Burgundy Flashcards
How is land divided in Burgundy, what’s the name of the law, and when was it enacted?
The 1804 Napoleonic Code dictates that inheritances must be split equally among heirs.
When did power start to switch back to domains and growers from negociants?
1920s
What are the 5 wine growing regions in Burgundy from north to south?
Chablis Cote d'Or Cote Chalonnaise Maconnais Beaujolais
What are the two subregions of the Cote d’Or?
Cote de Nuits
Cote de Beaune
What are the main grapes allowed in Burgundy?
Pinot Noir Gamay Chardonnay Aligote Pinot Blanc
What are the four levels of appellations in Burgundy?
Regionale (comprises 50% of production)
Village
Premier (1er) cru
Grand cru (accounts for less than 2%)
Of the 5 regions of Burgundy, which 2 have grand crus?
Cote d’Or
Chablis
What is the standard regional appellation for Burgundy and what styles of wine are allowed?
Bourgogne AOP
Red, white, and rose
Under the Bourgogne AOP, where can gamay be bottled/labelled varietally?
Beaujolais
In addition to geographic designations, what two AOPs are in the Cote d’Or?
Cote de Beaune-Villages AOP
Cote de Nuits-Village AOP
To be labeled Cote de Beaune-Villages AOP, wines must be ______ (white/red) and CANNOT be sourced from these 4 villages.
Red wine
Pommard
Volnay
Aloxe-Corton
Beaune
To be labeled Cote de Nuits-Villages AOP, wines must be sourced from these 5 villages.
Fixin and Brochon (north)
Prissey, Corgoloin, and Comblanchien (south)
What is the appellation for varietal wines produced solely from Aligote?
Bourgogne Aligote AOP
What is important about Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains AOP?
Red and rose wines produced from a Pinot Noir (min 30%) and Gamay (min 15%) blend where the grapes must be vinified together, not separately.
What are the two sparkling wine AOPs in Burgundy?
Cremant de Bourgogne
Bourgogne Mousseux
What is Bourgogne Mousseux AOP?
A sparkling wine AOP reserved exclusively for sparkling reds produced in a traditional method. It’s an older, rare appellation.
When was Cremant de Bourgogne AOP started and what are the requirements for classification?
Debuted in 1975.
AOP for hand-harvested, traditional method white and rose sparkling wines, primarily using chardonnay and pinot noir.
Although Cremant de Bourgogne can be produced all around Burgundy, where is production concentrated?
Rully in the Cote Chalonnaise
In village level wines from Cote d’Or, where are the grapes planted?
On the commune’s eastern side (slight slope) or along the far western side, near the forest. The grand and premier crus fall between these two extremes.
T/F: Grand cru wines in Burgundy are single vineyard sites with their own AOP status, independent of the village they lie within.
True
What is the smallest grand cru vineyard in the Cote d’Or?
La Romanee AOP (.85 ha)
What is the largest grand cru vineyard in the Cote d’Or?
Corton AOP (160ha)
What are the 3 AOPs of Chablis?
Chablis AOP
Petit Chablis AOP
Chablis Grand Cru AOP
T/F: To label wine as Chablis it must be made exclusively from Chardonnay.
True
What soil type is found under all the premier and grand cru sites in Chablis?
Kimmeridgian marl
What is Kimmeridgian marl?
Soil type made from a mixture of limestone and clay laced with millions of oyster fossils.
Petit Chablis vines are planted on kimmeridgian marl that is covered over by what other type of soil?
Portlandien limestone
What is Burgundy’s largest white wine growing region?
Chablis
Does premier cru Chablis traditionally use new oak?
No, traditionally new oak is reserved for grand crus.
There is only one grand cru appellation in Chablis (what is it?), but there are 7 geographic designations (“grand crus”) within the appellation. What are they?
Chablis Grand Cru
Le Clos Vaudesir Valmur Preuses Banchot Bougros Grenouilles La Moutonne--unofficial (allowed on labels but not recognized as grand cru)
What soil type is found in the Cote d’Or?
Limestone is the building block and a mixture of limestone and clay make up the topsoil
What are combes?
A significant geological feature in the Cote d’Or that cuts the cotes into sections, serving as a conduit for cool breezes.
Vineyards in the Cote de Nuits face ________ while vineyards in the Cote de Beaune face ________.
CdN: due east
CdB: southeast
Are the soil types the same in the Cote de Nuits and the Cote de Beaune?
Other than Montrachet, soils in the CdB usually obtain more marl and less limestone than the CdN.
In the Cote d’Or, all of the white wine grand crus in Burgundy, except for one, are located where?
What is the exception?
Cote de Beaune
Musigny may produce whites in the CdN
In the Cote d’Or, all of the red wine grand crus in Burgundy, except for one, are located where?
What is the exception?
Cote de Nuits
Corton
What are the village appellations in the Cote de Nuits (from N to S) and which ones are also allowed to produce white wines?
Marsannay* Fixin* Gevrey-Chambertin Morey-Saint-Denis* Chambolle-Musigny Vougeot* Vosne-Romanee Nuits-Saint-George*
- = also allowed to produce AOP white wine, but often very little if at all.
How many grand crus sites are in the Cote de Nuits?
24