Burgundy Breakdown Flashcards
Chablis
lies in the valley of the River Serein. The climate in Chablis is continental with cold winters and warm summers. Because of the cool northern location there is uncertainty about ripening and considerable vintage variation. 670mm rain. limestone and clay soils, some of which has a considerable amount of fossilized seashells and is known as Kimmeridgian soil
Chablis Appellations -
Petit Chablis (higher, cooler vineyards, predominantly with Portlandian soils hard limestone with less clay). 60hl/ha
Chablis (large area of Kimmeridgian soil and mixed aspects. predominantly on flat land or on gentle slopes. The aspects vary with many north-facing sites) . 60hl/ha
Chablis Premier Cru (40 named vineyards, south-and south-east-facing facing slopes of Kimmeridgian soil). 58hl/ha
Chablis Grand Cru (7 named vineyards (climats), south facing mid slopes, on the right bank of the River Serein, and is on Kimmeridgian soil. Chablis Grand Cru represents just 1 per cent of the region’s total production). 54hl/ha
option for chaptalisation
Burgundy Overview - Côte d’Or, the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais
Climate is Moderate Continental The Côte d’Or lies on a range of Morvan hills oriented north-south at elevations ranging from around 200-400m. Best sites mid-slope. Aspects are more varied in the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais. Some of the best south-east facing slopes of the Côte Chalonnaise are found in Bouzeron and Rully soils are composed of mixtures of various types of limestones and clay, though the proportions vary. The Côte de Nuits is more dominated by limestone in the mixture. The majority of the most highly regarded Pinot Noir wines is grown here. The Côte de Beaune has more clay and the soils are deeper. The majority of the most highly regarded Chardonnay wines come from this area Guyot and Poussard Guyot training. Planting densities are typically around 8–10,000 vines per hectare though there are growers who have much higher planting densities. Regional - 69 hL/ha (red) and 75 hL/ha (white) Village - 40-45 hL/ha (red) and 45-47 hL/ha (white) Grand Cru - as low as 35 hL/ha (red) and 40 hL/ha (white) The standard oak cask is the 228 litre Burgundy barrel (known as a pièce) In the Côte Chalonnaise, the classification stops at premier cru. The Mâconnais is in the final stages of formalising premier cru status for some of its vineyards. Across Burgundy, excluding Beaujolais, there are 84 appellations, including 33 grands crus, 44 village appellations and 7 regional appellations. the region’s 640 premiers crus are additional geographical denominations related to a village The classification system itself is not a guarantee of quality. As a result of Napoleonic inheritance laws, the majority of vineyards in the Côte d’Or are owned by more than one domaine and hence the range of quality of the wines from even a small appellation depends as much upon the reputation and skill of the domaine as the reputation of the vineyard.
types of businesses involved in Burgundy:
growers – businesses that have vineyard holdings and sell their grapes or unfinished wines to négociants. There are several thousand growers and typically their holdings are divided in parcels in different vineyards and villages.
domaines – businesses that own vineyards and make wine from them, which they sell under their own domaine label
négociants – typically large businesses that buy grapes and/or wines, finish them and bottle them for sale under their own name
micro-négociants – smaller businesses that buy grapes from very good to top quality vineyards, make the wines and sell them under their own name, for example, Benjamin Leroux.
co-operatives – these businesses are less important in the Côte d’Or but have a more predominant role in Chablis (La Chablisienne), the Mâconnais (e.g. the Cave de Lugny), and, to a lesser extent, in the Côte Chalonnaise.
Main grapes - Chardonnay (buds early, ripens early), Pinot noir (buds early, ripens early). Historically there was a substantial proportion of Aligoté and Gamay grown here until the early twentieth century
Côte d’Or
4 tier hierarchy: Regional , Village, Premier Cru , Cru Grand Cru
one per cent grand cru, 47 per cent village and premier cru, and 52 per cent regional appellations. In the Côte d’Or, the classification reflects the location of vineyards, including their position on the slope.
Principal Appellations in the Côtes de nuits:
Gevrey-Chambertin AOC – Red wine only. It is the largest village in the Côte de Nuits. Its grands crus also include Charmes Chambertin AOC and Chambertin Clos de Bèze AOC.
Morey-Saint-Denis AOC – Almost exclusively red wine. Its grands crus include Clos de Tart AOC and Clos de la Roche AOC.
Chambolle-Musigny AOC – Red wines only for the village wine. Its grands crus include Bonnes Mares and Musigny AOC.
Vougeot AOC – This is a tiny village appellation for red and white wines. Its grands cru is called Clos de Vougeot AOC and is much larger than the village appellation.
Vosne-Romanée AOC – Red wine only. Its grands crus include a number of the most famous grands crus, including La Tâche AOC and Romanée-Conti AOC.
Nuits-Saint-Georges AOC – Almost exclusively red wines. There are no grands crus but there are important premiers crus such as Les Saint-Georges and Les Vaucrains.
producers have also turned to the other villages for more accessibly priced wines: e.g. Marsannay (more red or rosé than white) and Fixin (mainly red).
Principal Appellations in the Côte de Beaune:
Aloxe-Corton AOC, Pernand-Vergelesses AOC and Ladoix-Serrigny AOC – these three villages cluster round the hill of Corton. Whilst the villages and their premiers crus mostly produce red wines, the hill’s most famous vineyard, Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru AOC is exclusively white. The substantial Corton Grand Cru AOC has many lieux-dits within it. It is mostly planted with Pinot Noir, but can produce Chardonnay.
Beaune AOC – Predominantly red wines but white wines are made too. Leading premiers crus include Le Clos des Mouches and Les Grèves.
Pommard AOC – Red wines only, the most prestigious premiers crus include Les Rugiens and Clos des Épeneaux.
Volnay AOC – Red wines only, sought-after premiers crus include Clos des Chênes and Les Caillerets.
Meursault AOC – White wines only with well-known premiers crus including Perrières and Genevrières.
Puligny-Montrachet AOC and Chassagne-Montrachet AOC – Puligny-Montrachet produces exclusively white wines; a small amount of red at both village and premier cru level is produced in Chassagne-Montrachet. Between them stretch the most celebrated white grands crus of Burgundy, including Le Montrachet AOC and Bâtard-Montrachet AOC.
St Aubin AOC – White wines only. Leading premiers crus include Sur le Sentier du Clou and En Remilly.
the next tier of village appellations has also become sought after including St Romain AOC (mainly white), Auxey-Duresses AOC (mainly red), and Santenay AOC (mainly red).
Côte Chalonnaise
The region produces more red than white wine. Its regional Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise AOC wines can offer good value and are frequently labelled simply as Bourgogne AOC.
There is a substantial number of sites classified as premier cru, but no grand cru. The premiers crus tend to be on the warmest, south-, south-east and east-facing slopes (good sunlight interception) with well- drained limestone soils, producing riper fruit and wines of higher quality.
Principal Appellations in the Côtes Chalonnaise:
Bouzeron AOC – Wines bearing this appellation must be 100 per cent Aligoté, and this village is respected as the finest region for Burgundy’s second white grape.
Rully AOC – Rully produces more white wines than reds, with premiers crus for both. Just over a quarter of the appellation is premier cru. It is an important area for grapes destined for Crémant de Bourgogne.
Mercurey AOC – The largest producer of the communal appellations in the Côte Chalonnaise, producing significantly more red wine than white wine. Around a quarter of the vineyard area is classified as premier cru.
Givry AOC – Mostly red wines, over 40 per cent premier cru.
Montagny AOC – White wines only. Two-thirds is classified as premier cru.
Mâconnais
This region produces mostly white wines. Inexpensive regional wines are often labelled simply as Bourgogne AOC
3 tier hierarchy:
Macon AOC - predominantly red (or rosé) wines, with a small amount of white
Macon Villages (and Macon + named village) AOC - white only
Named village appellation - Pouilly-Fuissé AOC, Saint-Véran AOC and Viré-Clessé AOC (along with the much smaller Pouilly- Vinzelles AOC, Pouilly-Loché AOC) are currently the only separate appellations in the Mâconnais
Wine Business
Since the 1980s there has been a move towards more domaine bottling. However, there are still a number of very well-known and well-regarded négociants many of whom date back to the nineteenth century, including Joseph Drouhin, Louis Jadot and Bouchard Père et Fils.
Around 50 per cent of all Burgundy is sold in France, 25 per cent in the other EU states and 25 per cent outside the EU. The largest export markets by value are the USA, UK and Japan.
Village names also act as indicators of subtle style differences in both red and white wines. Both the name of the domaine and of the appellation, including the single vineyard names, are very important drivers of price in Burgundy.
High land prices, along with increasing worldwide demand for a relatively small production and the dramatic differences in volumes produced due to weather hazards has meant that prices have increased substantially since the mid-2000s. Total production is approximately one quarter of that in Bordeaux. prices rose by 200 per cent between 2003 and 2016
