Understanding Burgundy

To understand the Burgundy ranking system lets start with Chablis. Chablis is split into three levels:

Appelation Chablis

Premier cru Chablis

Grand Cru Chablis

For the premier and grand cru there are certain fields with such a ranking and on each of these different fields you will find different producers, i.e the same premier cru field can have two or more different producers! For the appelation Chablis the grapes comes from all over Chablis and there are many different producers.

In Burgundy, they make red wine from Pinot Noir and white wine from Chardonnay. In Burgundy there are many small towns (like Chablis) with the same three different levels as in Chablis and with different fields with different producers. The 50 hectares of Clos de Vougeot has for example 80 different owners!

The best and most expensive wine is the grand cru, the second best is the premier cru and the third best is the appelation. If a wine does not carry the name of a village, it may come from anywhere in Burgundy and is often of lesser quality (but good ones exist!)

So in Burgundy you will fine good red wine just north of Beaune from places like;

Gevrey- Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanee, Nuits St George, Pernad-Vergelesses and Savigny les Beaune. Beaune itself is also a good red wine village and just to the south you will find the more heavy Pommard and elegant Volnay.

For white wine, you will have to look south of Beaune;

Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, St Aubin and Chassagne Montrachet

See link to a very good map

Berry Bros & Rudd's Burgundy Wine Map.

Comments

Leoville Lascases 1988

Last week was a special week for me as I received my last pay check from my previous employer. An event that required some sort of celebration with some good friends. Of the many bottles opened during that evening was a Leoville Lascases 1988. This Bordeaux wine from St. Julien is second Grand cru classee but it has the quality of a first growth. This chateau was also the wine that made me change from beer to wine as I had the pleasure of tasting a Leoville Lascases 1945 back in 88. The 1945 just knocked me off my guard and I remember thinking what a fantastic wine it was and what an experience to drink this wine from the year when world war 2 ended. I was in shock and I then just decided to enter into the world of wine. I have always had a soft spot for this chateau ever since. And to my pleasure it has been performing well at much more reasonable prices than the much more expensive first growths in the 1855 classification. Nowadays a bottle of this wine costs around ...

Condrieu 2014 by Cuilleron

In the steep hills north in the Rhone valley there is a small appelation which is called Condrieu. Here the rare grape of Viognier is grown. A grape not well known to many people but which gives a fantastic wine when grown here. It is a full bodied white with a very pronounced and overwhelming smell of flower, peach, apricot, tropical fruit etc. The taste is dominated by ripe fruit, medium acidity and a long finish. Very good to outstanding quality. This is not a white for the fainthearted as the style is rather opulent. But with 2 year old Comte it is the perfect match. Cuilleron (manager) has many different styles. The wine is pricy and rare to get hold of. Condrieu 2014 "La Petite Cote" Yves Cuilleron ca 30€ or 400 nok

Chianti Riserva 2016

Castello de Farnatello has a basic Chianti and a Riserva on the market. Both of them are good value for money. We tried the Riserva the other day, in two different glasses; Riedel Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. The Syrah glass is more closed at the top (to the right). The colour of the wine is medium red and the nose discrete smell of cherries, leather and nuts. Attractive acidity with a firm well balanced taste. This is perfect with lamb for ex. 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot has been added to the wine as well and that gives it more body than the pure Sangiovese. And which glass works best? The Syrah glass enhances the smell much more than the CS glass in which the wine seems much more closed. Chianti Riserva 2016, Castello de Farnatello Ca 230 kr or 13euro

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