Burgundy - Central W+ France Flashcards
Burgundy Break Down:
5 main winegrowing areas in Burgundy, spread across 4 French départements.* From north to south, they are: Chablis Côte d'Or Côte Chalonnaise Mâconnais Beaujolais
Rivers:
Saône River - Cote d’Or - 60km S from Chalon-sur-Saône to Mâcon
Serein (“serene”) River - Chablis
Central Burgundy - Côte d’Or:
Core of Région Bourgogne, most coveted wines
WineGrowing: “golden slope”— thin ribbon of vineyard extending 60ish km (average width of 1 km) from outskirts of Dijon S through 3 small Maranges communes
2 subregions: Côte de Nuits in N, Côte de Beaune in S.
Nearly unbroken string of vineyard plots, on E- + SE-facing slopes of limestone escarpment—the côtes—forested summits mark the winegrowing region’s W edge. Vineyards slimmest near break in slope between communes of Corgoloin + Ladoix-Serrigny—the dividing line between the Côte de Nuits + Côte de Beaune. Dijon is regional capital, but city of Beaune is commercial center for wine trade in the Côte d’Or.
N Burgundy - Chablis, Yonne department:
Winegrowing region surrounding commune of Chablis = Burgundy’s Nmost major outpost, 130 km NW of Dijon in the Yonne département. Other lesser-known vineyard areas, in Yonne communes like Vézelay, Irancy, Tonnerre, + Joigny, pepper landscape around Chablis. These remaining areas are informally known as The Grand Auxerrois—the land surrounding Auxerre, capital of the Yonne.
S-ish Burgundy - Côte Chalonnaise, N Saône-et-Loire département:
S of Côte d’Or in N Saône-et-Loire département.
Named from city of Chalon-sur-Saône.
Unlike Côte d’Or, where vineyards follow contours of a single escarpment, the Côte Chalonnaise = W edge of Saône River Valley, + its vineyards occupy a series of non-contiguous, gently sloping hillsides. Regarded as a quality winegrowing region, they lack the pedigree + price commanded in Côte d’Or.
Saône River runs 60km S from Chalon-sur-Saône to Mâcon, capital of département + namesake of the Mâconnais winegrowing region.
S Burgundy - Mâconnais, S Saône-et-Loire département:
1 of Région Bourgogne’s largest production areas for white wines, 2nd only to Chablis. The N reaches of Mâconnais resembles the Côte Chalonnaise, but its landscape turns more dramatic in S as jagged limestone outcroppings rise up in sharp relief from their surroundings. The Rock of Solutré, highest among them, is perhaps most emblematic site in Saône-et-Loire.
S most Burgundy - Beaujolais, N Rhône département:
The changing landscape of S Mâconnais signals the arrival of monts du Beaujolais, a series of choppy, low mountains that reach upwards of 1,000 meters in elevation, + Beaujolais winegrowing region—Burgundy’s S most vineyard area, named for the commune of Beaujeu.
Better wines are produced among raised N hillsides + villages, 1/3 of Beaujolais production occurs in its flatter, broader southern reaches. All but a small northern fragment of Beaujolais—which overlaps the Mâconnais—lies in the Rhône département, and its S most villages of production, just minutes from city of Lyon, are closer to Vienne in Northern Rhône Valley than Côte d’Or. Yet historically Beaujolais has been considered part of Burgundy.
Burgundy - Grapes:
Pinot Noir + Chardonnay = Top
Minor = Gamay, Aligoté, Pinot Blanc
Rare: Pinot Gris, César, Tressot, Sacy
Côte d’Or + Côte Chalonnaise = usually only Pinot Noir.
Beaujolais = Gamay
Bouzeron in the Côte Chalonnaise = Aligote (Can be)
Pinot Blanc, with which it has historically been confused, is permitted in many appellations but most wines are in practice produced exclusively from Chardonnay. Another progeny of Pinot x Gouais Blanc, Aligoté
Aligoté is the second-most (if a distant second) important white variety in Burgundy.
Beurot (Pinot Gris) is permitted in many appellations as a minor grape for red blends but is rarely encountered. Other rare grapes—César, Tressot, Sacy, etc.—may still be authorized for certain AOPs but have effectively disappeared from the vineyards of Burgundy.
Burgundy - top producers:
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti/DRC - OBio- 98% new oak
—– Côte d’Or, Vosne-Romanée, top of the top
Dujac - O+Bio
—–Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis
Armand Rousseau - top 100% newoak, 2nd lvl used oak
—–Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin
Méo-Camuzet - Lots new oak, destemmed, grape health
—–Côte d’Or, Vosne-Romanée
Comte Liger-Belair - destemmed, 100% new oak
—–Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée
Burgundy - Sparkling:
Crémant de Bourgogne + Bourgogne Mousseux
= Burgundy’s 2 sparkling wine AOPs.
Mainly produced: Around Rully in Côte Chalonnaise
Bourgogne Mousseux is an older, rare appellation reserved exclusively for sparkling reds produced via the traditional method—in fact, once the first sparkling wines appeared in Burgundy in the 1820s, it was not uncommon to see sparkling red renditions of many of the famous crus, like Clos de Vougeot or Chambertin.
Crémant de Bourgogne debuted in 1975 as an AOP for hand-harvested, traditional method white + rosé sparkling wines, principally produced from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Crémant styles may be made throughout Burgundy, but much production is concentrated in and around the commune of Rully in the Côte Chalonnaise, where Burgundy sparkling wines were born in the early 19th century.
Burgundy - Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains AOP:
Red + rosé wines, modeled on the field blends of the past, are produced throughout the Côte d’Or + S Burgundy as Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains AOP. Pinot Noir + Gamay = min 30% + 15% of the blend, respectively, + the 2 grapes must be vinified together. Red Passe-Tout-Grains is far more common than rosé.
Burgundy - Bourgogne Aligoté AOP:
separate appellation = 100% white Aligoté grape. Wines from the appellation are often—but not always—simple + refreshing, + grape frequently exhibits high acidity. In Burgundy, the wine is usually drank as an apéritif, or combined with crème de cassis as the classic base for a Kir cocktail.
Burgundy - Côte de Beaune-Villages AOP + Côte de Nuits-Villages AOP:
some Côte d’Or AOPs -
Côte de Beaune-Villages AOP: wines are red, + grape material may be sourced from any village in the Côte de Beaune save Pommard, Volnay, Aloxe-Corton, + Beaune itself.
Côte de Nuits-Villages AOP: wines are red or (rarely) white, + may be sourced from the villages of Fixin + Brochon in N, + Prissey, Corgoloin, + Comblanchien in S.
Burgundy - Coteaux Bourguignons AOP:
Once know as Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire AOP:
Shares same broad dimensions as Bourgogne AOP, but its regulations allow the inclusion of Gamay in red blends. Inexpensive blended white + rosé wines are also authorized for the appellation.
Burgundy - Bourgogne AOP:
Baseline, Red, white, + rosé wines fall under this designation + are generally produced from Pinot Noir + Chardonnay grapes. Increasingly, regional wines prominently state the name of the variety on the label. Other lesser Burgundy varieties—Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, César—may be included, but they are generally limited to supporting roles, + are in any case disappearing from modern vineyards.
Burgundy - Côte de Nuits:
Mostly red, villages N to S:
Marsannay,
Fixin,
Gevrey-Chambertin - A. Rousseau, C. Dugat, + J-m Fourrier.
Gevrey = masculine, brooding, + structured (GCs: Chambertin + Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, **1er cru Clos St-Jacques)
Morey-Saint-Denis = meeting-point of 2 polarized styles: Gevrey + Chambolle (4 GCs: monopole Clos de Tart, Clos de Lambrays, Clos de la Roche, + Clos St-Denis—+ sliver of Bonnes Mares. Domaines Dujac + Ponsot are among commune’s top addresses.)
Chambolle-Musigny = silky charm, elegance over power (GCs: Musigny + majority of Bonnes Mares+ exceptional 1erC, Les Amoureuses)
Largest GC in Nuits - Vougeot = tiny village, iconic castle - Renaissance-era Château de Clos de Vougeot, amidst vines of Clos de Vougeot: most famous walled clos in Côte d’Or. erratic quality. accounts for over 80% of Vougeot’s planted acreage,(4 x 1erC: Clos de la Perrière, Les Petits Vougeot, Les Cras + Le Clos Blanc.)
Top in Nuits - Vosne-Romanée, - (DRC + Leroy, smallest french 0.85 ha AOP La Romanée, a Liger-Belair monopole. 3 other GCs are monopoles: La Tâche + Romanée-Conti - owned by the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, + La Grande Rue, property of Domaine François Lamarche. Richebourg + Romanée-Saint-Vivant GS Vosne - multiple owners, larger in size.)
Nuits-Saint-Georges.
