Burgundy Flashcards
Burgundy:
- How many AOCs
- Vineyard Classification + number
- Total 84 AOCs
Bourgogne AOC - Regional - (7)
Villages / Communal appelation (44)
Premier Crus (included in the 44 above) - they are Additional Geographic Denomination (Village name + name of Premier Cru Vineyard)
Grand Cru - (33) AOC on their own: Name of Vineyard + Premier Cru AOC (Batârd-Montrachet Grand Cru AOC)
Côte de Nuits - Villages from North to South:
Marsannay Fixin Gevrey-Chambertin Morey-St-Denis Chambolle-Musigny Vougeot Vosne-Romanée Nuits-St-Georges
Côte de Beaune - Villages from North to South:
Aloxe-Corton (+Perrand-Vergelesses & Savigny-les-Beaune) Beaune Pommard Volnay Meursault Puligny-Montrachet Chassagne-Montrachet Santenay
Côte Chalonnaise - Villages from North to South
Any Crus?
Bouzeron AOC Rully AOC Mercurey AOC Givry AOC Montagny AOC
Premier Crus, but no Grand Crus
Le Mâconnais - Appellation system
Any Crus?
Mâcon AOC - Only reds
Mâcon-Villages AOC / Mâcon-Villages + Name of the Village AOC (eg: Mâcon-Lugny AOC) - Only whites
Name of the Village AOC (only 5!) (eg. Pouilly-Fuissé AOC) - Mostly whites
Named villages appelations: Only 5 individual own villages AOC (better quality)
No Grand or Premier Crus but some sites formalizing Premier Cru status (Pouilly-Fuissé)
Macôn Individual Villages AOC
Pouilly-Fuissé AOC Pouilly-Loché AOC Pouilly-Vinzelles AOC Saint-Veráin AOC Viré-Clessé AOC
Burgundy well known Domaines & Négociants:
Bouchard Pére et Fils
Louis Jadot
Albert Bichot
Cave de Lugny (Cooperative in Le Mâconnais)
Burgundy regions
(Chablis)
Côte d’Or (Côte de Nuits + Côte de Beaune)
Côte Chalonnaise
Le Macônnais
Burgundy geographical location
Narrow strip of land (130km) from North to South from Dijon to Mâcon.
Burgundy river:
Saone
Burgundy history:
- Romans
- Cistercian monks
Burgundy Climate:
Continental: Warm (short) summers & cold winters
Moderated by: Morvan hills (to the west)
Mâconnais: slightly drier and warmer than Côte d’Or
Mountain range at the west of Côte d’Or
Morvan hills
Burgundy rainfall:
700 mm/year
early autums are usually dry but rain can fall during harvest
Factors that affect potential quality of individual sites in Burgundy:
- Slopes?
- Degree of inclination
- Aspects
- Soils
- Altitude
Burgundy Challenges:
- Ripening Pinot Noir
- Frost
- Rain (early growing cycle) (during growing season) (before harvest)
- Hail (in spring) (later in the season)
- Drought (hot, dry summers!) - grapes shrivel / vines can shut down –> halt in ripening
Burgundy Hail protection measures:
- Silver iodide rocket into thunderclouds to induce precipitation
- Nets (allowed since 2018)
- Sorting grapes (sorting tables)
General Topography in Burgundy:
SLOPES:
- Top of the slope: cold & windy, hard to ripen
- Mid slope: Best sites
- End of slope: Deeper & richer soils (more fertile), cold & vulnerable to frost
Côte d’Or topography:
- Hills from North to South
- 200-400m altitude
- East facing, but also some south-east facing
- Best sites: Mid-slope
- Well-draining soils
- Shallow soils
- Good sunlight interception
- Shelter from winds and from frost
Côte Chalonnaise topography:
- More varied aspects
- Best south-facing slopes: In Bouzeron and Rully
Le Mâconnais topography
- Best sites in process of gaining status of Premier Cru (Pouilly-Fuissé)
Burgundy soils:
Very very varied, even from one plot to another.
But in general: A mixture of LIMESTONE + CLAY
Côte de Nuits: More limestone (Pinot Noir)
Côte de Beaune: More clay (Chardonnay) and deeper soils
Depth of soils in Burgundy:
Top of the slopes: Thinner soils - very erosioned –> vines cannot thrive
Bottom of the slopes: Deeper soils and richer (more fertile), larger amount of clay –> Vines are more vigorous and increase of canopy can cause shading and difficulty for grapes to ripen.
Challenge of Burgundy in good growing seasons, for achieving quality Chardonnay wines:
Vigour management, and avoid excessive yield and shading
Dry tasting note White Burgundy, Côte d’Or:
Ripe citrus, melon, stone fruit, medium to medium+ body, medium+ to high acidity…
Burgundy training systems
- Some Cordon systems - including Cordon de Royat
- Guyot (replacement cained trained with VSP)
- Poussard Guyot