Intro to Burgundy

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Taupenot-Merme Mini Tour of Burgundy: Gevrey-Chambertin vs Chambolle-Musigny Twin Pack 2014

Pinot Noir from Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Côte-de-Nuits, Burgundy, France

$260

$260 for 1 twin pack
$245 for 2+ packs
Closure: Cork
Understanding Burgundy Starts with the Different Villages & After that it Just Keeps Getting Better!

Description

This will be the first in many packs we'll offer to help you understand Burgundy, the mythical home of Pinot Noir & Chardonnay. We're comparing two wines from two of the best Pinot Noir villages in Burgundy: Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin. We've added heaps of detail below to help you get your head around things.

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Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Burgundy is a mystery and a roller coaster of exceptional, good, bad, and, downright ugly! To make sure you miss the last two we force ourselves to taste as much Burgundy as possible. Someone has to do it!

About these wines

One of the first challenges is to understand the kinds of wines that come from the different villages in Burgundy. Which villages make good Pinot? Which good Chardonnay? What style of wines tend to come from each village. So, we’re going to explore two of the great Pinot Noir producing Villages of Burgundy. They’re in the Northern part of Burgundy between Dijon and Beaune. You can explore where they are in the maps below.

Gevrey-Chambertin – planted to Pinot Noir including 8 of Burgundies 33 Grand Cru vineyards “Climat”, and 28 Premier Cru vineyards.
Chambolle-Musigny – planted to Pinot Noir including 2 Grand Cru and 25 Premier Cru vineyards.

In Burgundy, in general, you can say the different Villages make wines of different styles. In other words, wines can be typical of a village, having similar characteristics. That’s not to say that there aren’t atypical wines or specific vineyards that fall outside these generalisations.

What to expect from Gevrey-Chambertin?

Wines from Gevrey-Chambertin tend to rounder and fuller with broader tannins across the middle of your palate. Fruits tend to be darker and richer. The wines are often more savory and earthy with a layer of spice.

What to expect from Chambolle-Musigny?

Wines from Chambolle-Musigny tend to more perfumed and feminine, often with beautiful floral overtones. On the palate they tend to have an elegance and restraint, with more linear tannins running down the length of your tongue, and, brighter fruit.

About Taupenot-Merme

Both of the wines in this pack are a great expressions of the Villages they come from. Sourcing them from the same producer has allowed us to take out the variable of production techniques. We won’t go into detail about them as I don’t want to give you any preconceptions and just let you taste. Rest assured we’ve done the QC and they are both delicious wines with bags of personality

They are made by brother-and-sister team Virginie and Romain are at the helm at this Domaine. It has 13 hectares on the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits, with Grands Crus including Clos des Lambrays, Charmes-Chambertin, Corton-Rognet and Mazoyères-Chambertin. These seventh generation winegrowers are typical of the new crop of young Burgundian vignerons who are

These seventh generation winegrowers are typical of the new crop of young Burgundian vignerons who are realising the full potential of priceless family vineyard parcels through sensitive viticulture and thoughtful winemaking. The average age of the vines is 50 years, and they’ve been worked organically since 2001. All grapes are de-stemmed, with 25% new oak used for the village wines and 40% for grand and premier cru. Virginie looks after sales while Romain works the cellar, producing structured, self-assured Burgundy that expresses the vineyards well. The wines are getting better and better

The average age of the vines is 50 years, and they’ve been worked organically since 2001. All grapes are de-stemmed, with 25% new oak used for the village wines and 40% for grand and premier cru. Romain works the cellar, producing structured, self-assured Burgundy that expresses the vineyards well. The wines are getting better and better

How to get the most from these wines?

Grab a couple of friends. Wine’s better with friends. Taste the wines together! It will give you context and contrast, making it easier for you to both spot and remember the differences. Make sure you have a glass for each wine, so you can taste them side by side. Make sure you taste them over time, they will change in the glass.

Share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment on this page. 

What difference did you see between the wines?

Which wine did you prefer? Why?

What would you like to try next?

About Burgundy

Two things about Burgundy. All of the vineyards in Burgundy have been named and classified according to the quality of fruit they produce. From top to bottom the quality classifications are:

  1. Grand Cru – Specific single vineyards of the highest classification. Only 1% of production. You’ll know you’re looking at a “Grand Cru” if it is written on the label in addition to the specific vineyard where the fruit came from.
  2. Premier Cru – Specific single vineyards. Combined with Village wines making 48% of production. You’ll know you’re looking at a “Premier Cru” or “1er Cru” if it’s written on the label in addition to the specific vineyard where the fruit came from.
  3. Village – Fruit from a specific sub-region ie the village of Puligny-Montrachet that is better than Bourgogne standard, but, not good enough to be classified Premier Cru. Village wine will only have the name of the Village written on the label. Some times they will have a vineyard name on the label if there is something special about the particular vineyard the fruit is sourced from.
  4. Bourgogne – Fruit from anywhere in Burgundy. 51% of production. Bourgogne wine will have just Bourgogne written on the label and in a shift from tradition to aid export markets sometimes the variety. Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. They will never have a specific vineyard name on them.

Burgundy is a thin strip running from North to South around 50km in length, to the South East of Paris

It’s split into three main regions, within each of these regions there are villages which have specific single vineyards planted in them to the varieties, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay or Aligoté, a lesser variety that produces some fun wines at more affordable prices.

The three main regions are:

  1. Côte D’Or – meaning the Golden Slope, derived from it’s original name, Côte d’Orient, East Slope, within which rest:
    1. Côte-de-Nuits – South of the city of Dijon and North of the town of Beaune famous for it’s Pinot Noir. The best known villages are: Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Nuits-St-Georges and Vosne-Romanée. 5% of Burgundy production including Chablis.
    2. Côte-du-Beaune – The area around and South of Beaune famous for Chardonnay including the 5 Grand Cru vineyards and many very good Pinot producing vineyards. The best known villages are: Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Mersault, Volnay, Pommard and Saint Aubin. 10% of production including Chablis.
  2. Côte-Chalonaise – Mixing more affordable Chardonnay and Pinot that can be of excellent quality. The villages of Rully, Mercurey and Givry producing their best wines.
  3. Mâconnaise – The least regarded of the main regions, still capable of producing some very good wines.

 

The trick is getting to know your producers and the villages they have plantings in, and, the specific vineyards they hold within these villages.

The single vineyards are known as “Climat” sometimes the single vineyards are surrounds by walls and the “Climat” is called a “Clos”, walled vineyard. Within a single vineyard there are often Lieux-dits, these are parts of the single vineyard that have a specific topography or historical nature.

Let’s drill down with an example going down to the single vineyard level.

Region: Burgundy

Main Sub-Region: Côte D’Or

Minor Sub-Region: Côte-des-Nuits

Village: Gevrey-Chambertin (3 down on the right from the top) on the map above.

Single Vineyard: Chambertin, The best known Grand Cru vineyard. You can see where it is in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin in the map below, purple section.

Number of Owners: Last time I looked there were around 23 owners of part of the Chambertin vineyardjust as many négoce wines (wines made with fruit purchased from vineyard owners).

Number of Wines Made: and Labelled “Chambertin Grand Cru”. Around 40 with a dozen producers doing a good job. Wine is produced from vineyards owned or leased by producers or from purchased fruit. This is where you really need to get to know your vineyards and producers! Frances hereditary tittle laws have seen lands vineyards split between siblings to the point where some hold so few vines of a plot they can not even make a single barrel of wine from it. These usually end up being sold or leased.

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What does all this mean?

To understand Burgundy you need to know:

Where the fruit comes from? If it’s classified “Village” or “Premier Cru” is it a good village or lesser one for that variety? If it’s classified “Bourgogne” where does the fruit come from? Philippe Chavy’s Bourgogne entry level Chardonnay is made using fruit sourced from Puligny-Montrachet, 90%, and Mersault 10%. Basically, it comes from two of the best villages for Chardonnay in Burgundy. Yet, it is still classified Bourgogne as would be a Chardonnay of this classification from a lesser village.

Which are the best vineyards? The Grand Cru’s and the Premier Cru’s right next to them (the Premier Cru Chardonnay vineyard “Les Pucelles” in Puligny-Montrachet is right next to the two Grand Crus Bâtard-Montrachet and Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet) or the Village Vineyards right next to a Grand Cru or Premier Cru vineyard. There are also some well-known Premier Cru vineyards, such as Les Amoureuses in the village of Chambolle-Musigny and Clos Saint-Jacques in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin that consistently perform at close to Grand Cru that Burgundians unofficial give them that status, and, the price of the wines reflect it.

Which are the best producers? A matter of experience. The challenge is the vineyard rating is indictive of the “potential” of the vineyard only. A bad operator will take a Grand Cru vineyard and turn it into pretty ordinairy Pinot or Chardonnay. A good operator can take a decent vineyard classified as Bourgogne or Village and make something that deserves to be further up the classification.

If all else fails …  Ask us at WINE DECODED! It just takes a lot of time and a lot of drinking.

Where in the world does the magic happen?

Domaine Taupenot-Merme 33 Route des Grands Crus, 21220 Morey-Saint-Denis, France

Chambolle-Musigny
Gevrey-Chambertin
Côte-de-Nuits
Burgundy
France