Burgundy

Question 0

The growers themselves were often bourgeoisie, who leased the land in turn to farmers in métayage (sharecropping) or fermage (leasing) arrangements. Ultimately, négociants totally controlled the sale of Burgundy until the advent of domaine bottling in the 1920s.

Answer 0

Growers relied on négociants to handle the costs of actually making and marketing the wines. Négociants were suited to the challenge of fractured vineyard ownership: they were able to purchase small, disparate lots of grapes or wine and combine them to make a commercially viable product.

Question 1

True or False: Today’s vineyards are a patchwork: the grand cru Clos Vougeot alone claims over 80 growers.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

There are five main winegrowing areas in Burgundy, spread across four French départements.* List them from north to south, they are:

Answer 2

Chablis, Côte d’Or, Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais, and Beaujolais

Question 3

The trail of vineyards, has an average width of about 1km, grows slimmest near a break in the slope between the communes of Corgoloin and Ladoix-Serrigny—the dividing line between the ____and ____. ____ is the regional capital, but the city of Beaune is the commercial center for the wine trade in the Côte d’Or.

Answer 3

Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune; Dijon

Question 4

The winegrowing region surrounding the commune of Chablis is Burgundy’s northernmost major outpost, located 130 km northwest of Dijon in the Yonne département. Name (4) other lesser-known vineyard areas, in Yonne communes that pepper the landscape around Chablis. **Collectively, these remaining areas are informally known as the Grand Auxerrois—the land surrounding Auxerre, capital of the Yonne.

Answer 4

Vézelay, Irancy, Tonnerre, and Joigny

Question 5

The _____ is one of the Région Bourgogne’s largest production areas for white wines, second only to Chablis.

Answer 5

Mâconnais
Northern reaches of Mâconnais resembles the Côte Chalonnaise, its landscape turns more dramatic in the south as jagged limestone outcroppings rise up in sharp relief from their surroundings. The Rock of Solutré, highest among them, is perhaps the most emblematic site in the Saône-et-Loire.

Question 6

All but a small northern fragment of Beaujolais—which overlaps the Mâconnais—lies in the ____ département, and its southernmost villages of production, just minutes from the city of Lyon, are closer to Vienne in the Northern Rhône Valley than the Côte d’Or. Yet historically Beaujolais has been considered part of Burgundy.

Answer 6

Rhône

Question 7

Pinot Noir is the dominant red grape of Burgundy. The red wines of the ____and____are usually comprised solely of Pinot Noir. The grape is extremely sensitive to yield pressures and changes in soil and climate, fueling debates about differences in terroir character exhibited by various villages in the Côte d’Or.

Answer 7

Côte d’Or and Côte Chalonnaise

Question 8

Name the grape that is one of the oldest V. vinifera varieties, and it is prone to frequent mutation in the vineyard; hence, a wealth of clonal selections exists, many of which originated in Burgundy.

Answer 8

Pinot Noir

Question 9

Nonetheless, many producers in Burgundy now choose to propagate the Pinot Noir vine through _____—a field selection rather than a clonal selection—which creates diversity in the vineyard and, it is believed, complexity in the final wine.

Answer 9

sélection massale-is the French term for selecting the best vines in a vineyard and propagating them through cuttings.

Question 10

____ is an important secondary grape of Burgundy and the foremost red grape in Beaujolais. In basic Beaujolais interpretations it may be fruity and simple but in good cru Beaujolais it can begin to rival Pinot Noir in complexity.

Answer 10

Gamay

Question 11

______ is synonymous with white Burgundy and it is the most planted grape overall in the entire region. Known as “Beaunois”—from Beaune—in the Yonne, the grape may owe its modern name to the commune of _____ in the Mâconnais, and it is a natural crossing of Pinot and an obscure old variety, Gouais Blanc.

Answer 11

Chardonnay

Question 12

_____, with which it has historically been confused, is permitted in many appellations but most wines are in practice produced exclusively from Chardonnay.

Answer 12

Pinot Blanc

Question 13

Another progeny of Pinot x Gouais Blanc,_____is the second-most (if a distant second) important white variety in Burgundy. This variety is usually employed for varietal white wines, particularly in the commune of Bouzeron in the Côte Chalonnaise.

Answer 13

Aligoté

Question 14

______(Pinot Gris) is permitted in many appellations as a minor grape for red blends but is rarely encountered. Other rare grapes—César, Tressot, Sacy, etc.—may still be authorized for certain AOPs but have effectively disappeared from the vineyards of Burgundy.

Answer 14

Beurot

Question 15

With almost 100 appellations, Burgundy is the most heavily regulated region in France. What is the four-tier hierarchy of appellations in the Burgundy AOP system—in which quantities reduce but wine quality theoretically improves as one climbs the ladder.

Answer 15

Grand Cru-only in Côte d’Or & Chablis, account for

Question 16

True or False: Authorities rechristened a little-used regional appellation, Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire AOP, as Coteaux Bourguignons AOP in an attempt to revitalize it. Coteaux Bourguignons shares the same broad dimensions as Bourgogne AOP, but its regulations allow the inclusion of Gamay in red blends. Inexpensive blended white and rosé wines are also authorized for the appellation.

Answer 16

True

Question 17

Bourgogne AOP varietal wines labeled as Gamay are permitted in the area of Beaujolais and Bourgogne AOP. True or False

Answer 17

False-an effort to stem consumer confusion led to the Gamay’s disqualification for general Bourgogne AOP rouge and rosé wines in 2011

Question 18

Certain villages, vineyards, and geographic regions may legally append their names to Bourgogne AOP, more precisely defining the wine’s origin. Technically, these are “geographical designations” of Bourgogne AOP rather than distinct appellations. True or False

Answer 18

True-For example, Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise is produced within the Saône-et-Loire département, just south of the Côte d’Or. Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits and Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune—the “high slopes”—red and white wines are sourced from scattered vineyards in the low mountains just west of the more prestigious Côte d’Or village appellations.

Question 19

Name four lieux-dits approved in the 1990s as geographic designations for Bourgogne AOP: **(Even if a geographical designation is not listed, domaine producers often source material for Bourgogne AOP from vineyard parcels near their home villages; négociant houses may cast a wider net.)

Answer 19

La Chapelle Notre Dame
Le Chapitre
Côte St-Jacques
Montrecul

Question 20

In addition to the Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes geographic designations, the Cote d’Or produces Côte de Beaune-Villages AOP and Côte de Nuits-Villages AOP. Côte de Beaune-Villages wines are____, and grape material may be sourced from any village in the Côte de Beaune save Pommard, Volnay, Aloxe-Corton, and Beaune itself. Côte de Nuits-Villages wines are red or (rarely) white, and may be sourced from the villages of Fixin and Brochon in the north, and Prissey, Corgoloin, and Comblanchien in the south.

Answer 20

red

Question 21

Bourgogne Aligoté AOP is a separate appellation for varietal wines produced solely from the white Aligoté grape. Wines from the appellation are often—but not always—simple and refreshing, and the grape frequently exhibits high acidity. In Burgundy, the wine is usually drank as an apéritif, or combined with crème de cassis as the classic base for a _____.

Answer 21

Kir cocktail

Question 22

Red and rosé wines, modeled on the field blends of the past, are produced throughout the Côte d’Or and southern Burgundy as Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains AOP. Pinot Noir and Gamay account for a minimum 30% and 15% of the blend, respectively, and the two grapes must be vinified together. Red Passe-Tout-Grains is far more common than rosé.

Answer 22

Factoid

Question 23

Name two of Burgundy’s sparkling wine AOPs with grapes.

Answer 23

Crémant de Bourgogne and Bourgogne Mousseux
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Crémant styles may be made throughout Burgundy, but much production is concentrated in and around the commune of Rully in the Côte Chalonnaise, where Burgundy sparkling wines were born in the early 19th century.

Question 24

True or False: One can blend fruit from different premier cru parcels within the same village and still use the term premier cru, sans actual vineyard name, on the label. In some instances, smaller premier cru vineyards may be grouped together into larger ones, and a producer may have the option to choose which vineyard name he/she prefers.

Answer 24

True

Question 25

______AOP—which, at 0.85 ha, is the smallest AOP in France—to the massive, _____largest Grand Cur AOP in Burgundy, comprising 160 ha.

Answer 25

La Romanée AOP—is the smallest AOP in France

Corton AOP to the massive Grand Cru in Burgundy

Question 26

True or False: Some of the largest AOPs, like Corton and Clos de Vougeot, have sectors that hold greater potential than other sites within the same vineyard—unlike premier cru wines, grand cru wines in the Côte d’Or must be produced solely from the single, stated vineyard.

Answer 26

True- A blend of Chambertin AOP and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze AOP (two neighboring grand cru appellations in Gevrey-Chambertin) could claim neither AOP as its origin on the label, just as a blend of Gevrey-Chambertin AOP and Vosne-Romanée AOP fruit loses the right to display either appellation on the label. In these two cases, the wines would be “declassified” as Gevrey-Chambertin AOP (with the right to a generic premier cru geographic designation) and Bourgogne AOP, respectively.