What's Going On in the World of French Wines

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!