Burgundy - How to Make Sense of it All

Hi, folks, welcome back to Cepage et Cuisine, Mary's and Brian's wine and food blog.  Take a look at this label photo, study it carefully, think about it.  Can you make sense of it?

Well, it's a red Burgundy.  In some ways, understanding Burgundy is easy.  In other ways, it seems impossible.  It's easy because there are basically two grapes, one red, one white.  Red Burgundy is Pinot Noir, white is Chardonnay.  Most French wine labels do not include the name of the grape on the label, which makes things harder for many American consumers.  You just have to know that if it's Burgundy and it's red, it's Pinot Noir and if it's white, it's Chardonnay.

Let's quickly review levels of quality in Burgundy.  The first level is Bourgogne, the lowest level.  This means the grapes can be grown anywhere in Burgundy.  That's the label in the photo at left.  Take another look and you see that Pinot Noir does, in fact, appear on this label.  Some Burgundy producers are including the varietal name on the label of lower-level wines to make things easier to understand for many consumers.

The next level is village.  The name of the village appears on the label.  The grapes have to be grown in that village, but can come from any vineyard or combination of vineyards in the village.  The label photo on the left is an example.  On this label you see the name of the village, Gevrey-Chambertin.  Below the village name you see the words, "Appellation Controlée."  That means the appellation, or the demarcated growing area, is the village of Gevrey-Chambertin.  The producer is Domaine Henri Perrot-Minot.

The next level up is Premier Cru.  Now we're getting into some top vineyard sites.  Usually, the bottle will be labeled with the village and the name of a specific vineyard with the designation "Premier Cru" or "1er Cru."  Only about 10% of all Burgundy wines are Premier Cru.  Prices are higher than for many village wines.  Here's an example.

The village is Saint-Aubin.  Just below the village designation you see the name of the specific vineyard from which the grapes were harvested, Les Pitangerets.  Just to the left of the vineyard name, you see the 1er Cru, indicating the Les Pitangerets vineyard is a Premier Cru.  The appellation is Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Controlée.



The very top level is Grand Cru.  These wines are the rarest, most expensive Burgundies.  Only the specific vineyard name is indicated on the label.  These vineyards are considered of such exceptional quality that the vineyard is its own appellation, unique, distinctive, special.  Only about 2% of all wines from Burgundy have this designation.  As you might expect, these wines are scarce and the prices can be stratospheric.  Here's an an example of a Grand Cru label from our cellar.

You see the name of the vineyard, Clos de la Roche, and the Grand Cru designation.  The appellation is simply this single vineyard, considered sufficiently distinct to be different from any other vineyard.  Clos de la Roche is located in the village of Morey-Saint-Denis, but the village name appears nowhere on the label.  All eyes are on the specific vineyard site.  Grand Cru wines are not meant for casual consumption.  They can provide great pleasure and fascination, but they demand conscious attention.  They demand something of the consumer at the same time they give to the consumer.

Now back to the basic Bourgogne.  The Bouchard Bourgogne is what inspired this post in the first place.  We want to emphasize that basic Bourgogne can be delicious, food-friendly, and affordable, especially in a classic vintage like 2005.  Here are my notes on this wine.

Bouchard Père et Fils, Bourgogne, 2005.  A splendid Bourgogne, proving that low-level Burgundies in great years can still be very good wines.  It was pretty from the bottle, a medium ruby color, with aromas of cherry, earth, and mineral notes.  The palate showed fine grained tannins, still plenty of life to live, high acidity, and bright red cherry fruit.  It is nicely balanced, not tremendously complex, but a perfectly satisfactory Pinot Noir.  12.5% alcohol.  We paid $15 for this wine.

That's it for today's post.  Check back for more entries on Cepage et Cuisine.  In the meantime,

Cheers,

Brian and Mary