Burgundy Flashcards
Three grapes are grown in Burgundy, what are they?
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and aligote
What are the four main regions of Burgundy?
Chablis, Cote d’Or, Cote Chalonnaise, and Maconnais
What is the unofficial fifth region of Burgundy?
Beaujolais
Where was Burgundy’s first documented vineyard? When was it started?
Meursault, in the first century
Where did the name Burgundy come from?
In 450, the Germanic Burgondes settled in the area, calling it Burgundia.
What year was Burgundia absorbed into the Frankish kingdom established by Clovis, King of the Franks
534
When was modern France born?
At Clovis’ coronation, and Clovis’ eventual conversion to Christianity established France was a Christian nation
What period of time is most crucial to Burgundy’s history?
The thousand year period from the 8th century to the French Revolution, when the land and most wine was under command of Benedictine and Cistercian monks
What important event occurred in 1789?
The French Revolution, which forever ended the hegemony of the church and Burgundy’s famous dukes. Immense tracts of land were confiscated and split up among local farmers
What is the Napoleonic Code of 1804?
Upon the death of a parent, all children must inherit qually.
What is a lieu-dit?
A specific vineyard that has an established name
What is a climat?
A specific parcel within a vineyard that has unique terroir characteristics
What are Bourgogne Rouge’s and Bourgogne Blanc’s?
Basic regional wines that are blends of various lots of wine made from grapes of the same variety grown anywhere in the entire region of Burgundy.
What percentage of wine produced in Burgundy is designated as ‘Bourgogne Rouge’ or ‘Bourgogne Blanc’?
52%
What is Village Wine?
A village wine is made entirely from grapes grown in and around that village. The name of the village will appear on the label.
How many villages are there in Burgundy?
44
What percentage if wine produced in Burgundy is Village Wine?
36%
What year were top Burgundy wines ranked into Premier Cru and Grand Cru categories?
1861
How many Premier Cru vineyards are there in Burg?
629
How many Grand Crus are there in Burgundy?
33
What will appear on a Premier Cru label?
The name of the vineyard will appear on the label, after the name of the village
What will appear on a Grand Cru label?
Their name alone, followed by ‘Grand Cru’
What percentage if wine produced in Burgundy is Premier Cru?
10%
What percentage if wine produced in Burgundy is Grand Cru
2%
Which region hold 32 of the 33 Grand Cru vineyards?
Cote d’Or
Which region hold 1 of the 33 Grand Cru vineyards?
Chablis
How is vineyard ownership unique in Burgundy?
The boundaries of most vineyards were established centuries ago by monks attempting to define parcels of ground solely based on terroir. Most vineyards in Burgundy have more than one owner.
What is the Grand Cru vineyard Clos de Vougeot a great example of?
How insane vineyard ownership is in Burgundy. Clos de Vougeot is 125 acres, and has eighty owners. Each of them makes a wine called Clos de Vougeot.
What are monopoles?
A vineyard that has only one owner.
How many Grand Cru monopoles are there?
8
Name the 8 Grand Cru monopoles?
- Ruchottes-Chambertin ‘Clos des Ruchottes’
- Clos de Tart
- Romanee-Conti
- La Tache
- La Romanee
- La Grand Rue
- Corton ‘Clos des Marechandes’
- Corton ‘Clos des Cortons Faiveley’
Who owns Romanee-Conti and La Tache?
DRC
Who owns Clos de Tart?
Clos de Tart (Owned by Francois Pinault of Latour, who purchased from Mommessin in 2017)
Who owns Ruchottes-Chambertin?
Domaine Armand Rousseau
Who owns La Romanee?
Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair
Who owns La Grande Rue?
Domaine Francois Lamarche
Who owns Corton ‘Clos des Marechandes’?
Albert Bichot
Who owns Corton ‘Clos des Cortons Faiveley’?
Domaine Faiveley
Most common fining agent for chardonnay in Burg?
Casein and Isingglass
Most common fining agent for Pinot Noir in Burg?
Egg whites
‘Burgundian method’ examples
Harvesting in small lots and making wines from each lot separately, using indigenous yeasts, barrel fermentation and malolactic fermentation of white wines, small open-topped fermenters for red wine.
What is Cote d’Or named for?
A contraction of Cote d’Orient, “eastern-facing slope”
Until the 1980’s most of the commerce in Burgundian wine was controlled by who?
Negociants, who rose to power after the French Revolution when fragmented ownership of small parcels of land in Burgundy made it economically difficult for small growers to bottle, market, and sell their own wine.
How many acres is Burgundy in total?
66,000 (compare to 290,000 of BDX)
What region in Burgundy is devoted ONLY to white wine?
Chablis
What sub-region in Burgundy is devoted ONLY to red wine?
Cote de Nuits
What are the two subregions of Cote d’Or?
Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune
Red vs. White breakdown for Burg regions
Chablis- 100% white Cote de Nuits- almost 100% red Cote de Beaune- 50% red, 50% white Cote de Chalonnaise- 50% red, 50% white Maconnais- almost 100% white
Name the Grand Cru vineyards in Chablis
Chablis Grand Cru
Name the 7 Climats in Grand Cru vineyards in Chablis
Blanchot, Bougros, Grenouilles, Les Clos, Les Preuses, Valmur, and Vaudesir
Name the 9 Grand Cru vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin
Chambertin Clos-De-Beze, Chapelle-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, Griotte-Chambertin, Latricieres-Chambertin, Le Chambertin, Mazis-Chambertin, Mazoyeres-Chambertin, Ruchottes-Chambertin
Name the Grand Cru vineyard that is partially in Morey-St. Dennis and partially in Chambolle-Musigny
Bonnes Mares
Name the 4 Grand Cru Vineyards in Morey-St. Dennis
Clos des Lambrays, Clos de la Roche, Clos de Tart, and Clos St. Denis
Name the 1 Grand Cru Vineyard in Chambolle-Musigny
Le Musigny
Name the 1 Grand Cru Vineyard in Vougeot
Clos de Vougeot
Name the 8 Grand Cru Vineyards in Vosne-Romanee
Echezeaux, Grands Echezeaux, La Romanee, La Tache, La Grande Rue, Richebourg, Romanee-Conti, and Romanee-St. Vivant
Name the 1 Grand Cru Vineyard in Aloxe-Corton
Charlemagne
Name the 2 Grand Cru Vineyards partially in Pernard-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Carton, and Ladoix-Serrigny
Corton-Charlemagne and Le Corton
Name the 2 Grand Cru Vineyards partially in Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet
Batard-Montrachet and Le Montrachet
Name the 2 Grand Cru Vineyards in Puligny-Montrachet
Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet
Name the 1 Grand Cru VIneyard in Chassange-Montrachet
Criots-Batard-Montrachet
Is chaptalization legal in Burgundy?
Yes!
Generally, what is the soil in Burgundy?
Limestone and Limestone-rich clay called marl
What is the soil in Chablis? What other region shares this specific soil type?
Kimmeridgian limestone (formed during the Kimmeridgian stage of the Jurrassic Period), and Champagne
Cote means what?
Slope
VIllage wine location on a slope
Village wines are usually made at the bottom of the slope, here the soil is heaviest, least well drained, and most full of clay.
Grand Cru location on a slope
Mid-slope, The limestone and marl is abundant and there’s a solar-panel like 45-degree exposure to sun throughout the day.
What is the thermal belt of a cote?
The mid-slope area
What are the five main villages of Chalonnaise?
Mercurey, Bouzeron, Rully, Givry, and Montagny
What is Bouzeron known for primarily?
Aligote
What was Rully once known for?
It used to be the cremant center of Burgundy, there are still many cremants made here
What is Montagny known for?
The only village in Chalonnaise devoted exclusively to Chardonnay
What region of Burgundy has no Premier Crus or Grand Crus?
Maconnais
What is the soil os Maconnais?
Some is limestone and marl, but towards the southern end, granite and schist are also found
Macon is found as either simple _____ or even better ______ and in one further step up, 26 villages have the right to append their name to the word ____ .
Macon, Macon-Villages, Macon - their name
The most highly thought of appellation within the Maconnais
Pouilly-Fuise
How many miles long is Beaujolais?
35 miles
Gamay’s flavour:
black cherry, black raspberry, peaches, roses, followed by pepper.
What winemaking process is specific to Beaujolais?
Carbonic maceration
How does carbonic maceration work?
Entire clusters of grapes are put into the fermenting tank. The grapes at the bottom, crushed by the weight of the grapes on top, release their juice, which immediately starts fermenting naturally due to the sild yeast on the grape skins, bathing the grapes on top with CO2. The top layers eventually explode under the pressure of the CO2, causing them to begin fermentation.
Where and when did Gamay originate?
Burgundy in the 14th century
Why is Gamay only grown in Beaujolais now?
Philipe the Bold hated it and banished it in 1395
By law Beaujolais is made in three categories
Beaujolais 50%, Beaujolais-Villages 25%, Beaujolais Cru 25%
Name the ten crus of Beaujolais
St. Amor, Julienas, Chenas, Moulin-A-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnie, Brouilly, and Cote de Brouilly
What is the main soil type in Haut Beaujolais and Bas Beaujolais
Haut- granite
Bas- sedimentary rock and clay
What is Beaujolais Nouveau?
A grapey young red wine that is made immediately after harvest.
What;s Beaujolais Nouveau’s uniform release date?
The third Thursday of November, since 1985
