Posted February 10th, 2010 10:02 by Tom Firth
This past Monday was a day I had been looking forward to for quite a while. The plan was spending a whole day tasting burgundies. From a 10am seminar/tasting, a walk around tasting from 12 till 5 and an interview with a Burgundian expert at 1, what's not to love?
The whole program was put on by Burgundy Wines (http://www.burgundy-wines.fr/ ) which incidentally is a great source for information about the region and its wine.
The seminar started off well and for a change involved a touch of technology, technology that I haven't used since University. We (the attendants) were each given electronic "voting" devices to answer questions that came up during the presentation. Certainly novel in an industry were people argue over the best corkscrews or if vacuum pumps really work to keep wine longer. The seminar was fairly well done, and I wish I had caught the name of the presenter. Overall, it presented a decent balance between burgundy for the novice and for the expert. The wines are what really shone and ranged from Haut Cotes du Beaune Blanc to Corton blanc and Rouge. Most of them weren't available in Alberta and were from producers I wasn't as familiar with as I would have liked.
The questions seemed a little more like data mining for industry awareness rather than testing knowledge, but I can get behind that. Burgundy, one of the things that make the wine great is a deep respect of terroir and the range of wines that are really only produced with two grapes (pinot noir and chardonnay) there are others but together represent only a small fraction of the wines. Unfortunately for the average consumer, the wines of burgundy can get a bit confusing. In my opinion, the tiers of burgundy can be a bit muddled, the basic or Regional wines are typically labeled as Bourgogne such as Bourgogne Blanc or Macon-Village, the next, or Village Appellations will be labeled as things like Mercurey, or Pouilly Fuisse. Gevrey-Chambertain is a Premier Cru and things like Charmes-Chambertain and Corton are at the top of the pyramid as Grand Crus. If you knew nothing about the small towns and vineyards of Burgundy, you would have no idea where those wines may fit in terms of quality versus price. To be fair, the wines are fantastic and you really can have some great experiences trying the wines and experimenting, but many consumers are still stuck with a shot in the dark when it comes to identifying new bottles to try.
During my interview with Francois Labet, the spokesperson for the Burgundy Wine Board, I really wanted to know what Burgundy is doing to attract new (North American) consumers who might be put off by the difficulty in understanding the wines. Some New World regions have had great success with pinot noir such as New Zealand and Oregon, and I was interested to find out what the producers are doing to bring people along to Burgundy. Bluntly, I didn't get much in the way of new information, but exports of Burgundian wine over the last decade have grown in Canada and now is the 5th largest importer of its wines by value and the 7th by volume. Labet said, " (we are) making wine as we have always made wine." Which as consumers are turning towards more authentic wine experiences, burgundy still offers terroir driven wines that rarely if ever kow-tow to the North American market. It still doesn't change that the system for understanding the wines is somewhat confusing and can be a bit daunting to both newcomers and enthusiasts. My advice, go out and buy at least 2 bottles of red burgundy and 2 bottles of white. You should be able to find something in a price range you are comfortable in, and something, at the very least that is a pleasant change from the pinot or chardonnay you have been drinking.
Some solid producers that you should be able to find in most markets
Maison Albert Bichot http://www.bichot.com/ Terrific Macon Village and Vielles Vignes
Maison Joseph Drouhin http://www.drouhin.com/ Clos des Mouche(red and white)
Chanson Pere & Fils http://www.domaine-chanson.com/ fantastic Gevrey-Chambertain
Maison Simonnet-Febvre http://www.simonnet-febvre.com/ brilliant Chablis
Enjoy!
Burgundy Chablis Chardonnay Drouhin French Pinot Noir Tasting wine
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