list: Arrogant Frog “Lily Pad Red” Vin de Pays d’Oc, Chateau Corconnac Haut-Médoc, Chateau de Parenchère Cuvée Raphael Bordeaux Supérieur, Chateau La Maroutine Bordeaux Rouge, Chateau Machorre Bordeaux Supérieur, Grand Bateau Rouge, La Croix Bonis St. Estephe, Mas de Guiot Vin de Pays du Gard and Mouton Cadet Bordeaux Rouge. You can also have some fun by picking out some wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon grown around the world and comparing how similar and how different Cabernet from various regions can taste. And, of course, given how ageworthy Cabernet Sauvignon can be, you also could buy some wine and save it for a few years to see for yourself what happens to the aroma and taste of Cabernet Sauvignon as it ages. I’d suggest finding some Bordeaux wines from 2005 to use in your experiment. The 2005 was a fantastic vintage in Bordeaux and while tasting beautifully now, these are also wines that will age and drink well over the next 5 to 8 years (and more for the top wines).

So don’t be cruel, grab a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and give a toast to the king. It’ll make your heart (or at the very least your palate) sing.

Well, I just got back home from picking up my turkeys – one Bourbon Red and one Broad Breasted Bronze. Peregrine Farm, which is located near Chapel Hill, raises heritage turkeys each year for the holidays. I love being able to buy local, humanely raised meat – not only does it support my local economy, but it also supports creating a farming ecosystem that has positive benefits for all involved.

But here’s the thing – we are not hosting Thanksgiving this year…we’d originally considered it, but with the move and travel (etc., etc.), it just didn’t make sense. Yet I just couldn’t stop myself from buying the birds. One bird I am saving for sometime in December when my dad (he is a huge turkey lover) comes to visit, but the other is fair game for eating anytime. So here’s what I have decided. We are going to some relatives for the actual Thanksgiving, but I’ve decided that I will cook a meal later this weekend and see if anyone in the neighborhood who isn’t tired of turkey wants to join us. Call me crazy, but the idea of having Thanksgiving without getting any leftovers just won’t work! And the way I am looking at it right now, I figure giving thanks on multiple occasions is also not such a bad thing. Even with such a sour economy and bad news coming at us from all directions, I still feel thankful for my family and friends and THAT is definitely something worth celebrating.

My family is sort of funny about Thanksgiving. The list of foods that are served on that day doesn’t vary much from year to year. The Sauter family Thanksgiving is usually: pumpkin soup, turkey, gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, dressing (Southern version of stuffing, baked outside the turkey), rice casserole, corn pudding, mashed potatoes and some sort of dessert. So I will happily go to someone else’s house for Thanksgiving, but I’m so used to having the above list that somehow it doesn’t seem like Thanksgiving without those dishes. The way I look at it, I actually will get the best of both worlds – a great meal on Thursday with some family and friends, and then a more casual turkey dinner later this weekend with all of my favorite sides and plenty of leftovers. The turkey that is defrosting in my fridge as I type this is actually pretty large, so I figure it will be good for not only a second Thanksgiving, but also for several meals next week and definitely some turkey stock.

But, of course, that’s just the food. The next step is choosing the wines: this year, I volunteered to bring some wine to the actual Thanksgiving; then I still have to figure out what I want to serve at our second Thanksgiving. At the moment, I am leaning towards bringing some red and white Burgundy to Thanksgiving #1. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Burgundy are pretty safe bets – especially when you don’t know what the full menu will be for a meal. But I do know that Bill’s Uncle John is a big red drinker and that he likes Pinot Noir (as do I), so I feel pretty confident that that will go over well with all in attendance. I haven’t quite settled on a producer yet though, it will depend on what is available at my local wine shop.

Now for Thanksgiving #2. I have some older Vouvray from Huet in the cellar that I “rediscovered” when we moved; I think it would be fun to design the meal around that. It is wine that I brought back from a trip to the Loire in 2003, and I have been looking for the perfect occasion to serve it ever since. I know that it will pair well with the pumpkin soup and I think that if I season the turkey, then it would go well with that also. I have a red wine from Domaine Gauby in the Roussillon that I think I will serve as well. And instead of dessert, I think I will serve some dessert wine – I have bottles that I have been saving for over 10 years now and I think it is time to crack some of them open!

What about all of you out there? I’d love to hear about your Thanksgiving meals and if you have a favorite pairing, or if you taste a great wine over the holidays. And, of course, Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good bite!

Happy Beaujolais Nouveau day! Today is the third Thursday in November – the day that Beaujolais Nouveau is released and available for purchase. Beaujolais Nouveau, made from the Gamay grape in the Beaujolais region in France, is one of the first wines of the new harvest and it is young, fresh, fruity and low in tannins. While celebrating the release of Beaujolais Nouveau isn’t quite the spectacle it once was, it is still a pretty fun day to be a wine lover. Many restaurants, bars and wine clubs find it to be a great way to get people together to eat and drink and mark the occasion.

There are very few wine “holidays” that we can celebrate, although in general, we do celebrate a lot of holidays with wine. But celebrating the wine just for being wine, well, those days don’t come around very often. My favorite wine day is the one that celebrates St. Vincent, the patron saint of vineyards. That happens at the end of January and I like to mark the day with a tasting party. But Beaujolais Nouveau day is also a day that I enjoy because it is always fun to see people get excited and enthusiastic about tasting wine.

You might be asking yourself how the worldwide fanfare over Beaujolais Nouveau day came to be and the answer can really be summed up into two words – Georges Duboeuf. Georges Duboeuf, also called “King of Beaujolais” by some, has been a tireless and enthusiastic promoter of the Beaujolais region. Early on in his career, he realized that he could capitalize on the excitement and celebrations that marked the release of a new vintage in Paris bars and restaurants. Duboeuf came up with the idea of staging a race to Paris to deliver the Beaujolais Nouveau bottles. It was such a successful event that by the early 80’s Beaujolais Nouveau day had become a pretty big deal – so much so that by 1985, the French signed the release date (the third Thursday in November) into law. Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived to cities around the world by plane, train, boat, and any other means of transportation people could think of.

While the craziness of Beaujolais Nouveau day seems to have settled down a bit, I still find there to be a strong level of excitement around the third Thursday of November. I think for many people, Beaujolais reminds them that Thanksgiving is just around the corner and they need to figure out what wine they will serve with their turkey! As a matter of fact, Beaujolais Nouveau, which is a very light and fruity red wine, is frequently a very tasty match with a Thanksgiving meal. There are also other kinds of Beaujolais to look for – Beaujolais-Villages wines and wines from the 10 different crus (top villages) in Beaujolais. You can check out my blog entry on the region of Beaujolais and also on Gamay for more information.

The one thing to remember though when you buy your Beaujolais Nouveau, is that it is a fresh, young wine that is best enjoyed while young. So this is a wine to drink now and enjoy – not to age and save. The wines from the top villages of Beaujolais (the 10 crus) are a bit different – those are wines that can handle some aging. But Beaujolais Nouveau really can’t – so go ahead and drink it with your turkey – it’s the perfect time of year to enjoy it.

I will be heading out today to see what my local wine stores are carrying and I am especially curious to see if I can find some Beaujolais Nouveau in plastic bottles, as many producers decided this year to ship in lighter-weight PET bottles as opposed to glass. Because Beaujolais Nouveau is consumed so quickly, putting the wine in an alternative package like a PET bottle is a terrific idea – it is greener and more environmentally-friendly and just think – you don’t have to worry about breaking any bottles!

So be sure to let me know if you taste something interesting this year and also, don’t forget to try to sample other Beaujolais wines in addition to the Nouveau. There are several to try out on my top picks list to help you get started. Cheers!

Pictures sources: Inter Beaujolais

I had a bit of a hectic but fun week last week with wine events in both New York (blustery and 45 degrees) and Los Angeles (sunny and 78 degrees). The events were luncheons for folks in the wine trade (press, restaurants, retailers, distributors, etc) and offered a unique opportunity for me to see how two very different chefs paired wines selected from my list of top picks with some of their favorite dishes. I thought it might be interesting to share some of the pairing highlights with you.

The lunch in New York was at Bar Q, a fantastic place in the West Village that features Asian-style barbecue with a little bit of a French twist. The chef, Anita Lo, is exceptionally talented and innovative and it was both tasty and fun to see what she created. Each course was delicious, but there were two that really stood out. The first was a Spit Roasted Berkshire Pork Belly with Kimchee, Takuan and Steamed Buns. The pork was paired with the Le Loup Blanc La Mère Grand 2004 from the Minervois and also with the Château de La Chaize 2006 from Brouilly (one of the crus in Beaujolais). The combination of sweet and spicy flavors was really interesting with the two wines. The La Mère Grand was a bit fruitier than the earthy Château de La Chaize, but both wines worked with the course and balanced the exotic flavors of the pork beautifully.

My other favorite course (besides dessert, naturally) was a delicious Grilled Shortrib with Korean Flavors that was paired with the Marc Kreydenweiss Perrières 2005 from Costières de Nîmes and with the Christian Moueix 2005 Saint-Émilion. Again, both wines showed nicely with the dish, although I, personally, thought that the pepper and spice from the Kreydenweiss made for a slightly better pairing with the shortrib. But when I asked for a show of hands as to who preferred which wine with the shortrib, the room was pretty evenly divided.

Two days after the New York lunch, it was on to LA where the luncheon was held at a very cool place called Palate Food + Wine .
Palate is not only a restaurant – it is also a wine merchant (I ended up buying a bunch of wine before I left), a cheese cellar, a tasting bar and a lounge. Chef Octavio Becerra prepared a wonderful meal for us that featured lots of fresh, local ingredients. My favorite course was a Pork Tenderloin with grits & apple compote that was paired with 2 wines: the 2006 Domaine Le Peu de La Moriette Vouvray and the Lucien Albrecht, Crémant d’Alsace, Brut Rosé. The dish was superb – I loved the combination of flavors and textures and the apples were cooked perfectly. Both wines were sensational and I loved how the pairing worked both with an off-dry Chenin Blanc and a dry sparkling rosé.

Dessert was also terrific with a Valrhona spiced pumpkin tart paired with the Moët & Chandon White Star Champagne and the 2003 Castelnau de Suduiraut Sauternes. The combination of the pumpkin tart and the Sauternes was sooooooo good – I made a mental note to make sure that I serve the Castelnau de Suduiraut with my pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.

 All in all, a busy (but delicious) week. Of course this week is all about payback – lots of laundry, catching up on email and of course, trying to get in a few workouts to make up for all of the great food and wine of last week. But it was definitely worth it!

Recently, as a favor to a very good friend, I conducted a small wine tasting for a group of graduate students. One of the guys in the group had inherited a number of California wines, mainly red wines from Napa and Sonoma, and he wanted to share them with his friends but also have everyone learn a little bit about wine in the process of tasting.

After I looked over the list of wines that we would be tasting, I decided to include two French wines – the first, a Pinot Noir as that was one of the red grape varieties for which we didn’t have a California wine represented, and the other, a Northern Rhone Syrah to serve as a compare/contrast partner for a Ridge 2002 Syrah.

I’d had a bit of a busy week with some travel, our continued quest to unpack and just general business, so I didn’t get a chance to pick up the French wines for the tasting until that day. So, while I was out running some errands, I decided to make a stop at a new wine shop near my house called HV Bottle Shop. As many of you know, as much as I love book stores and shoe stores, there is little that can compare in my mind to the joy of shopping in a wine store – especially a new one I don’t know. So while I literally only had 20 minutes to scan the shelves and make my purchases, I did have enough time to know that I had found a store with some very interesting and exciting wines. For the tasting I selected the 2003 Domaine Bruno Clair Marsannay “Les Vaudenelles” (around $18) and the 2006 Paul Jaboulet Aine Crozes Hermitage “Les Jalets” (around $22). I also picked up a few other goodies that I can’t wait to blog about, but I am going to save those for another post.

The wines all showed well, but I was particularly impressed with the Bruno Clair Marsannay, a delicious Pinot that demonstrated that there are definitely bargains still to be found in Burgundy, and one of the wines provided by the host for the evening, the 2001 A. Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley, which was showing beautifully with evolved notes of leather, blackcurrants and cassis fruit. Our Syrah comparison (Paul Jaboulet Aine Crozes Hermitage “Les Jalets” and the 2002 Ridge Syrah Dry Creek Valley) was also very interesting with both wines showing what different climates and oak techniques can do to a grape. The Jaboulet was a bit tighter and leaner, with bright acidity and notes of black pepper, cinnamon and cherry fruit while the Ridge was fuller and softer, still with some notes of black pepper and cherries, but also with hints of coconut and dill from the use of American oak. Both were delicious and well-made, but very different and everyone was intrigued by the comparison.

I have to admit, talking to a group of wine drinkers is always a pleasure, and when the wines are so well-made and fascinating, it is all the more fun (and easy to do!). And of course, it is always interesting to taste wines from multiple regions and see not only how palates and tastes in wine can vary, but also how grape varieties can change depending on where they are grown.

If you are interested in having your own wine tasting, one of the themes that is always interesting and easy to do is an Old World versus New World comparison. You can choose a Pinot Noir (like the Maison Joseph Drouhin Laforet Pinot Noir), a Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine (like the La Croix Bonis St. Estephe) and a Syrah-based wine (like the Laurent Miquel Syrah Vin de Pays d’Oc) from France, for example, and then choose 3 New World wines (there are plenty of options – look for wines from Australia, Chile, Argentina or the US). Let me know how your tasting turns out!

In the first part of my Burgundy post we discussed some of the history of the region, the concept of terroir (the taste of a place) and the main grapes of the region (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay). In this part, we will go over the main regions of Burgundy and also cover some tips for buying Burgundy wines.

Burgundy can be divided up into several main regions. We’ll start with the northern end of the region, which is where we find Chablis. Millions of years ago, the area around Chablis was actually under water, and today you can still find fossils of oyster shells in the limestone-clay soils of the region. The wines of Chablis are white, and all made with 100% Chardonnay. Most of the wines from this very cool climate are going to be crisp in acid with notes of green apples and a gunflint/mineral character. It used to be that there was very little new oak used in Chablis, but now you will find some producers who use it. When you are shopping for Chablis, you will find wines with labels that say Appellation Contrôlée (AOC for short) Chablis, AOC Chablis Premier Cru and AOC Grand Cru.

As we make our way from North to South, the next part of Burgundy is the Côte d’Or, which is actually divided into two sections – Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. There are 25 villages (also called communes) in the Côte d’Or which produce wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. You can see from the map below the names of all of those different villages. While both the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune produce red and white wines, the Côte de Nuits is more known for its red wines and the Côte de Beaune more respected for its whites (but you can’t deny that it does also produce some excellent red wines).

There are two main appellations that cover pretty much all of Burgundy: Bourgogne Rouge (Pinot Noir) and Bourgogne Blanc (Chardonnay). If the grapes are grown in one particular village or even from a specific vineyard in a village, then the wine might be entitled to a more specific AOC (Bourgogne Rouge and Blanc are pretty broad appellations). So here is where it starts to get a bit more confusing: within the 25 villages of the Côte d’Or, you will find a large number of vineyards that have their own appellation. Some of these vineyards have also earned special designations. There are those classified as Premier Cru and then there are those elite sites that are considered the best of the best that are classified as Grand Cru sites. There are so many different appellations to mention that it might take weeks for us to discuss them all! (If you would like more information on each specific village, I suggest starting with Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine – it is THE reference book every wine lover should own.)

While it is true that Premier Cru and Grand Cru Burgundies are very expensive, the majority of wines produced in Burgundy are actually pretty affordable. You can find a wide selection of good quality Burgundies priced between $15 and $35. I recommend that you start off looking for wines that have “Bourgogne” on the label (followed by Blanc (or Chardonnay) or Rouge (or Pinot Noir). You can find several to try on my list – like the Burgundy Hills Pinot Noir, the Domaine Faiveley Bourgogne Blanc & Rouge, Maison Joseph Drouhin Laforet Chardonnay & Pinot Noir, and the Olivier Leflaive Bourgogne “Les Setilles.” Wines labeled Côte-de Beaune-Villages or Côte-de-Nuits-Villages can be a good value and I also suggest keeping your eyes peeled for good values from some of the lesser-known villages like Marsannay, Fixin, Savigny-lès-Beaune and St.-Aubin.

Further down the road in Burgundy you will find the Côte Chalonnaise and below that, the Mâconnais. The Côte Chalonnaise produces both red and white wines that can offer very good values for Burgundy – look for wines from Rully, Mercurey, Givry and Montagny in particular. The Mâconnais, which is home to the well-known Pouilly-Fuissé appellation, producers mostly white wines, but there are still some reds made, too. The wines of the Mâconnais region can also offer some excellent values for Burgundy lovers: I suggest looking for wines labeled as Mâcon-Villages, Viré-Clessé, St Véran and, of course, Pouilly-Fuissé. Two to try from my list are the Labouré-Roi Pouilly Fuissé Vallon d’Or and the Domaine des Valanges Macon-Fuissé.

One of the important things to understand about Burgundy is that it has a very fractured vineyard system, where it is possible that a single vineyard can potentially have multiple owners. This fractured system has to do with several things – the fact that vineyards were predominantly owned by the Church up until the French Revolution, the fact that the Napoleonic law of succession, which divides an estate equally between an individual’s heirs, has traditionally been enforced in Burgundy, and the fact that land is so highly valued and expensive in this region.

All of these factors have contributed to why négociants, or wine merchants, are so popular in Burgundy. Négociants such as Jadot and Latour, to name only two, buy up grapes or wine from various grape-growers in Burgundy and then produce wines under their own private label. (Many grape-growers in Burgundy simply don’t produce enough grapes to make bottling and selling the wine worthwhile.) The positive side to this, and what makes a complex region somewhat easier to navigate, is that when you find a négociant you like, you will also usually discover that this same négociant makes wines from other villages and vineyards in Burgundy. So, by looking for the negociant’s name, you have the unique opportunity to taste all of the different terroirs to find the wines that best suit your palate.

Yes, Burgundy can be a challenge, but for most, it remains a puzzle well worth attempting to decipher. There are very few regions in the world that produce wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as exquisite and memorable. So go ahead and take the plunge into Burgundy. I don’t think you will regret it!

The other day I had the pleasure of lunching with Ray Isle, who is the Deputy Wine Editor at Food & Wine magazine. I’m a fan of Ray’s work and his musings on his Food & Wine Magazine Blog, so it was a lot of fun to have a chance to sit and chat.

We had lunch at a great new restaurant in NY called Allegretti. The food was delicious and the staff exceedingly friendly. Ray and I both had the Autumn Salad with assorted greens, anjou pear, gamonedo cheese, candied walnuts and a white balsamic walnut vinaigrette and for a main course, I choose a roasted chicken while Ray went with the lamb shank. I had brought along a few wines from my list for us to taste with lunch and we also decided we would select one wine from the restaurant’s list. The list has a great selection of French wines and they range from the very affordable to the super-duper-supreme-special occasion wine.

Given our mix of lamb and chicken, we settled on the 2004 Domaine Gauby “Vieilles Vignes” Cotes de Roussillon Villages. Domaine Gauby is a biodynamic producer and I had recently read some very interesting things about them in Monty Waldin’s outstanding book, Biodynamic Wines. The wine was, in a word, delicious. A blend of Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre and Syrah, it showed notes of violets, black fruits and minerals. The wine was elegant and balanced with juicy acidity and it went beautifully with both my chicken dish as well as the cheeses we sampled for “dessert.” I was so impressed it was all I could do not to take the rest of the bottle home with me…

But the biggest thing that stood out about the Domaine Gauby was that it was served at the right temperature. I’ve talked a lot about this on the blog before – about how we tend to drink our whites too cold and our reds too warm. This red, which was probably served at somewhere around 60 degrees, was perfect. The coolness enhanced the minerality and the acidity of the wine and made it seem more refreshing than any of the other wines we had on the table. Two of the wines I had brought along were some of my favorites on the list, but when served next to the Gauby, they seemed a bit too hot and dull.

My hat is off to Allegretti not only for a lovely lunch, but also for serving its red wines at the right temperature. This was a very good reminder to me of just how important serving temperature really truly is. If you have a chance, at your next get-together, I encourage you to try sampling the same red wine served at two different temperatures. Try opening one bottle that has been out on your kitchen counter all day long and the other that you have chilled in the fridge for 20 – 25 minutes prior to opening. See if you taste a difference between the two wines and be sure and let me know which wine tastes better to you. I’ll be waiting to hear from you!

Paris, our last day in France before coming back to the USA.
We took a tour boat down the river Seine. We were able to see a lot of interesting sites from the boat but it was a bit cold and still missed much of the audio that I would have liked to capture.

I’ll be honest – I’ve always considered Burgundy to be my Achilles heel of the wine world: I love the wines from this region of France and find them completely fascinating, but the sheer number of different appellations and vineyards, as well as producers, has always confused me a little bit. Add to that the fact that I don’t really speak any French, so the names on the bottle frequently don’t sound the same way as they are spelled, and you have a bit of a challenge.

What’s a wine lover to do? Well, for one thing, you can’t let it stop you. You have to bravely plunge right into Burgundy because if you decide to skip drinking Burgundy, then you will definitely be missing out on some of the most wonderful wines in all of France. So to help you along on your journey of discovering Burgundy, this is the first of two posts that cover some of the key things you need to know about Burgundy and how you can work on developing a better understanding of this incredible region.

Let’s start off with a little bit of history about Burgundy. This is a region that has been making wine since at least the 4th century AD – if not before. While it is likely that the Romans brought some grapevines with them when they invaded Gaul way back in the 1st century AD, it is also believed that there were already vines being farmed in Burgundy for the purpose of making wine. Unfortunately, detailed record-keeping wasn’t popular until much later, so we will never know the exact details of the origins of the Burgundian wine industry. But by the Middle Ages, we can be very certain that grapes were being grown by nobles and peasants alike. Part of why we know this has to do with the fact that during the Middle Ages in Burgundy, wine-making became one of the central activities of the monks of Burgundy and it was this group that truly revolutionized the winemaking of the region.

As the Church owned a vast amount of vineyards and monks had the time, skill and resources to study the different grapes and vineyards, it was a natural fit. Over time, through intense study and documentation, monks helped to identify the best sites in the region and also which grapes produced the best wines on those sites. The region of Burgundy is very closely tied to the concept of TERROIR, which can be loosely translated to mean “the taste of a place.” Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are grapes that are reflective of their terroir – meaning that the wines produced in Burgundy from these grapes will taste differently, depending on which particular vineyards they are grown in. “Terroir” is thus a combination of grape, climate, exposure, soil and, last but not least, human know-how. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were identified very early on as grapes that were capable of producing exceptional wines in Burgundy, with its limestone soil and cool climate.

Therefore, after centuries of work, the Burgundians feel strongly that it is best to concentrate on two main grapes: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. In fact, as far back as the 14th century, it was recognized that Pinot Noir produced better wines than other red grapes that were being grown in the area. So almost all of the white wine from Burgundy is made from the Chardonnay grape and almost all of the red wine from Burgundy is made from the Pinot Noir grape. (There are, as always, just a few exceptions, but only a few, so it is pretty safe to stick with knowing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.)

So what do these wines taste like? Well, there is a good deal of variation depending on where exactly in Burgundy the grapes are grown, thanks to terroir. But overall, you can describe the whites as being elegant and mineral with little to moderate amounts of oak. The use of new oak, which gives wines a toasty, vanilla note, is not as popular in Burgundy as it is in other places around the wine world, so many of the whites do not see 100% new oak, but instead only a proportion of new oak. Depending on the appellation, which we will address in the next post, the Chardonnays of Burgundy can be nutty, taste of golden apples, lemons, and spice, or be lean with notes of green apples and minerals.

The reds, made of Pinot Noir, tend to be moderately intense in color, sometimes even on the pale side, as Pinot Noir doesn’t have as much color potential as other red grapes. On the nose they are aromatic, with notes of red fruits and spices. Pinot Noir tends to make wines with supple, silky tannins and a smooth mouth-feel. The wines can have earthy aromas and flavors, but also hints of raspberries, cherries and cooking spices. The best examples from Burgundy are capable of extensive aging and will only get better with time. The common thread for both the reds and whites of Burgundy is how food-friendly these wines are, as Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from Burgundy tend to have high levels of mouth-watering acidity and moderate levels of alcohol.

In my next post, we’ll get into the different appellations of Burgundy and how to deal with the challenge of buying wines from this region.

What a weekend! I ran the Raleigh Half-marathon on Sunday with several friends and my knees are still recovering. My time was decent, although in the time it took me to run 13.1 miles, Paula Radcliff was finishing 26.2 and winning the NYC marathon…oh well. But one of the highlights was that my friend Julia decided to use our celebration as the occasion to open up her bottle of 1989 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Champagne. Julia had some questions about the bottle which she asked me on one of our training runs last week and I got her to submit her questions to me formally on the website. So check out the Question of the Week to learn more about drinking older Champagne! And as you can see from the pictures (that’s us after the race and then that’s us after showers as we toast the race), it was a delicious experience.

And I have a question for all you wine collectors out there. I have to install a cooling unit in my basement wine cellar and I’m looking for recommendations. Anyone have one that he/she is happy with? Any type I should avoid using? I have to buy one very shortly, so I’d love to hear from anyone who has a unit in their cellar. Thanks in advance!