How to Become an Expert on Burgundy Wine

Discover the Secrets of Burgundy Wine

Do you know why Pinot Noir is currently the main grape used for producing red Burgundy wines? Are you familiar with the history of the famous Hospices de Beaune auction? Here are 4 anecdotes to make you a Burgundy wine expert.

What Are the Climats?

“In Burgundy, when we talk about a Climat, we don’t look up to the sky; we look down at the ground.” By saying this, writer and journalist Bernard Pivot highlights a unique characteristic of the Burgundy vineyard that you won’t find elsewhere: the Climats. A bit misleading, this term doesn’t refer to the weather but to specific vineyard parcels, carefully delineated based on criteria like history, soil, subsoil, geolocation, and microclimate. Burgundy has a total of 1,463 Climats, stretching from Dijon to Santenay, south of Beaune. Wines from a Climat are classified according to a precise hierarchy :

1. Regional Appellations of Burgundy

• AOC Bourgogne (and Bourgogne Clairet)
• AOC Bourgogne Aligoté,
• AOC Bourgogne Mousseux,
• AOP Côteaux Bourguignons,
• AOC Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains,
• AOP Crémant de Bourgogne.

The AOC Bourgogne appellation has several names for some climat:

• Bourgogne-chitry 
• Bourgogne-côte-chalonnaise 
• Bourgogne-côte-d'auxerre
• Bourgogne côte-d'or 
• Bourgogne-côte-saint-jacques 
• Bourgogne-côtes-du-couchois 
• Bourgogne-coulanges-la-vineuse 
• Bourgogne-épineuil 
• Bourgogne-hautes-côtes-de-beaune 
• Bourgogne-hautes-côtes-de-nuits 
• Bourgogne-la-chapelle-notre-dame 
• Bourgogne-le-chapitre 
• Bourgogne-montrecul
• Bourgogne-tonnerre

2. Village Appellations of Burgundy

Mâconnais :

• Mâcon (Mâcon Chaintré, Mâcon Supérieur , Mâcon Bray, Mâcon Chardonnay, etc)
• Saint-véran 
• Pouilly-fuissé 
• Viré-clessé 
• Pouilly-loché 
• Pouilly-vinzelles

Côte chalonnaise :

• Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise
• Bouzeron 
• Rully 
• Mercurey (Mercurey Premier Cru)
• Givry 
• Montagny

Côte de Beaune :

• Ladoix 
• Aloxe-corton ( Corton et Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru)
• Pernand-vergelesses 
• Chorey-lès-beaune 
• Savigny-lès-beaune (Savigny Premier Cru)
• Beaune 
• Côte-de-beaune 
• Pommard (Pommard Premier Cru)
• Volnay 
• Monthélie 
• Auxey-duresses 
• Saint-romain 
• Meursault 
• Puligny-montrachet 
• Blagny 
• Saint-aubin 
• Chassagne-montrachet (Chassagne-montrachet 1er Cru, Montrachet / Bâtard Montrachet)
• Santenay  (Santenay Premier Cru)
• Maranges

Côte de Nuits :

• Marsannay 
• Fixin 
• Gevrey-chambertin (Chambertin Grand Cru)
• Morey-saint-denis 
• Chambolle-musigny / Musigny
• Vougeot 
• Vosne-romanée 
• Nuits-saint-georges 
• Côte-de-nuits-villages

Basse-Bourgogne :

• Chablis (Premier Cru et Grand Cru) 
• Petit-chablis 
• Irancy 
• Saint-bris 
• Vézelay

Some wines have even given their names to Climats, such as Clos de Vougeot, Romanée-Conti, La Tâche or La Romanée.

Why Is Pinot Noir Predominant in Burgundy’s Red Wines?

Every Burgundy wine enthusiast knows that most red Burgundy wines are made from Pinot Noir. However, for a long time, Gamay was the leading grape in Burgundy. This changed when Duke Philippe II of Burgundy, known as “Philippe the Bold,” intervened. Aiming to enhance the reputation of Burgundy wines, the duke issued an edict in 1395 ordering the uprooting of Gamay vines in favor of Pinot Noir, a lesser-known grape at the time that could produce more complex wines. Despite the ban, Burgundy residents clung to Gamay, which gradually reappeared in the vineyards. It wasn’t until 1935, when Burgundy received the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) label and territories were completely reorganized, that Gamay was officially moved to its neighboring Beaujolais region and replaced by Pinot Noir.

Hospices de Beaune: Five Centuries of History

Every year, the crème de la crème of the wine world, along with wine enthusiasts, flock to Burgundy for what has become one of the most significant events in the wine world over the past 155 years: the Hospices de Beaune auction. This major annual event features wines from the AOC Côtes de Beaune produced in a vineyard linked to a hospital established in... 1443! At that time, the chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy, Nicolas Rolin, decided to build an establishment to house the homeless and destitute residents of Beaune. Thus, the Hospices de Beaune was created. Besides its exceptional Gothic architectural style, the institution had a vineyard from its opening—a first in France! The Hospices de Beaune vineyard would expand over time, thanks to financial aid and donations of vine plants.

A Côte de Nuits on the Moon

The influence of Burgundy wines became so significant that, by the 19th century, writer Jules Verne incorporated it into his novel Around the Moon. In this science fiction book, the three protagonists, Michel Ardan, Impey Barbicane, and Captain Nicholl, decide to travel to the Moon via a giant projectile fired from an equally large cannon. Upon arrival, they celebrate their success with a bottle of Nuits-Saint-Georges. A century later, astronaut Neil Armstrong, during the Apollo 11 mission, decided to pay homage to Jules Verne’s novel by leaving a label of Nuits-Saint-Georges wine on the Moon!