Burgundy

IntoWine asked our panel of experts to share their recommendations for the best Burgundy red wine worth seeking out (for the price of course):

Two words come to mind when I think about Red Burgundy ­– Style and Focus. For those who know, when looking for Pinot Noir that expresses the true uniqueness of terroir and variety, you look at Burgundy. Really good Burgundy, unfortunately, does come at a price. Most wine growers are relegated to very small portions of land and vintage years are sometimes difficult to come by. This raises prices, as does the demand for such small quantities. That being said, there are scores of great wines available at decent prices. My pick is Domaine Henri Perrot-Minot’s “En la Rue de Vergy” from Morey - Saint – Denis. Producing about 600 cases from this 3.5 acre property in Northern Burgundy, Henri Perrot-Minot’s red Burgundy flows through the palate with fruit and minerals, acid and ripe fine-grain tannins. Vintage after vintage, this low profile wine exudes greatness. When allowed to age properly, four to seven years, this wine can play ball with the best of them. About $50. – Ben Spencer is a diploma student with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and an IntoWine Featured Writer

France's Burgundy wine region produces some of the world's truly great wines.  This is a region completely dedicated to terroir and tradition.  Even the grapes planted in Burgundy are restricted to a few traditional varietals, with pinot noir and chardonnay holding pride of place – as they have for many, many centuries.

Burgundy's Winemaking History

Burgundy's winemaking history dates back at least to ancient Roman times, possibly earlier, although documentation is scanty prior to the Romans' arrival.  Catholic monks cultivated vineyards during the Middle Ages, and the ruling Dukes of Burgundy involved themselves in the grape-growing process in an effort to improve the quality (and, no doubt, export value) of Burgundy wines.  It was during this period that pinot noir became the red wine grape of choice in Burgundy.  Vineyards shifted from Church ownership to individual owners during the Renaissance, and, in the aftermath of the French Revolution some 300 years later, all remaining Church vineyards were privatized.  These privately-owned vineyards were divided and re-divided under Napoleonic law, which forced families to split holdings among heirs instead of willing all inheritable property to one descendant.  This division of the vineyards led directly to the system used in Burgundy today; hundreds of growers sell their grapes to négociants, or buyers, who use the grapes to make wine.

About 110 miles southeast of Paris, at the northern tip of the Burgundy wine region France lays Chablis.  Chablis is the name of a village that has given its name to a region producing some of the best white wines in the world.  The region of Chablis encompasses 19 towns and is about twenty by fifteen kilometers in size.  In France, by law, wines are named after the place where they are fashioned and not the grape varietal.  The wine producers of Chablis have spent hundreds of years determining which grapes produce the best wines for their soils and the answer:  crisp, mineral-driven wines made from the Chardonnay grape. 

“I’ve given up on buying Burgundy.”

This was the title of an email sent from my friend Rick. A few weeks week prior to the email, Rick and I had enjoyed an evening of Domaine Remi Jobard wines. My meetings with Rick are always an educational experience. He’s lived in Europe, cooks as well as any Cordon Bleu graduate, holds a very discriminating palate and doesn’t enjoy wasting money on bad wine. He is what I would call, my ideal audience. My goal is simple: great wines at great prices. Unfortunately, I’m not always successful.