Burgundy
The Wine Lover's Epiphany
 

Wine is a sensory thing.
Wine is about seeing, smelling (lots and lots of smelling) and tasting.
Wine is a living, evolving (mostly) and sensual commodity but it often takes years for a wine drinker to understand that.
Experiencing wine is a learning process, understanding it seems virtually unachievable. Often it takes wine drinkers years and years to understand the complex nuances of wine and some never will because they don't care to - and that is okay too.
Burgundy is a region that confounds many and seduces others. It is a winemaking region that seems to evoke more passion than most and it is also considered the King of Pinot Noir which seems (arguably) to have provided that "epiphany" or "aha" wine moment more than any other single wine or varietal.

My own epiphany bottle was a bottle of Tollot~Beaut Aloxe Corton shared with three others on the final day of my sommelier exam.
Whether it was sheer relief or a combination of relief and "aha" moment I don't know, but after tasting numerous red Burgundies, this one, finally hit my sweet spot.
Burgundy is a unique region, a historic winemaking area made up of tiny villages and small appellations that begins a couple hours south of Paris (just below Auxerre), in Chablis and runs southward from Dijon to Mâcon, north of Lyon (and the Northern Rhone Valley).

I will be the first to acknowledge that Burgundy is a a difficult region to understand, it is a complex puzzle of appellations, sub-appellations and 1200 climats (a specific delimited plot of vineyard that has been recognized for centuries) and clos (a small walled vineyard) - some much more famous than others.
So when I was asked to attend the 10th Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne in March of 2010, I jumped at the opportunity. This was my chance to visually map this iconic winemaking region, to walk in the vineyards and taste hundreds of wines in their own village, in their own Châteaux and with their own dishes.
Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne is an outstanding event, so well organized and so encompassing I was simply elated.
 

Burgundy is broken into five main wine producing regions crossing four departments - the Yonne, Nivère, Cote d'Or and Saône et Loire.
In the north (separated from the rest of the pack) is Chablis and Grand Auxerrois. Next just south of Dijon is Côte  de Nuits followed in a southerly direction by Côte de Beaune, Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais.
I will cover each in the following articles starting in the north with Chablis.

Some details you may not know...
Burgundy has a 2000 year history of winemaking.
Burgundy produces about 195 million bottles of wine per year.
Burgundy has 3800 wine growers.
61% of the wine made in Burgundy is white! Red accounts for 30%, Crémant de Bourgogne for 8% while rose is only 1%.
The main two grape varieties in Burgundy are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Chardonnay makes up 46% and Pinot Noir is 36% of vines planted while Gamay and Aligoté and others account for 7.5%, 6% 4.5% respectively.

Chablis

 
Looking down on the town of Chablis from a right bank Grand Cru vineyard. The narrow Serein river runs directly through Chablis.

Chablis is home to fantastically crisp and minerally Chardonnays - some of which can be aged for decades. Chablis is home to four main appellations: Chablis Grand Cru, Chablis Premier Cru (aka 1er Cru), Chablis (regional) and Petit Chablis.
The largest area, and the majority of production of Chablis comes from "Chablis" with 3200 hectares under vine. Chablis Premier Cru has 40 designated areas (although less than 20 are commonly used on labels) and 780 hectares under vine. Finally, Chablis Grand Cru, which has only 104 hectares under production falls under the seven Grand Cru sub-appellations of Les Clos, Grenouilles, Preuses, Valmur, Vaudesir, Blanchot and Bougros.
 
Grand Auxerrois produces both white and red wines, notably; Pinot Noirs from Irancy, Sauvignon Blanc from St. Bris and fresh sparkling Crémant de Bourgogne from Yonne (Crémant de Bourgogne can also be made in the Côte d'Or).


Some of the best wines I tasted at Les Portes d'Or de la Bourgogne (the "Golden Gates of Burgundy") in Chabis were:
The Crémant de Bourgognes from Bailly LaPierre, Nathalie et Gilles Fevre 07 Les Preuses Chablis Grand Cru, as well as their three 2008 1er Cru Mont de Milieu, Vaulorent and Fourchaume.
The organic Jean-Huges et Guilhem Goisot Côtes d'Auxerre Blanc Cuvée Gondonne 08 (right), Côtes d'Auxerre Blanc Cuvée Gueules de Loups 08 and Aligoté 08.

Billaud-Simon 07 Les Preuses Chablis Grand Cru, Domaine de la Tour 1er Cru Mont-Mains 08 and Côte de Jouan 1er Cru 2006, a fantastic Louis Moreau 2004 Chablis Grand Cru Clos des Hospices dans le Clos (a monopole vineyard),

Drouhin Vaudon Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons '08
and the Simonnet~Febvre 2008 Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu and Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume, J. Collet et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu and Chablis Grand Cru Valmur 2007, Domaine George Chablis 2008 and Chablis 1er Cru Montmains 2008, Domaine Savary 1er Cru de Fourchaume 2007, Domaine PetitJean 2008 Saint Bris and 2008 Côtes d'Auxerre Blanc, La Chablisienne Le Homme Mort 2007 and finally Pascal Bouchard (right) Chablis 07/08, Romaine Bouchard 2007 Chablis 1er Cru, 2008 Chablis 1er Cru Vau de Vay, 2008 1er Cru Fourchaume, 2008 1er Cru Milieu and a superb Chablis Grand Cru 2005.
 

Tasting wines in the town of Chablis at Les Portes d'Or de la Bourgogne

Read about the Côte de Nuits here