Wine, Burgundy

Burgundy (French: Bourgogne) is the name given to certain wines made in the Burgundy region of France. more...

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Red Burgundy wines are usually made with the Pinot Noir grape, and white Burgundy wines are usually made with Chardonnay grapes, as dictated by the AOC.

Geography

The wine region starts just south of Dijon at Marsannay-la-Côte and runs southward to just short of the city of Lyon. The area of Chablis stands on its own to the northwest of Dijon, about as close to Paris as it is to the heart of Burgundy. The main wine regions in Burgundy proper (those that are entitled to the AOC Bourgogne designation) are the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune (collectively known as the Côte d'Or or "golden slope") and further south the Côte Chalonnaise. The Route des Grands Crus (which loosely translates as the "road of great vineyards") traverses the Burgundy wine region.

The area is made up tiny villages surrounded by flat and sloped vineyards. The sloped vineyards have the most exposure to sunshine and the greatest drainage. The best wines (Grand Cru) from this region are grown from the middle part of the slopes while the "Premier Cru" wines are produced from the flat territory in the villages.

Beaujolais, Chablis, and Mâcon are also viticulturally part of Burgundy.

Climate

Burgundy experiences a continental climate characterized by very cold winters and hot summers. The weather is very unpredictable with rains, hail, and frost all possible around harvest time. Because of this climate, there is a lot of variation between vintages from Burgundy.

Wine characteristics and classification

Burgundy is in some ways the most terroir-oriented region in France; immense attention is paid to the area of origin, and in which of the region's 400 types of soil a wine's grapes are grown. As opposed to Bordeaux, where classifications are producer-driven and awarded to individual chateaux, Burgundy classifications are geographically-focused. A specific vineyard or region will bear a given classification, regardless of the wine's producer. This focus is reflected on the wine's labels where appellations are most prominent and producer's names often appear at the bottom in much smaller text.

Burgundy classifications, in descending order of quality, are: grand crus, premier crus, Commune or village, and finally generic Bourgogne.

The Grand Cru refers to the best wine produced at the best vineyard sites. Grand Cru wines make up 2% of the production at 35 hectoliters/hectare. These wines need to be aged a minimum of 5-7 years, however, can be good when aged up to 15 years. Very few chardonnays in the world can be aged as well as these wines. Grand Cru wines will only list the vineyard on the wine label.;

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