"Study" Group

I had the fortune to be invited by Amy to join a Wine Study Group hosted by Meredith, a fantastic chef from Louisiana who bakes up delicious bite-size gougeres (cheesy puff pastries) like it was as easy as breathing. Meredith cooks in a lovely little restaurant where the owners are willing to let us take over the place on a couple Sunday nights per month. At the first meeting, there were just four of us to taste a few sparkling white wines, but our group expanded to 12 for the second meeting, which means we got to taste a greater number of wines(selected by each individual or couple), and therefore also made use of the crachoirs (spitoons in English, but doesn't the French word sound much more elegant?)

Wine Study No. 2: Pinot Noir of Burgundy





For the second of our wine studies, we tasted red pinot noir wines from Burgundy. Nearly all of them came from the the Cote d'Or, a wine growing region which runs south from Dijon to the area just south of Beaune. Many celebrated wines come from this region, the heart of wine-growing Burgundy. One of the defining characteristics of Burgundy is the small scale of the wine production, in which vineyards may be as small as one hectare (2.5 acres) and rarely over twenty five hectares (62 acres). The region is divided up into many small named areas, or vignobles, each with its own terroir.

There are four levels of burgundy wine: regional appellation, village appellation, premier cru and grand cru. In the Cote d'Or and Cote Chalonnaise just south of it, you have around 30 vignobles which qualify as grand cru, more than 300 which qualify as premier cru, and 25 or so villages which have their own appellation. Some village appellations are said to be better then others, but together with the premier and grand crus account for 35% of burgundies, with the remaining 65% being either a blend of wines from throughout the region or from a less prestigious village. As a result, the quality of the average wine depends alot on the individual producers. This also means that the Burgundy region has hundreds of small-scale producers and caves to visit!

On this virtual visit, we tried to travel roughly from north to south, so we started in the Cote-de-Nuits.

1. 2002 Domaine Thierry Richoux Irancy (Appellation Irancy Controlee) I couldn't find the producer's website, but here is the contact info: 73, rue Soufflot 89290 Irancy +(03)-86-42-21-60 (unverified by me, sorry). Irancy is the most recent to acquire an apellation controlee for the village wine. The youth of this wine showed in its pale color and crown, and it was a bit acidic and light on the palate.

2. 2004 Moillard-Grivot Bourgogne Pinot Noir (Appellation Bourgogne Controlee) The bottle indicated that the negociant-eleveur is in Nuits-St-Georges, but that doesn't necessarily indicate the source of the grapes in the wine. Nuits-St-Georges is the village which gives its name to the Cote-de-Nuits, and also produces wine bearing its village name as well as a premier cru.

Now, leaving the Cote-de-Nuits, we reach the Cote de Beaune, which makes up the southern half of the Cote-d'Or.

3. 2004 Pierre Andre Bourgogne Pinot Noir Reserve Vielles Vignes which indicates the Corton as its center of production. Vielles Vignes means 'old vines,' suggesting that it comes from vines which are less productive and therefore yield richer, more concentrated fruit. Corton is an area in the Cote de Beaune which has the largest acreage of grand cru of all the villages in Burgundy. Still, the regional appellation means that the grapes can come from anywhere in Burgundy. 2004 is supposed to have been a year of over-production, which usually leads to good prices. My notes say this wine was 'thick and gamy,' and more tannic that the first two.

4. 2001 Domaine Michel Julliot Bourgogne Pinot Noir (Appellation Bourgogne Controlee) from Mercurey, in the northern part of the Cote Chalonnais. The domaine, which is now run by the grandson of its namesake, makes wines of the village appellation and premier cru. They also manage vineyards in the Cote-de-Beaune, so it's possible that some of those are in this wine, since it only bears the regional appellation. In our tasting, I noted that this wine was the first one that I thought was distinctly not fruity. My notes just say, 'smooth and not acidic.'

Okay, we have to come back north to the Cote-de-Nuits just for the next one.

5. 2002 Moillard Chambolle-Musigny
The website is the same as for the earlier Moillard-Grivot. The village of Chambolle-Musigny has grand cru vineyards, but this bottle just indicates appellation controlee, so I'm not absolutely positive that it's grand cru. My notes indicate that this was slightly tannic but still delicate.

6. 2001 Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune (Appellation Beaune Controlee)
As a city, Beaune was probably founded in 52 AD by Julius Ceasar, around several sacred springs, and its name actually comes from the patron god of those waters. Beaune is called the wine capital of Burgundy, and every year hosts a famous auction of wines donated by winemakers, the proceeds of which go to a hospital. The village wines of Beaune are not known for having any particular marked characteristics, but are drinkable in their youth but also able to be aged 10 years are more.

7. 2001 Domaine Contat-Grangé Saint Jean de Narosse Santenay (Appellation Santenay Controlee)
Santenay was well known for its spring waters, popularly sought at one time for therapeautic values, before becoming well known for its wine. The terroir of Santenay is known for producing firm, structured wines without too much finesse or complexite.
The winemakers of this village wine are actually a couple who moved to Burgundy from Annency in the Haute-Savoie, Yvon and Chantal Contat-Grange. Their operation is located to the west outside of the Cote-d'Or, in Dezize-les Maranges. They are also well known for the wines they produce bearing the name 'Maranges.'


Meredith snuck in two "curveballs" for fun, and that's definitely the kind of fun I like. The first was a wine from one of her preferred pinot noir producers, that is actually made from Gamay!

8. 2002 Domaine de la Vougeraie, En Bollery Terres d'en Face

The second was a 100% pinot noir from Alsace, just north of the Jura:
9. 2004 Wunsch et Mann Cuvee Rouge d'Alsace Pinot Noir 2004, Appellation Alsace Controlee

For the last wine, we headed back to the northern part of the Cote-de-Nuits one more time to a very reputable village. We tasted this wine last in order to have it decanted and given time to 'open up.'

10. 2002 Domaine Humbert Freres Gevrey-Chambertin (Appellation Gevrey-Chambertin Controlee)
There is no other village in Burgundy which counts as many grand crus as Gevrey Chambertin, and the grapes for this wine came from old vines, some of which are in vineyards adjacent to the grand cru vineyards. This wine was compact and very balanced, so that the overall taste was somewhat elegant. Some tasting notes online suggest smoky, forest-floor, and muscular qualities, but I didn't taste that.

Whew! That was great. Next time we'll be tasting white wines from the Cote d'Or.

I found much of the information I gave about the wines of Burgundy in a book called Burgundy - Touring in the Wine Country, by Hubrecht Duijker, which I borrowed (in its French translation) from the library. It is not the most recent book, so if some of the information is not quite up-to-date, that's the reason, and I definitely will correct it if someone leaves a comment about it.