Most Burgundy drinkers are familiar with the Clos Vougeot, a 12th century castle surrounded by an enormous Grand Cru vineyard. It’s a cultural and viticultural landmark of Burgundy – impeccably preserved, and worth a stop on your next visit to the region. But even seasoned collectors are usually less familiar with the rest of the appellation of Vougeot.
There’s a cliche among wine critics that a “vintage of the century” tends to occur on average every decade or so. It’s true that the floor for vintage quality has risen dramatically in the last 25 years – sorting tables, better technical control of fermentation, and increasing demand for quality have meant that truly poor vintages are now few and far between.
As summers in France become warmer and drier, the line between Chablis and the rest of white Burgundy has blurred. Chablis was once known for its piercing wines full of tension, minerality, and zip, in contrast to the rich, mouthfilling whites of the Côte d’Or. Today there’s less stylistic room between them, as very ripe grapes have turned Chablis a bit plumper – the wines are tasty, but often less distinct.
Pouilly-Fumé is the less famous neighbor of Sancerre, located just across the Loire River. The grape is Sauvignon blanc, and there’s a high percentage of flint in the soil, which gives the wines their eponymous “smoky” (Fumé) character.
In real estate and winemaking, location is everything – and nowhere is this more true than in Burgundy. A few yards difference in vine location can amount to a few extra zeros on the end of the price. Every wine from Vosne-Romanée – the most famous winemaking town in the world – is at minimum worthy of interest. But Vosne is not a monolith, and each corner of the tiny appellation has its own expression.
Tasting this spring at her domaine in Meursault, Sofie Bohrmann summed up the 2022 growing season with one word: “parfait.” After the catastrophic 2021 vintage, in which some of her parcels lost over 90% of their crop, 2022 provided clean, healthy grapes, and plenty of them. It was hot and dry as it always is these days, but rain fell at exactly the right time – a bit of good luck after a season of bad.
Regular readers will know Gautier Desvignes, the humble, friendly, thirtysomething winemaker who has transformed his modest family domaine into a top name in the region. William Kelley writes that Desvignes is “one of the leading lights in the Côte Chalonnaise,” and we wholeheartedly agree.
Of our six Futures issues each year, November has the most obvious star power. The Domaines Michel Gros and Boyer-Martenot are two of the most recognizable in our portfolio, top talent farming some of Burgundy’s iconic terroirs. Boyer holds vines in all three of Meursault’s famous premier crus (Charmes, Genevrieres and Perrieres) as well as the Puligny gem “Cailleret;” Gros’s envy-inducing lineup now includes three hallowed Grand Crus: Clos Vougeot, Echezeaux, and Richebourg. In other words, this is the Big Leagues.
Romain Collet is a terrific young winemaker running his family estate in Chablis. He dabbles with modern, oak-infused Chablis, and the wines are tasty if not traditional. But our favorites are always the classics: plenty of stony freshness, low or no toast, and clean zippy finishes.
Climate change has thrown a series of hurdles at the winemakers of Burgundy, but the news isn’t all bad. In some corners of the region vignerons will (somewhat sheepishly) admit that a warming world has improved their wines, and nowhere is this more apparent than the Côte Chalonnaise, where grapes once on the margins of ripeness are now basking in abundant sun and heat.
Christophe Mestre is from an old Châteauneuf-du-Pape family. Together with his wife and son they craft a single delicious, traditional, early drinking cuvée. In a town where luxury cuvées and single-varietal bottlings have become in vogue, the Mestres stick with the original formula – a single, appellation-wide cuvée.
Morey-St-Denis is perhaps the least celebrated of the four great Côte de Nuits towns. Its tiny scale (1 mile wide, population 680) and position between the giants of Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin mean it’s rarely the loudest voice in a lineup of Burgundies. But there are outstanding winemakers and extraordinary terroir here.
Burgundy is a comparatively small region in size of production, but it covers an enormous range of terroirs. From Chablis in the north to Beaujolais in the south, Burgundy stretches over 150 miles – from just a few unblended grape varietals, the Burgundians produce an extraordinary range of wine.
Much of the world’s Merlot is undistinguished. Its default expression is a soft, rounded wine lacking tannin, acidity, and character. “Global” merlot is smooth and easy, but neither distinctive nor particularly interesting. But on Bordeaux’s right bank Merlot thrives as an essential component to the region’s most iconic wines. The exact combination of limestone and gravel soils produce a version of the grape with balance, definition, and depth.
If every vintage of white Burgundy were like 2022, you wouldn’t hear much complaining. Perfectly-timed rain showers in June and August punctuated an otherwise record-breaking summer of drought and heat. The resulting wines are magnificent – friendly and open but with tremendous concentration and real complexity. “Bountiful and beautiful,” writes Jasper Morris.