Chapter 6

Burgundy

Northern Burgundy

Southern Burgundy

The Celts were already making wine in Burgundy when the Romans conquered Gaul in 51 bc. To supply their soldiers and colonists, the Romans propagated the vine all along the east-facing slopes of the Saône river valley. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the monasteries moved in, and, by the gradual accretion of land, became the dominant force in winemaking. In 591, Gregory, Bishop of Tours, compared Burgundy to the Roman Grand Cru Falernian.

The Benedictines, who founded the Abbey of Cluny in 910, and the Cistercians, who founded the Abbey of Cîteaux in 1098, became especially implicated in winemaking. Mindful of the subtle influences of terroir, these brothers in God began to document vineyard and vintage variations with fastidious care. In 1336, the Cistercians created the first enclosed vineyard in Burgundy, the Clos de Vougeot. The proud monks invested so much time, effort, and skill into their wine that the Avignon popes began to take notice, purchasing vast volumes to ease the pangs of their Babylonian captivity. To uphold the quality of his wines, Philip II the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, banned the cultivation of the ‘vile and disloyal’ Gamay grape and the use of manure as fertilizer (which, by increasing yields, decreased concentrations). Thenceforth, red Burgundy could only be made from Pinot Noir. Meanwhile, white Burgundy was being made from not Chardonnay but Fromenteau, an ancestor of Pinot Gris.

In the 18th century, roads improved greatly, facilitating the export of wine out of landlocked Burgundy. Burgundy began to vie with Champagne, which was then predominantly still and red, for the lucrative Paris market. It became so fashionable that, in 1760, the Prince de Conti acquired the Domaine de la Romanée and appended his name to the already famous estate.

After the absorption of Burgundy into the French crown in the late 15th century, the Church began, both figuratively and literally, to lose ground. In the late 18th century, revolutionaries auctioned off the Church’s remaining lands. Owing to the Code Napoléon, which stipulates that any inheritance be equally divided between all children, these new, laical holdings became ever smaller. Today, there are no fewer than eighty growers in the Clos de Vougeot, with some owning just a few rows of vines. This extreme parcellation has not occurred in Bordeaux, where many properties are owned by companies or structured as companies, and where the vineyards are not individually delineated and registered. The small size of many Burgundian holdings makes négociants and co-operatives an important part of the landscape. Great négociant houses such as Bouchard Père et Fils, Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, and Faiveley do own some vineyards, but the law limits the extent of their holdings and they remain reliant on smaller growers and producers.

In 1847, Louis-Philippe of France gave the village of Gevrey the right to append to its name that of its most celebrated Grand Cru, Chambertin. Not to be outdone, other villages soon followed suit, whence all the double-barrelled names in the area: Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis, and so on. In 1855, the year of the Bordeaux Classification, one Dr Jules Lavalle published an influential book with the snappy title of Histoire et statistique de la vigne et des grands vins de la Côte-d’Or. Dr Lavalle’s book included an unofficial classification of the vineyards of Burgundy, which informed the classification adopted by the Beaune Committee of Agriculture in 1861. Upon the introduction of the French AOP/AOC system in 1936, most of the vineyards in the top tier of this classification acceded to the lofty Grand Cru status.

Like other wine regions, Burgundy then started to suffer, first from phylloxera, which arrived in Meursault in 1878, then from the Great Depression, and finally from the Second World War. Upon returning to their land, growers enriched their vineyards with chemical fertilizers. This worked well at first, but over time potassium accumulated in the soil, leading to a fall in acidity in the grapes and wines.

The lie of the land

Burgundy has one hundred AOPs, that is, ~22% of the total number of AOPs in France and twice as many as Bordeaux. But if one excludes the Beaujolais, the actual area under vine is only a small fraction of that in Bordeaux, ~28,000ha ­versus ~120,000ha (1ha = 2.47ac). To the north, just south of the regional capital of Dijon, lies the most illustrious section of the vignoble bourgignon, the Côte d’Or, which is the name of both the département and the wine growing area. The Côte d’Or consists of the northerly Côtes de Nuits, which is most reputed for its red wines and encompasses the great majority of the red Grand Cru vineyards, and the southerly Côtes de Beaune, which is most reputed for its white wines. Still further south is the Côte Chalonnaise, with some of the best bargains in Burgundy, then the Mâconnais, and, finally, the Beaujolais, which stretches almost as far south as Lyon. The picture is completed by Chablis, a satellite of Burgundy that is closer to Champagne than to the Côte d’Or.

Climate

The vineyards of the Côte d’Or, with the romantic town of Beaune more or less at their centre, run the length of an east-facing limestone escarpment, whence ‘Côte d’Or’ (‘Golden Slope’). According to some, the name is also or instead a diminutive of ‘Côte d’Orient (‘East-facing Slope’). The climate here is northerly and continental, with cold winters, hesitant springs, and potentially hot summers. East-facing slopes, long summer days, and, in good years, a dry and sun-drenched September, help to compensate for the short growing season. Aside from spring frosts, other hazards include heavy rain in May and June and hailstorms in late summer. Unsurprisingly, there can be a lot of variation between vintages and even between vineyards. While the marginal climate presents a number of difficulties, the overall cool temperatures preserve acidity and promote the development of complex aromatic compounds. Without its marginal climate, Burgundy would not be Burgundy.

Grape varieties

The principal grape varieties of Burgundy are Pinot Noir for the reds and Chardonnay for the whites. Otherwise, Gamay goes into making Beaujolais, and there is also some Aligoté.

Pinot Noir

The name Pinot Noir is thought to allude to the grapes themselves, which are tightly clustered into bunches resembling pinecones. As Pinot Noir is ancient and prone to mutations, there are a great number of clones for growers to choose from. Even a single clone can give rise to multiple expressions, and Pinot Noir is more expressive of terroir than any other grape variety. But it is not easy to work with: as the Californian winemaker André Tchelistcheff put it, ‘God made Cabernet Sauvignon whereas the devil made Pinot Noir.’ The vine is intolerant of heat and drought and does best in cooler climates, especially when planted on well-drained limestone soils as in the Côte d’Or, its spiritual home and, arguably, its highest expression. As it flowers early, it is vulnerable to spring frosts and coulure and millerandage; and as the grapes are tightly bunched and thin-skinned, they are prone to rot and disease and hail damage. Pinot Noir is relatively lacking in pigment and tannin, which explains the characteristic pale colour and a reliance on high acidity for definition on the palate; if the grapes are overripe, the result is a soft and jammy offering that is flabby and lacking in interest. Planting densities, especially in Burgundy, are very high, up to 12,000 vines/ha, with the vines, which are single or double Guyot trained, less than 1m (3.3ft) apart. The wines are light to medium in body, silky, and aromatic, and distinguished by their savoury fleshiness and farmyard notes—even if the current vogue is for a lighter, cleaner, and more fruit-driven style.

Chardonnay

Unlike Pinot Noir, Chardonnay is relatively easy to work with, and, on a global scale, is more widespread than any other grape variety including Cabernet Sauvignon. It tends to do best on chalk, clay, and limestone, which are all plentiful in its Burgundian homeland. Chardonnay has a ‘neutral’ or ‘malleable’ profile, and is sometimes compared to a mirror that reflects its terroir as well as the skill and ambition of the winemaker—especially with regard to fermentation temperature, malolactic fermentation, lees contact and stirring, oak treatment, and bottle ageing. Yields of over 50hl/ha are easily achieved, and ought to be restricted to concentrate the grapes. The choice of rootstock is important for restricting vigour and, on limestone, for reducing the risk of chlorosis. Like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay buds and flowers early, which makes it vulnerable to spring frosts and to coulure and millerandage. The use of frost protection systems is particularly common in Chablis. As Chardonnay is thin-skinned, it is prone to rot and hail damage; but as it ripens early (just after Pinot Noir), it can often be harvested before the autumn rains move in. Another reason not to delay harvest is to preserve acidity, which declines rapidly once full ripeness has been reached. Even within Burgundy itself, Chardonnay is made into a number of styles, from lean, racy, mineral Chablis to round, rich, buttery Meursault. The best Chardonnays from Mercurey, Montagny-lès-Buxy, or Rully in the Côte Chalonnaise can rival those of the Côte de Beaune, as can those from the Pouilly-Fuissé area in the Mâconnais.

Aligoté and other white varieties

Aligoté plays second fiddle to Chardonnay, and has mostly been relegated to the poorer vineyard sites at the top and bottom of the slopes. Aligoté wines can be labelled as Bourgogne Aligoté AOP or, in Bouzeron in the Côte Chalonnaise, as Bouzeron Aligoté AOP. Yields for Bouzeron Aligoté are capped at 45hl/ha, compared to 60hl/ha for Bourgogne Aligoté. The wines are light with faint notes of apples and lemons, and high, often angular, acidity. They do not benefit from oak or ageing. Kir, or vin blanc cassis, is traditionally made by adding crème de cassis to Aligoté.

Other, less common, white varieties in Burgundy are Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Melon de Bourgogne, and Sauvignon Blanc, which, for the delight of blind tasters, has a variety-specific appellation in Saint-Bris.

Appellations

~61% of the wine produced in Burgundy is white, ~31% is red (together with a very little rosé), and the rest is sparkling.

The wines of Burgundy can be divided into four levels: regional or generic, village or commune, Premier Cru, and Grand Cru. There are 23 regional AOPs, 44 commune AOPs (which encompass the Premier Crus), and 33 Grand Cru AOPs: the first account for 52% of the vineyard area, the second for 46.6%, and the third for just 1.4%. Within this, Premier Cru vineyards, or climats, of which there are 635, account for ~11% of the vineyard area.

Regional AOPs all begin with ‘Bourgogne’. Some, namely, Bourgogne Rouge, Bourgogne Blanc, Bourgogne Aligoté, Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire (which can be red, white, or rosé, and contain several grape varieties), and Bourgogne Passe­toutgrains (which can be red or rosé, and contain up to two-thirds Gamay), cover the entire vignoble bourgignon; others, such as Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune, and Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise are circumscribed to a defined area. There is no such thing as a regional Vin de Pays and there is no Vin de Pays for the département of the Côte d’Or; but there is a Vin de Pays for the Sâone-et-Loire and for the Yonne.

Côte de Nuits-Villages and Côte de Beaune-Villages, despite covering diverse areas, are considered as village or commune appellations rather than regional appellations. Côte de Nuits-Villages is a red wine appellation that can be used by five communes, two in the extreme north of the Côte de Nuits (Fixin, Brochon) and three in the extreme south (Prissey, Corgoloin, Comblanchien). With the exception of Fixin, they cannot use their own name. Côte de Beaune-Villages is also a red wine appellation, available to a number of communes in the Côte de Beaune (all the communes except Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Volnay, and Pommard). Unlike with Côte de Nuits-Villages, these communes can choose between Côte de Beaune-Villages and their own name. Côte de Beaune-Villages AOP should not be confused with Côte de Beaune AOP, which applies to a delimited area in the vicinity of Beaune.

Next up come specific village or commune AOPs, which broadly apply to a specific commune. Examples include Pommard AOP, Chambolle-Musigny AOP, Chassagne-Montrachet AOP, and Pouilly-Fuissé AOP. For a commune AOP, the vineyard or climat can be included on the label, but it must be in smaller lettering, except in the case of a Premier Cru. A wine from a Premier Cru vineyard such as les Perrières in Meursault may be labeled as MEURSAULT LES PERRIERES or MEURSAULT PREMIER CRU. The latter designation, MEURSAULT PREMIER CRU, can also be used for a blend from several Premier Cru vineyards in Meursault. Note that there are no Premier Crus in the Mâconnais.

At the summit of the pyramid are the 33 Grand Crus, which, unlike the Premier Crus, are completely independent of the commune appellation. All but one of the red Grand Crus are in the Côte de Nuits, and all but one of the white Grand Crus (of which there are fewer) are in the Côte de Beaune. A couple of the red Grand Crus, namely, Chambolle-Musigny and Corton, also produce some white wine. The red Grand Crus occupy 356ha, and the white Grand Crus 194ha. In 2010, about 2.5m bottles of Grand Cru were produced. Some of the largest Grand Crus are Corton (~98ha), Corton-Charlemagne (~52ha), and Clos de Vougeot (~51ha); the smallest is La Romanée at a mere 0.85ha. Although every producer in, say, Clos de Vougeot is entitled to label his or her wine as GRAND CRU CLOS DE VOUGEOT, their wines sell at very different prices.

Wine styles

Chablis

Chablis is in the Yonne, around 100km to the north-west of Dijon. The vineyards spread out across some twenty communes centred on the small town of Chablis in the valley of the River Serein. The climate is cooler than in the Côte d’Or, and the use of sprinklers and smudge pots to defend against frost is widespread. The soil consists of a limestone bed overlain by either Kimmeridgean or the younger Portlandian clay. Kimmeridgean clay is more sought-after, and consists of clay, limestone, and fossilized oyster shells. Only Chardonnay is planted in Chablis, which, for many, has become synonymous with the grape variety.

There are four appellations: Petit Chablis AOP, Chablis AOP, Chablis Premier Cru AOP, and Chablis Grand Cru AOP. In recent decades, the area classified as Chablis AOP, which accounts for the bulk of production, has controversially been expanded to include land on Portlandian clay. There are forty Premier Cru vineyards, although the smaller ones may fall under a nearby larger one. There are 17 such ‘umbrella’ Premier Crus, including Montée de Tonnerre, Fourchaume, Vaillons, and Montmains. The seven Grand Cru vineyards—Blanchot, Bougros, Les Clos, Grenouilles, Preuses, Valmur, and Vaudésir—fall under a single Grand Cru AOP and occupy just over 100ha on the south-western aspect of the slope along the right-bank of the Serein. The Grand Cru wines most reliably capture the gunflint quality (gout de pierre à fusil) for which Chablis is rightly reputed.

On the whole, Chablis winemakers privilege terroir over winemaking, and tend to avoid exposing their wines to significant oak treatment. Some Grand Cru and Premier Cru wines do come into contact with new oak, but much less so than their counterparts in Beaune, and the char in the barrel is very light. About one-third of total output is overseen by the co-operative La Chablisienne, which makes quality wines at all levels. In the glass, Chablis is classically pale lemon in colour with or without a greenish tinge. On the nose, there are citrus fruits, green apple, honeysuckle, cream, and a characteristic stony or smoky minerality. The palate is lean, dry, and austere with pronounced acidity, which is a key distinguishing feature.

Mâconnais

The climate of the Mâconnais is considerably warmer than that of Chablis or even the Côte d’Or. The relief is not as marked as in the Côte d’Or, and vineyards are mixed in with other forms of farming. The most reputed wines of the Mâconnais are from south of Mâcon, where the land rises up to form the Mont de Pouilly and other limestone hills. Chardonnay predominates, but some Gamay and Pinot Noir are also to be found, especially in areas that are richer in sand and clay.

Aside from the regional appellations (Mâcon, Mâcon-Villages, and Mâcon + name of a commune), there are five commune-specific appellations: Pouilly-Fuissé, Pouilly-Loché, Pouilly-Vinzelles, Saint-Véran, and Viré-Clessé. Some of the lieux-dits in Pouilly-Fuissé are deserving of Premier Cru status, but, as it stands, there are no Premier Crus in Pouilly-Fuissé or indeed the Mâconnais. The Viré-Clessé appellation, which lies to the north of Mâcon, was created in 1999 from two highly regarded commune appellations, Mâcon-Viré and Mâcon-Clessé.

Compared to Beaune, Mâcon is simple and easy to drink and unlikely to improve with age. That said, certain villages and producers have built a solid reputation and can offer great value for money. As with Chablis, much Mâcon is unoaked. However, Mâcon is much less acidic than Chablis. Compared to Beaune and especially to Chablis, it is deeper in colour with riper aromas and a fuller and softer body. The Pouilly wines, which are often oaked, tend to be richer and riper on the one hand, and finer and more complex on the other. Pouilly-Fuissé (not to be confused with Pouilly-Fumé in the Loire) can be thought of as an enclave of Saint-Véran; the wines of Saint-Véran, while less well regarded, share many similarities with those of Pouilly-Fuissé.

Côte Chalonnaise

The Côte Chalonnaise is named for the town of Chalon-sur-Sâone, an important Celtic and, later, Roman trading centre. The vineyards, which are interspersed with other forms of agriculture, are planted on a 25km stretch of gently undulating land that separates the Mâconnais to the south from the Côte de Beaune to the north. The geology and climate are similar to those of the Côte d’Or, and four of the five village-level AOPs (from north to south, Rully, Mercurey, Givry, and Montagny) can boast a number of Premier Crus.

The wines of the Côte Chalonnaise are similar to those of the Côte d’Or, if not quite so grand, and the region is a reliable source of affordable Burgundy. Mercurey produces more wine than any other village-level AOP: so important is Mercurey that the Côte Chalonnaise used to be called the ‘Région de Mercurey’. As in Givry to the south, production is mostly of red wine, which is noted for its deeper colour, fuller body, and spicy cherry notes. Further south, the region of Montagny is devoted to white wine production, and boasts as many as 51 Premier Crus. To the north of Mercurey, Rully produces more white than red wine, and is also an important source of Crémant de Bourgogne. Bouzeron is a bit of a curio in that it is the only village-level AOP for Aligoté.

Côte d’Or: Côte de Beaune

The Côte d’Or escarpment divides the mountains of the Morvan to the west from the plain of the River Saône to the east. The soils at the top of the escarpment are too sparse, and those on the plain too fertile, to yield truly great wine. The best vineyards are mid-slope, at altitudes of 250-300m, where the vines also benefit from better sun exposure and water drainage. The monotony of east-facing vineyards is interrupted by a number of streams and dry valleys, or combes, which cut across the escarpment and alter the aspect of certain vineyards.

The soils in the Côte d’Or are essentially a mixture of limestone and marl. In the Côte de Beaune, limestone tends to pre-dominate, making it more suitable to the cultivation of Chardonnay than the Côte de Nuits. Although the Côte de Beaune contains all but one of the white Grand Crus, more red than white wine is produced. Red wines from the Côte de Beaune are lighter, suppler, more fruit-driven, and quicker to mature than those from the warmer Côte de Nuits. That said, red wines from Corton (which is the only red Grand Cru in the Côte de Beaune) and from the commune of Pommard tend to be more muscular and tannic and more akin to those from the Côte de Nuits.

To the north of Beaune itself, the hill of Corton sits between the communes of Aloxe-Corton, Pernand-Vergelesses, and Ladoix. It is home to three partially overlapping Grand Crus: Corton for red and white wine, Corton-Charlemagne for white wine, and the little used Charlemagne for white wine. Corton-Charlemagne mostly occupies the higher parts of the hill, which are better suited to ­Chardonnay. Excluding Chablis Grand Cru, Corton-Charlemagne is the largest white wine Grand Cru in Burgundy.

Pommard, a red wine-only commune and appellation, lies just to the south of Beaune. The quality of Pommard is variable, but better examples can offer very good value for money. Most highly rated are the Premier Crus Rugiens and ­Epenots. The muscular red wines of Pommard are often contrasted to the delicate and feminine wines of nearby Volnay, which is the most southerly red wine-only appellation of the Côte d’Or. While the soils of Pommard are rich in marl, those in ­Volnay are rich in limestone, leading to soft and fragrant wines similar to (but lighter than) those of Chambolle-Musigny in the Côte de Nuits.

Further south, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, and Meursault yield some of the finest white wines in the world. Puligny-Montrachet boasts four Grand Crus of which two, Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet, extend south into Chassagne-Montrachet, which also has a Grand Cru of its own, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. Puligny-Montrachet is tight and structured and mineral. It can be difficult to distinguish from Chassagne-Montrachet, which is perhaps slightly richer, fruitier, and nuttier. Meursault is broad and buttery and rather extravagant, although some producers do favour leaner styles. While there are no Grand Crus in Meursault, there are some very high performing Premier Crus, especially Perrières, Genevrières, and Les Charmes. At the southern end of Chassagne-Montrachet, red wine production once again takes the upper hand, as it does further south in Santenay. In a side-valley to the west lies Saint-Aubin, which, in contrast, is dominated by white wine production. Some of the white wines of Santenay and Saint-Aubin can be reminiscent of Chassagne-Montrachet.

Côte d’Or: Côte de Nuits

The Côte de Nuits, which extends from Dijon to just south of the regional centre of Nuits-Saint-Georges, is world famous for its red wines. Of its 14 communes, six produce Grand Cru wines, with the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin alone clinging on to no less than nine Grand Cru vineyards, all carrying ‘Chambertin’ in their name. The largest is Charmes-Chambertin, followed by Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze (which under AOP regulations can be labelled as Chambertin). Gevrey also has 26 Premier Crus, and a Premier Cru from a reputed producer might fetch a higher price than a less pedigreed Grand Cru. All in all, the wines of Gevrey are noted for their deep colour, power, and structure: full, rich, but also silky and delicately perfumed.

Morey-Saint-Denis, directly south of Gevrey, boasts four Grand Cru vineyards: Clos de la Roche, the largest and most reputed; Clos Saint Denis; and Clos de Tart and Clos des Lambrays, which, unusually, are both monopoles (in single ownership). Another Grand Cru vineyard, Bonnes Mares, mostly sits in Chambolle-Musigny. Lying as it does between the vaunted villages of Gevrey and Chambolle, Morey is often overlooked, but can provide better value for money. The commune also counts 20 Premier Crus. White wine accounts for a mere ~4% of production.

Compared to those of Gevrey, the wines of Chambolle can be described as feminine, that is, lighter, brighter, more delicate, more elegant, and more seductive, and not unlike those of Volnay in the Côte de Beaune (which are however somewhat lighter). As in Volnay, the soils are relatively rich in limestone, and Le Musigny is the only Grand Cru in the Côte de Nuits for both red and white wine. Bonnes-Mares, the other Grand Cru in Chambolle, is larger but less reputed than Le Musigny, which has been monikered ‘queen of all Burgundy’, and qualitatively described as ‘an iron fist in a velvet glove’. Some of the 25 Premier Crus in Chambolle, especially Les Amoureuses (which borders on Le Musigny) and Les Charmes, are so highly regarded as to fetch Grand Cru prices.

The smallest village in the Côte de Nuits, Vougeot, contains its largest Grand Cru, the Clos de Vougeot, which, at 50.6ha, accounts for the bulk of the commune’s production. Named for the River Vouge separating Vougeot from ­Chambolle, the Clos de Vougeot comprises a château which, since 1945, has played host to the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, an outfit devoted to upholding standards in Burgundy. Most regarded is the top, north-western corner of the vineyard, which surrounds the château and borders on Le Musigny and Grands Echezeaux; least regarded is the bottom section, to the east and bordering on the N74. This, together with the large number of producers with a stake in the Clos de Vougeot, means that wines labelled ‘Clos de Vougeot’ can vary enormously in style, quality, and price.

The communes of Vosne-Romanée and Flagey-Echezeaux together count eight Grand Crus, among which the iconic Romanée-Conti. There is no ­separate appellation for Flagey-Echezeaux, and the village and Premier Cru vineyards in this commune fall under the Vosne-Romanée AOP. Vosne itself has six Grand Crus: Romanée-Conti and La Tâche, which are both monopoles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti; La Romanée, which is a monopole of Comte Liger-Belair; Romanée-Saint-Vivant; Richebourg; and La Grande Rue, a monopole of Domaine Lamarche and only upgraded to Grand Cru in 1992. Flagey has a further two Grand Crus, Grands Echezeaux and Echezeaux. The smallest of these eight is La Romanée at 0.85ha, corresponding to about 300 cases a year, and the largest by far is Echezeaux at ~35ha. As with the Clos de Vougeot, large size and fragmentation mean that Echezeaux wines vary quite considerably in style, quality, and price. Vosne-Romanée Premier Crus are highly regarded, and those further up the hill, such as Aux Raignots and Cros Parentoux, tend to be fresher in style.

Nuits-Saint-Georges lies at the southern end of the Côte de Nuits, stretching for five kilometres to Prémaux-Prissey. The Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation ­covers both communes, and can apply to both red and white wine (although white wine accounts for just 3% of production). For historical reasons, there are no Grand Crus but as many as 41 Premier Crus, including the highly regarded Les Saint Georges, Les Vaucrains, and Les Cailles, which lie just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges. These wines are richer and more structured than those from the north of the appellation, which are more similar to neighbouring Vosne-Romanée in style. In general, the wines of Nuits-Saint-George are quite masculine: full and firm, and dominated by black rather than red fruits.

In the north of the Côte de Nuits, in the shadow of Gevrey, lie the communes of Fixin (‘Fissin’) and Marsannay. The Fixin AOP covers both Fixin and Brochon, and both red wines and white wines (although, again, white wines account for a very small fraction of production). Five vineyards are Premier Cru and the rest are at village level. In style, Fixin is similar to Gevrey, if somewhat less delicate and less intense. Created in 1987, the Marsannay AOP covers vineyards in Marsannay-la-Côte, Couchey, and Chenôve. The AOP can apply to red, rosé, and white wine, although red wine accounts for two-thirds of production and rosé for most of the rest. All the vineyards are at village level, making Marsannay the only village level appellation for rosé. Compared to other red wines in the Côte de Nuits, Marsannay is often softer and fruitier.

In blind tastings, it is very difficult to tell communes apart, perhaps even more so than for the Haut-Médoc. The punter who can habitually distinguish Côte de Beaune from Mâconnais for whites and Côte de Nuits from Côte de Beaune for reds is already doing a good job.

It is very hard to generalize about Burgundy vintages. In any given year, white wines may do much better than reds, or vice versa, and Chablis or Beaujolais may tell quite another story from the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. For the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, stronger vintages for red wines include 1989, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2015. Stronger vintages for white wines include 1992, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, and 2015.

Beaujolais

Beaujolais, named for Beaujeu, the historical capital of the province, is important by volume if not reputation. 99% of Beaujolais is red, and almost all of that is made from the thin-skinned Gamay grape, which, in the Middle Ages, was driven south onto the granite soils of Beaujolais by the edicts of Philip the Bold and, later, Philip the Good. Although Beaujolais is thought of as Burgundy, most of the region lies in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the climate more nearly approximates to that of the Rhône. The northern part of Beaujolais, to the north of Villefranche, features rolling hills of granite and schist. The southern part, or Bas-Beaujolais, is more flat and fertile, with soils rich in sandstone and clay and patches of limestone. Owing to a combination of gradient and soil type, the grapes ripen earlier and more completely in the northern part, which contains all the region’s village level vineyards as well as its ten Crus.

Beaujolais is typically pale in colour with a blue tinge. It is light in body, medium-to-high in acidity, medium-to-low in alcohol, and low in tannins. Most Beaujolais is made by semi-carbonic maceration, which contributes estery notes of banana and bubblegum to the red fruits of Gamay. In contrast, Cru wines tend to be made by traditional vinification and can also be oaked, making them more tannic and ­difficult to recognize as Beaujolais.

Whereas most Beaujolais ought to be drunk within the year, the Crus benefit from some cellaring, with the best approaching Burgundy in style. Moulin-à-vent, Morgon, Juliénas, and Chénas are the most long-lived Crus, and can improve over ten or fifteen years. The other six Crus are St Amour, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Regnié, Côte de Brouilly, and Brouilly, which contains the notorious Pisse Vieille vineyard. According to local lore, a devout Catholic woman once misheard the priest’s exhortation ‘Allez! Et ne péchez plus’ (‘Go! And sin no more’) as ‘Allez! Et ne pissez plus’ (‘Go! And piss no more’). Upon learning of this, her husband is supposed to have exclaimed, ‘Pisse Vielle!’ (‘Piss, old woman!’). The Beaujolais Crus do not refer to individual vineyards as in the rest of Burgundy, but to entire areas of viticulture. The other appellations of Beaujolais are: Beaujolais-Villages AOP in a defined area in the north, Beaujolais Supérieur AOP (of which little is made), and Beaujolais AOP.

Beaujolais Nouveau is not an appellation but a style: simple, approachable, and destined for early release and immediate drinking. After a short fermentation, it is bottled and put on sale, by decree, from midnight on the third Thursday of November. Beaujolais Primeur is another, less commercially important vin de primeur that can only be sold after 31 January. In theory, Beaujolais Nouveau and Beaujolais Primeur can be produced from any area of Beaujolais except the ten Crus; in ­practice, much of it comes from the Bas-Beaujolais. Beaujolais has fallen victim of the one-time success of Beaujolais Nouveau, which, in the end, caused lasting damage to the region’s reputation.