Burgundy – Wine and Notable Regions

My notes from a wine class. See notes at end.

Burgundy Notes

• Burgundy almost as popular as Bordeaux.
• Pinot vs. Cabs: 5 years aging vs. 15 years or more. Cabs, richer higher in tannic.

Négociants

Wine merchants – supply house acquiring grapes from smaller winemakers for wine, or buys wine then blends. The more specific information on the bottle, the better the quality of wine it will be.

Notable Burgundy Négociants:

• Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC)
• Maison Joseph Drouhin
• Maison Louis Jadot
• Maison Louis Latour

Burgundy Wines

• Pinots: Earthy / musty “Goût de terroir” – Flavor of the earth.
  • Notes: blackberry, loganberry, cinnamon, spicy, cherry.
• Earthy foods characteristic to this area go well with Pinot Noir: River salmon, marlin, poultry, wild mushrooms, truffles, escargot, mustard influence.
• Burgundy associated with French Aristocracy. No English influence. 1000 AD – Cistercian Monks cultivated area, won hearts of French Aristocracy.

Important Regions of Burgundy

Chablis, Côte de Nuits, Côte de Baune, Macannais, Beaujolais.

Chablis

Chardonnay. Cold area. Soil here is from ancient seabed – fossilized oyster shells. Goût de terroir is mineral here. Acidic, sharp, brix is lower. Oak – not very often. No malolactic fermination. Good with fish and seafood because of its tartness.

Côte d’Or

Heart of Burgundy, heart of Pinot territory. Limestone. Split in two areas:

North: Côte de Nuits – lots of Pinots

Notables:

• Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

South:  Côte de Baune – best Chardonnay.

Notables:

• Carton-Charlemagne
• Meursault
• Chassagne-Montrachet

Beaujolais

Beaujolais – Light wine. Notes: strawberry, cranberry. Drink this wine young, slightly chilled.

Beaujolais Nouveau – Popular French wine, drunk very young. Beaujolais Nouveau Day – Third Thursday in November. Celebration of the harvest. 6 week process from wine to bottle – maceration carbonique.

• Carbonic Maceration: letting grapes ferment – whole fruit, let sit while adding carbon dioxide, grapes will crush themselves. Press gently, first press (75% of juice), yeast fermentation of juice only – a very fruity style wine.

Mâconnais

Pinot, Chardonnay, Gamay.

Notables:

• Pouilly-Fuissé – dry, Chardonnay, less expensive than other Burgundies, fine and simple.
• Mâcon – appelation, for all wines (red, white, rosé)
  • Mâcon-(village name): white wine
  • Mâcon (+ village name): red and wine, red wines designated with “r”.

When I was 19, I was a student of Western Culinary Institute in Portland, OR, before Career Education Corporation and Le Cordon Bleu took it over. I graduated in 1993, and at that time WCI was a great place to learn. Many of the pans I cooked on interestingly still had HMCI (Horst Mager Culinary Institute) inscribed on the handles. Above were notes that I found in a file folder from a wine class that I took when I was a student. The notes are from my personal tasting notes. Enjoy!