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!

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.