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
What is Poussard Guyot vine training?
- Can prune system
- Softer training system
- Prioritizes sap routes of the vine
- Pruning wounds only in the upper part of the cordon
- Small number of pruning woods –> Protects old wood against trunk diseases
- Requires very skilled vineyard workers
- Aids canopy management during the growing season
What is Cordon de Royat vine training system?
Old wood
2 arms
Spur-pruning: leaving smaller shoots
–> Limits vigour and thus yields - but high proportion of old wood can harbor disease
Burgundy planting densities:
8000-1000 vines per hectare (some growers even higher)
–> Encourages root competition –> Better quality fruit (Smaller & more concentrated berries)
Burgundy Pruning:
- Objective
- Systems
- To manage and control yields
- Winter pruning choices
- De-budding: To achieve a good balance of the vine, BUT risks that the left buds end up being affected by weather hazards
- Green harvesting/crop thinning: Removal of bunches of grapes to increase ripeness of the grapes left on the vine and achieve ripeness uniformity.
- If late in the season, allows growers to take into account unpredictable weather ebents (especially hail) before taking action. BUT it can lead to excessive growth in remaining bunches (compensation) resulting in grape dilution.
Burgundy maximum yields:
Regional appellations: REDS: 69 hL/ha - WHITES: 75 hL/Ha
Villages appellations: REDS: 40-45 hL/ha - WHITES: 45-47 hL/ha
(Premier Crus not stated in the book)
Grand Crus: REDS: 35 hL/ha - WHITES: 40 hL/ha
(There are wide ranges within the quality levels, according to rules from each appellation)
Importance of organic & biodynamic in Burgundy
Has become more popular recently, in order to “revitalize the soil”
BUT is challenging because of the climate AND *parcelation (minimum area required for certain practices)
Burgundy Pest & Diseases
Moist climate:
- ->
- Gray rot
- Powdery mildew, Downy mildew - Treated by spraying and canopy management
- Grape moths - treated with pheromone capsules (sexual confusion-disrupts mating)
- Esca (and other trunk diseases)
- Grapevine yellows (recently a case so now government became more vigilant and are monitoring closely) - important to prune and train carefully
Why are harvest decisions so important in Burgundy?
Because of the marginal climate:
- If harvest early: Acidity is preserved, but grapes might not be fully ripe
- If harvest late: Softer wine style but risk of rains and other weather hazards
*Availability of workers is a factor to take into account, because most of the fruit is picked by hand (steep slopes and whole bunches needed)
Burgundy WHITE Winemaking
- Picking: Almost all by hand -and definitely in higher quality levels
- Sorted, typically on sorted tables - important for consistent quality in cool climate
- Pre-fermentation maceration?: No, as chardonnay does not have aromatic or flavour compounds in skins. It goes direct to press
- Pressed: In whole bunches - helps drain the must
- Hyperoxidation: Practiced by some producers, to help stabilize the wine against potential oxidation.
- Must adjustments:
-Acidification/de-acidification: Permitted to EU levels
-Chaptalisation: allowed but not at the same time as acidification/deacidification.
Done to reach minimum alcohol required
Done to achieve a desired style
Less common now (because of warmer temperatures) - Fermentation yeast: - Clarification: High quality wines–> By sedimentation and racking / For less expensive wines: Faster ways (flotation, agents, centrifugation)
- Regional levels: Commercial yeasts
- Villages and up: Ambient yeast is common (–> expresses terroir and producers are prepared to monitor closely and intervene as necessary)
- Fermentation temperature: at mid range temperature to avoid banana flavours of cold fermentation and preserve primary fruit.
- Fermentation vessel: The more expensive wines are typically fermented and aged in oak barrels –> For a creamier, rounder texture
- MLF: Usually yess - but for fresher styles can be blocked
- Lees: 8-12 months in barrel with the lees + often battônage (–> creamier texture, avoid reduction, stabilization)
- Ageing vessels: 228 L ageing vessels BUT some producers use larger (500-600l) –> larger surface to volume ratio –> softer effects of oak and oxidation
- Use of new oak: From less to more as quality increases
- Fining/filtering: Normally all fined and filtered to satisfy commercial purposes
What is “premox”?
Premature oxidation:
Overprotection of the wine from oxygen can make it eventually more prone to oxidation.
Burgundy WHITE wine - Use of new oak %:
- Regional: Little or nothing
- Villages: 20-25%
- Premier Crus: 30-50%
- Grand Crus: 50% & more - 100% not unheard of
Burgundy RED winemaking:
Pinot Noir NEEDS careful vinification.
Objectives:
*Preserve the primary character of the fruit
*Not overwhelm the delicate fruit with excess oak
- Picking: By hand mostly
- Sorting, in sorting tables, for all except inexpensive wines
- Cold soaking: YES, for colour extraction
- Crushing: Not always, as most of the time
fermentation is carried in whole bunches or mixing - Fermentation vessels: Small open-top vessels (to facilitate cap management techniques)
- Cap management techniques: Punch down (pigeage), pump over (remontage)
- Post-fermentation maceration: Longer times for higher qualities (up to 3 weeks)
- Pressing:
-Horizontal pneumatic press
-Vertical press (gentler)
(Free run juice and press juice usually kept separated but can eventually be blended) - MLF: Spontaneous - happens the spring after harvest when the cellars start to warm up again
- Maturation vessels: Typically Burgundian barrels
- Maturation time: The higher the quality, the longer the time
- Use of new oak: Varies widely across region & producers. (Usually higher proportion in Grand & Premier Crus)
- Fining & filtration: Inexpensive wines lightly filtered / Higher levels of quality: May not be
Benefits of Pinot Noir whole bunch fermentation:
- Add perfume, freshness and fine tannins to the wine
Careful with unripe stems!
Maturation time of RED wine:
- Less expensive wines: less than a year
- Premium & super premium wines: 12-20 months is common
Burgundy Vineyard Classification and numbers and % for each level
Total: 84 Appellations (including Chablis)
- Regional / Communal AOCs (52%): 7
- Villages & Premier Crus (47%): 44 (Premier Crus are not appellations on their own but related to a village)
Grand Crus (1%): 33
Criteria for vineyard classification:
- Soils
- Microclimate
- Aspect
Additional Geographic Denomination:
- Regional Appellation + AGD of the general area (e.g. Bourgogne-Hautes Côtes de Nuits AOC)
- Village Appellation + name of Premier Cru Vineyard AOC (e.g. Meursault Perrières Appelattion Meursault 1er Cru Controlée)
- Mâcon + Village name AOC (Mâcon-Lugny AOC, Mâcon-Verzé AOC)
- Grand Cru vineyard + AGD of a climat (e.g. Chablis Premier Cru Les Clos AOC or Corton-Les Bressandes Grand Cru AOC)
Burgundy Vineyard Classification-Topography-style:
- Top of the slopes (flat land): Regional/ Generic AOCs - Less concentration & structure, they struggle to ripen in cooler years
- Mid-slopes: Best sites (Grand Crus & Premier Crus) - Full ripeness can be achieved in cooler years - Great balance, structure, concentration & length (if good winemaking)
- Lower part of slopes: Villages - Can ripe but not at the same level as vineyards above - Still can have good quality and character
- Foothills: Regional/Generic - Less ripeness and concentration
*Marsannay - style:
Only rosé in Côte d’Or
More gentle slope - less protection from the winds coming from South West
*Fixin - style:
Light body-fresh reds
Côte de Nuits, from Gevery-Chambertin to Nuit St Georges - style:
(Highest protection from the West winds)
–>
More ripeness
Higher alcohols
*Pommard - style:
More robust
More tannic
More full body REDS
*Volnay - style:
Elegant, fruity, perfumed & fragrant REDS
What affects the style and quality in Burgundy?
- Soils
- Aspects
- Slopes & degree
- Microclimate
- & winemaking decisions!! (use of oak, battônage, whole bunches fermentation…)
*Gevrey Chambertin - style:
More full body REDS
*Chambolle-Musigny - style:
More fruity and more fragrant REDS
*Meursault - style:
More full body & powerful WHITES
*Puligny-Montrachet - style:
More floral & concentrated WHITES
Burgundy Trade History:
Traditionally through négociants
Since 1980: More domaine bottling
Burgundy Trade Players:
- Négociants
- Growers
- Domaines
- Micronegociants
- Cooperatives
Example of Burgundy Micronégociant:
Benjamin Laroux
Example of Burgundy cooperative:
La Chablisienne (Chablis)
Cave de Lugny (Le Mâconnais)
Famous Burgundy négociants:
Louis Jadot Domaine Faiveley Albert Bichot Domaine Dujac / Dujac Pere et Fils Josep Drouhin Bouchard Pere et Fils
Why has there been a significant rise in quality in Burgundy?
- Younger winemakers: Have travelled and have adapted to modern and new winemaking techniques (better trained technically)
Burgundy Routes to Market:
- Producer to consumer (via cellar door)
- Negociant/cooperative to final retail customer (via the distribution channel)
Burgundy Market Share
50% France
25% European Union states
25% Outside EU
Burgundy Export Markets:
by value
- US
- UK
- JAPAN
Burgundy Price Drivers:
- Appellation
- Domaine name
(Very well regarded domaines can fetch higher prices for wines from their villages wines than less known producers Premier Crus)
*Village names act as indicators of style differences
Burgundy Sales Channels:
Premier & Grand Crus:
- En Primeur
- Specialized Wine shops
- Fine dining
Villages & Regional appellations:
- General shops
- Supermarkets
- Hospitality
*Secondary market important!!
Burgundy - Drivers for Supply & Demand
- Land price
- Scarcity of land
- Scarcity of supply
- High demand worldwide
- Big variation in volumes between years
