Real Change in Bordeaux

For about thirty years - starting in the mid 1980s and ending only surprisingly recently, the Bordelais were more concerned about their cellars than their vineyards.  The belief was that in order to make a greater wine, money needed to be spent on re-equipping or rebuilding the cellar. Consultants were bought in to assist with improving the winemaking processes. Extraction. Micro-oxygenation. Expensive new oak. Very visible improvements for the visitor to admire. This was the focus. And the image of care and attention being lavished on the wine was sold to the public. 

Even during this period the Bordelais asserted that their main objective was to translate what the vineyard’s terroir gave them - and this of course is what made their wine unique. But all the while, especially on the Left Bank, the greater actual attention, with few exceptions, was given to what was done in the cellar.

But during the last five or ten years the Bordelais have come to realize what other regions understood long before - that a great wine is not made in the cellar. It is made in the vineyard. It is made by quality farming. And any half decent cellar will be adequate. It is helpful to have a new cellar - but mostly because you need enough individual and appropriately sized fermentation vats in order to vinify separately the grapes from multiple parcels generated from numerous distinct terroirs on the property. Multiple plots used to be picked and vinified together. Many famous chateaux now vinify dozens of plots separately. Chateau Cheval Blanc, for example, vinifies 53 different plots individually.  Each parcel gets treated in the cellar according to its individual need. All the top estates do this today.

Many vineyards in Bordeaux are now organic.  According to Jane Anson there were in 2016 in Bordeaux 6,300 hectares certified organic operated by 467 estates; by 2018 there were 7,867 hectares operated by 608 estates. Most chateaux have carefully analyzed their soils both as to their composition and health. Pruning of the vines is more thoughtful. Many chateaux use cover crops.  Many pick numerous parcels only when each is at the precise level of desired maturity. There is much more care and attention given to the the vineyard. There is more respect for bio-diversity - the need for forestry to support wildlife. St Emilion has now mandated this from vintage 2023 and the Margaux Appellation, among others, has extensive hedging and reforestation projects under way. There is now some pride in what has been achieved in the vineyard. As testimony to this change in sentiment, I am told as a visitor you might today actually be invited to walk among the vines. Yes - even in Bordeaux.

When you listen to the many excellent and informative podcasts from Jane Anson, as she visits each of many Chateaux, it is clear that there really was a gradual change in attitude in the decade following perhaps 2005, and these trends have accelerated as each year has passed. There is real enthusiasm for the improvements being made in the vineyards and many Chateau feel these have already started to yield measurable benefits.

To the wine lover who has long been hesitant to buy Bordeaux because of the evident lack of real connection to the soil and the apparent primary focus on money and developing the luxury image of the brand, this change in attitude is very welcome. There is more honesty in Bordeaux today. I, for one, have started to dip my toe into the water and am buying small quantities of Bordeaux from recent vintages, because I think at last there is some truth and authenticity in these wines. I am very pleased to be doing so. It has been almost thirty years….

What is absolutely astonishing to me is why this change took so long to come about.

The Photo is courtesy of Chambers Street Wines, showing an organic vineyard in Bordeaux.

Barolo's Townships

There was an article in the Fine Wine review in 2006 I believe which sought to define the distinctions between the wines of the five most important villages in the Barolo region. Tasters of repute drunk samples of four wines from each village. In rereading the article recently I was struck by how far Barolo has come in the fifteen years since that exercise was conducted.  Verduno and Novello were then described as “minor villages”.  Now we have official vineyard designations, detailed maps of the geology lying beneath the vineyards and a huge rise in awareness of Barolo’s nuances in the consumer, who has become much more travelled and knowledgable about the region as a whole.  A great deal more Barolo has since been drunk both in America and by enthusiasts newly visiting the cellars in the region, among whom I include myself. Prices have risen, markedly so for the big name producers. And there is much more readily available written material on the subject. The fifteen or so years that have passed since that article was written have been very good for Barolo.

In looking at the various townships of the region I do not intend to summarize here what is readily available elsewhere in more authoritative and detailed form.  All enthusiasts should sign up to Alessandro Masnaghetti’s Barolo 360 website. What I do want to focus on, however, is some misunderstandings that I had early on in the hope that readers may avoid similar misconceptions. Central to these is the assumption of too great a definitional consistency of the wines within each township and my more or less complete misunderstanding of Monforte d’Alba.

Monforte d’Alba

Monforte d’Alba has a reputation for producing powerful tannic wines. This seems to be informed by the admittedly substantial tannic structure of the wines from the southern part of the township - especially the vineyards of Mosconi and Ginestra. These wines have such a strong tannic presence that the wines are often held during their aging in mid size or smaller 500L “tonneau” to soften those tannins, even by those who normally would age wine in large botte. But to the north Monforte stretches to adjoint both Barolo and Castiglione Falletto. The wines from here have a somewhat different profile, sharing as much with their neighbors as with the terroir to the south. This section includes the enormous and divergent terrain covered by the slopes that comprise the huge Bussia MGA. Bussia’s tannins indeed do also have a substantial presence but they are better mannered than those from Ginestra or Mosconi.  And the wines of Bussia can have an absolutely effusive and beautiful aroma which sits incongruously on a wine with so much depth of fruit on the palate. Bussia will never be a subtle wine but it is a wine of compelling aromatics and unashamedly lovely fruit. which expresses itself quite early in the wines evolution.

Nor is Monforte geologically consistent in its soils. Although predominantly on Helvetian marls, towards the southern end of the commune there are a set of vineyards - including Ravera di Monforte and Le Coste - with a higher proportion of sand, which give wines of greater delicacy.  And Monforte has slopes of very different expositions. The large western part of the commune - represented by the utterly enormous Bricco San Pietro MGA - remains not well known to consumers. So it is a mistake to think of wines from Monforte as consistently all muscle and power. 

Serralunga d’Alba

The Helvetian mix of grey marls and sandstones intermixed limestone and clays    - the Liquio Formation - creates wines which are putatively the most easily distinguished from wines from the other communes. Because they unquestionably benefit from a little more age it is easy to assume here too that the wines are initially big and brawny. That is not true. The presence of hard sandstone and the relative absence of clay in these soil formations creates wines that lack the fruity generosity that clay soils provide. Without the clays to ameliorate Nebbiolo’s naturally high structural elements, the wines initially taste more austere with a finely muscled structure. The bulk of Serralunga faces west so the vineyards are consistently warm - so the fruit character may be a little darker. The wines seem more vertical than horizontal in the mouth. But what really distinguishes the wines of Serralunga is the quality of their tannins, informed as they are by sandstone and limestone rather than clay rich marls. The tannins are finer and longer - less round.

Nor is it true that Serralunga along its entire length is consistent in its soil types. In the north of the township, parts of Cerretta and Fontanafredda lie on the St Agata marl - richer in clay - associated with the more approachable wines of La Morra and Barolo itself. Just to the south of these is a stretch vineyards exposed to the west, where the wines can be a bit rustic - evidently true of the Gabutti vineyard and perhaps also of Lazzarito. By contrast the much narrower east facing slopes produce “wines of the morning sun”. Only towards the southern half of the commune is one among vineyards of classic Lequoi formation soils with westerly exposition. It is here that one is amongst the vineyards in Serralunga that are most faithfully representative of the common perception of the wines from the village.  But even here there are many vineyards that are truly unique - in particular the magnificent soils that underlie Vigna Rionda.  Margheria is unusual in that it has a higher proportion of sand. So perhaps Ornato, Falleto or Vigna Francia in practice come closest to the consumers’ image of the wines of the commune. 

La Morra

Despite covering an enormous footprint of acreage, relatively speaking the soils of the township are consistently St Agata marls (or Tortonian soils) - a combination of clays and limestone in varying proportions. The beautiful south and east facing slopes that seem to cascade down from the town attract considerable warmth, and this, combined with the presence of these clays, create wines with sufficient ripe fruit to cover some of the natural austerity of the nebbiolo grape.  These clays give softer tannins and a supple texture to the wine in the mouth - a more horizontal wine. Plus that red fruit is beautiful - succulent and charming. The result is that that wines of La Morra are thought to be approachable earlier than wines from other communes.  Of note also is that this township has a high number of growers who, with the express intention of pushing further this natural tendency for approachability, purposefully use shorter fermentations and new oak in furtherance of this end. 

The township is large - especially to the north of its most famous vineyards - Brunate and Rocche Annunziata - and over the the other side of the town where the high altitude slopes incline gently to the west - the Serradenari and Berri vineyards. There are more pockets of sand on these western slopes. Some vineyards - like Capalot - one feels must have excellent potential but are as yet underrepresented in the cellars. The reputation for approachability, though justified, should not be overdone.  Brunate is a vineyard that can produce wines of real power and authority - the neighboring slopes of Cerequio similarly.  And while Rocche Annunziata produces wines that of all the vineyards in Barolo most “equate” to the aromatics and finesse of the wines from Burgundy’s Chambolle Musigny, nowhere should the wines of La Morra be considered naturally soft. 

It is my speculative view that although the soils of La Morra do allow for earlier drinking of these wines, there is, practically speaking, no corresponding limitation on their longevity. 

Barolo 

Barolo to my mind is essentially split by altitude. The village itself and the more famous vineyards that immediately surround it are situated quite low in the valley. But over the ridge of the Paiagallo and Terlo vineyards the land extends considerably further west and rises to altitudes as high as 500 meters by the time one gets to Bricco delle Viole at the township’s westernmost point. These more westerly sites give wines of considerable elegance.  But they are not well known, their promotion being left in large part to a single through admirable estate - Vajra. The easterly / central portion surrounding the town has vineyards of very varying expositions - the pure south facing (and hot) Sarmassa,  the southeast facing slopes of Cannubi and more easterly slopes that rise above the town on its west.  The other characteristic of the Barolo township is that with just a few exceptions the designated vineyards tend to be small.  And the town’s flagship vineyard, Cannubi - the central portion of which is in my view surely a great vineyard - has too much sand to be representative of the wines of the commune as a whole. The lower part of Brunate falls in the township but I tend to think of Brunate as belong to La Morra.

If these wines have a single identity it would be that they have excellent balance.  There are some high profile growers in the village that deservedly attract a lot of attention, as one might expect in the village that gives its name to the whole region.   

Castiglione Falletto

It is said that the wines from this commune benefit from it being the place where the two primary soil types of the region come together and that the resulting wines have the best of both worlds. The point here is the surely self evident fact that although this is broadly true, it is absolutely not true for every vineyard. As one might expect from such confluence of soils, the reality is that the commune has a diverse array of sites that are individually more faithful to one soil type than both. And there are also varied expositions. For example Villero is a warmer site with a good proportion of clays, giving wines that can be robust or authoritative depending on your view. Rocche Castiglione is sandier and has a completely different exposition, giving lithe wines of real finesse. And there is Monprivato whose soils have particular marls giving wines that can be somewhere between these two.  I find it very difficult to generalize about the vineyards of Castliglione, beyond that the quality is high. There are several famous vineyards of unquestionable quality delivering wines of very different styles.  But probably one can say that the wines have in common a certain structural assertiveness and while they may lean towards bigger fruit or greater elegance depending on the specifics of the vineyard from which the grapes are sourced, the wine always seems composed, in balance and with expressive aromatics.  Unlike the Barolo Township, Castiglione has several sizable and well known vineyards each with somewhat different but well defined personalities. Perhaps if one had to pick a single vineyard that was most representative of all that is the Barolo region, one could do worse than pick Villero, which seems to have present all the facets one would wish to display in appropriate proportion.

Of the communes, Castligione Falletto is perhaps the most rewarding to take the time to get to know - precisely because there is particularly meaningful variety to its vineyards and many fine growers are represented with parcels in the village.

Verduno 

To the worldwide consumer, Verduno’s reputation is recent and is, in my opinion founded very largely on one vineyard - Monvigliero - and one grower  - GB Burlotto. And perhaps one can say on one part time wine critic who in times past has been very instrumental in bringing attention to these wines - Greg dal Piaz. Burlotto’s Monvigliero is a wine is made in a very traditional style which overlays herbal notes of sage and olive onto of elegant but generous fruit and a lacy structure.  And it sells for high prices. But the Verduno Express has now truly left the station. Now we have Podere Oddero and Paolo Scavino and no doubt other famous cantina buying land in Monvigliero. But one can see in the wines of Monvigliero the character of the village more broadly in wines of elegance and fine floral fruit framed in a  more accommodating structure. So they have the benefit of being approachable fairly young if that is your preference. There are only a few growers resident in the village and no other vineyards have yet really established an individual identity in the market, though I have high hopes for San Lorenzo di Verduno. This is a village whose wines have recently come to the public attention and one can expect the reputation of the village to rise as its wines become better known.  

Novello 

This is another township whose wines have been only recently been elevated in esteem by the efforts of one winery - Elvio Cogno.  I associate the Novello region entirely with the Ravera vineyard, the character of the primary portion of which is that it attracts cooling winds because it is a straight shot from here to the Alps. The views of the Alps are uninterrupted. Others are now investing in the region - Vietti and Scavino for example - which is testament to the anticipated quality of the ravers vineyard. Vietti’s wine in particular has received the highest possible scores from critics, which has also helped promote the reputation of the vineyard.

Its a huge vineyard - much expanded from its original historical section.  There are growers making wines in different styles - some with a strong signature - which makes evaluation of the underlying qualities of the vineyard more difficult. The defining feature is probably the cooling wind, which results in wines of good acidity.  But the wines  also have a presence of quite big fruit and deeper colors than most. La Morra with more acid perhaps. But I defer to those who have spent more time focussed on this commune.    

Lieu Dits, Climats and Crus

The pretty nerdy question of what is the difference in Burgundy between a “climat” and a ‘lieu dit” came up a recent tasting and resulted in some head scratching. There is a really good text on this topic in French which thoroughly explains the difference and from which I have sourced much of the below - Sylvain Pitiot and Pierre Poupon’s “Nouvel Atlas des Grands Vignobles de Bourgogne”. There is of course a third term - ‘cru” - whose meaning I cover later. 

In the French language the words lieu dit simply mean a “named place”. Since the start of the 19th century the term lieu dit refers to a particular parcel of land that under traditional and historical use is referred to by that name and has a boundary defined by topology or historical tradition. It might for example be named after a former owner of the land or the prevalence of certain trees or fauna in the locality or because the particular shape of its landscape or soils. These parcels are not designated in the Appellation Controlee laws.

In contrast, the term climat is linked exclusively to the Appellation Controlee designated sites - but, importantly,  these can be village level sites. Normally a climat is a more narrowly defined parcel of land than a lieu dit but a single climat might also include several lieu dits. The term climat references a parcel of land that has for a very long time been treated as an identifiable unit - in our context, as a singular vineyard - due to some perceived similarity observed by man. Since 2015 the climats of Burgundy - of which there are about 1,000 - where designated by Unesco as among the worlds treasures.

For example "Aloxe Corton Premier Cru Chapitre”- a climat - is a parcel within the larger lieu dit “Les Mieux”.

Sometimes a climat spreads over two lieu dits. For example "Aussey Duresses Premier Cru La Chapelle” straddles parts of both the lieu dits “Les Breterins” and Reugne”.  A climat might compose the entirety of one lieu dit and just a part of a second.  

Or a climat might be a subset of a single lieu dit.

A lieu dit can also straddle several levels of the Appellation Controlle's designation.  To bring this back to the wines our group were tasting when this subject came up, the lieu dit “Les Paulands” in Aloxe Corton covers land that is village level, Premier Cru, but also Grand Cru (when it is called “Corton Les Paulands”).

But they may also be coincident - covering the identical territory. Very often they are.

The term ”Cru” is reserved in the Appellation Controlee regulations strictly for Premier Crus and Grand Crus only.  A village wine would not be referred to as coming from a cru - but, as I understand it, a village vine parcel absolutely could be a defined climat under the Appellation Controlee rules with a particular boundary.  Often the boundary between a climat and a lieu dit - especially at village level - cover precisely the same territory, as is evident from the side by side maps in the above referenced text.

None of which really matters much to anything.  But hopefully this answers the question if it ever comes up.

Burgundian Rocks

The Burgundian sensibility is naturally obsessed with rocks.   What is valued is the celebration of difference - how one place, for whatever reason, produces wine that has certain features every vintage that distinguishes it from a wine produced from any other place, even from land directly adjacent. Those who have caught the terroir “bug” seek to understand within available limits the reasons for these distinctions.  And the most evident starting point for doing that is to understand the soils and bedrock in which the vines take root. Hence the obsession with rocks.

Although it would be fabulous if I could find the time to study this geology as a subject in detail I am resigned to having to do the best I can with the available published sources.  Fortunately there are now several useful books on the subject of the rock strata of the Cote d’Or and we now finally also have Francoise Vannier Petit’s extraordinary and long overdue visual depictions of what lies underneath the most important vineyards of Burgundy.

As an illustration of how these graphics bring this subject to life, below is a depiction from Francoise Vannier-Petit, showing the outline of the Grand Crus of Gevrey and their underlying bedrock.  

One point I would recommend to those just starting out is to be precise in use of language. There is soil - in several distinct layers but normally at least two - and then there is bedrock, being the deepest relevant material the vine can (in some cases) penetrate.  Soil and bedrock are of course not the same but these terms are too often used interchangeably - so when people loosely talk of “soil” they often really mean the bedrock and vice versa.

The other point to make at the outset is that there is still a remarkable absence of consensus as to what bedrock actually lies under particular vineyards or parts of vineyards in Burgundy.  The sources are very inconsistent when you get into detail.   And even now that we have Francoise Vannier-Petit’s excellent pictograms, the accuracy of even these representations is disputed by some growers of noted repute who have been farming their vineyards for more than four generations. So not all is definite or universally agreed.

The laying down of the bedrock

All limestone is formed by the land having previously been under water.  Lime is deposited in various forms at the bottom of these seas and is pressured over an unimaginably long time to form differing types of limestone of various composition, purity and hardness. Broadly it takes a million years to create 10 meters of sediment rock. This is so for the Cote d’Or, the relevant rock formations of which were laid down below waters of varying depth from about 165 to 150 million years ago, spanning the Bajocian, Bathonian and Callovian stages in the Middle Jurassic series and the Oxfordian stage in the more recent Upper Jurassic series.  These seas varied in depth and turbidity/ wave motion, which influences the type of sedimentation. There were shallow lagoons, shores and beaches as well as places and times when the waters were deeper.  As an example it appears that the waters that formed the Cote de Nuits strata experienced a ‘wave motion” before a quieter ‘lagoon period”, whereas in the waters that were above the Cote de Beaune that sequence was reversed. This is of course results in different layering of strata in different locations. To illustrate, broadly, the crinoidal limestone layer of strata would have been formed when the seas experienced significant wave acton - presumably deeper waters - whereas the ostrea accumulata layer results from sedimentation in calmer, shallower and more sheltered waters. Since at the periphery there was always some land above the water - including part of what is now called the Massif Central - differing degrees of mud from rivers flowed into these waters, impacting the purity of the limestone sedimented.

The sea  retreated 65 million years ago during the Tertiary Period as pressure from the Africa plate pushed Burgundy upwards.  Some 23 million years ago there was a huge fault that created a drop on the level of the earth to the east of what is now the Cote d’Or. This depression  stretching east all the way to the Jura mountains - “the Bresse Graben”. The Soane river flowed along this fault  so creating the valley. This drop exposed about 500 meters of vertical escarpment on the eastern edge of the Massif Central - the plateau that dominates the center of France. Then came the Glaciers of the Ice Age some 20,000 years ago, fracturing rocks and dragging debris down the hillsides.  The following warming allowed vegetation to grow and the formation of topsoil. On that east facing escarpment, much fissured and fractured, lie the vineyards of the Cote d’Or.

The types of strata 

Although when one gets into details and what exactly lies under specific vineyards there are still many question marks, it does seem worth the effort is to understand the basic characteristics of the types of bedrock that form the Cote. The key issue to grasp is that at the northern end of the Cote de Nuits the strata underlying the mid slope are very old. As we move south to the Cote de Beaune these layers sink lower and are replaced at the mid slope level by younger rock formations, which in Gevrey are present only at the very top of the slope or not at all, having been entirely eroded away. These older strata re-emerge at mid slope to replace the younger rock at Meursault. This is what is called the “Volnay Syncline” - the dip of the older rocks far below the mid slope line at Volnay and correspondingly the “Gevrey Anticline” representing the high point of these older strata at the mid slope level at Gevrey. Simplistically, the Cote de Nuits is made up of Bajocian and Bathonian limestones and the Cote de Beaune from Callovian and Oxfordian limestones.

Looking at the Cote de Nuits, from oldest (and so presumptively deepest in the strata layering absent faults and other irregularities) to youngest, I set out below the main bedrock types. I am grateful to Remington Norman’s “Grand Cru”, from which much of the below is sourced and which I believe to contains the most comprehensible description (to the layman) of this difficult topic

The Cote de Nuits (from oldest/deepest to youngest) 

1. Sandy marls - clay and limestone mix, present as outcrops only in the very north - Couchey and Marsannay
2. Crinoidal Limestone / “Calcaire Entroque” -  Part of the Bajocian set of limestones - being formed between 171 and 167 million years ago. This is an important strata formation, created by the decomposition of marine urchins - which are really lilies -  the stalks and skeletons of which contain a lot of calcium. Compressed by pressure this formation is only a narrow strip but sits under a 150m wide swarth of Grand Crus - including Clos de Beze and Bonnes Mares and well as many sites stretching north from Gevrey. On the Vosne side however it has started to bury itself deeper to be replaced at the critical mid slope level by younger strata.  
3. Ostrea Accumulata Marl  - Also from the Bajocian period this is made up of oysters accumulated in mud. Very friable and subject to erosion.  In Gevrey it appears only very high on the slope - by the forest but it underpins the upper part of Bonnes Mares, Romanee Conti and La Tache.  An extremely important layer.  
4. Shaly Limestone.  This looks like horizontal layers of slate but is almost yellow in color.  More limestone than marl / clay in composition. Apparently at mid slope in the southern end of Vosne and, for example in Nuits Boudots, consistent with the gradual sinking of the older strata as one moves further south.  
5. Premaux Limestone - Part of the younger Bathonian period - being 167 to 164 million years ago - unlike all the strata referred to above, this rock is extremely hard - being formed of limestone rich mud under high pressure from the strata above. It is pink in color.  It is very prevalent at the higher levels along the whole Cote de Nuits - from Ruchottes Chambertin through La Tache
6. “White Oolite” - Also Bathonian,  this is created in shallower (ie more recent) seas by wave action acting on small pieces of sand/debris which gathered limestone - like a pearl. The result is soft/ friable limestone that has the appearance of being made up of fish eggs bonded together.  Rests under really only the highest part of the Cote de Nuits slopes at the mid/ southern end - Petits Monts in Vosne and Mont Luisants in Morey, for example and perhaps there is some at the very top of the Clos de Beze.
7. Comblanchien limestone.  Also from the Bathonian period, this is not unlike Premeaux limestone - being formed from limestone rich mud compressed by strata above. Very pure limestone and very hard. It forms the dramatic sides of the combes in the Cote de Nuits.  As you might expect only found at the uppermost limits in the Cote de Nuits - basically is the cap rock. An exception is in Chambolle Musigny, where Comblanchien limestone inexplicably underpins parts of Les Amoureuses and vineyards on the northern side of the Combe d’Ambin, and in the upper part of Clos Vougeot and possibly above the Clos de Beze. To be viable for viticulture it really needs to have been eroded or be faulted somewhat and mixed with strata containing some clay.  

The above sequence of layering one on top of the other is to be presumed and unless interrupted, should be the natural sequence of the layering of the bedrock strata. Despite major rifting 30 million years ago, this presumption holds. But one has to understand that there are faults - and some of these can be so significant as to have the result that the strata sequence set out above is interrupted.  For example, Remington Norman asserts that Premeaux limestone is present lower on the slope than Calciare Entroque and Ostrea Accumulata in the Clos St Jacques, which inverts the historical layering sequence. And, due to faulting, what underlies the Clos St Jacques is not the same as what underlies the adjacent Cazetiers vineyard. The biggest, most visible faults seem to run north-south ie along the line of the slope. The largest one of all lies broadly along the D974, on the ‘Bourgogne” easterly side of which the soil is very deep whereas on the “Village” level designated westerly side perhaps only extending 2 or 3 meters down before you get to the bedrock. There is also a most evident and visible fault above the Montrachet vineyard.

The Cote de Beaune

Until you get to its very southern end, the bulk of the Cote de Beaune is made up of younger rock strata, the older formations of the Middle Jurassic present at mid slope in the Cote de Nuits sinking below the slope from about Ladoix.  The Cote de Beaune bedrocks are mostly from the later Middle Jurassic’s Callovian period - 165 to 161 million years ago or the Upper (ie more recent) Jurassic period known as Oxfordian , being 161 to 158 million years ago. 

Because of its less compact shape and greater expanse, articulating succinctly the Cote de Beaune’s rock formation is difficult and the available sources, on my reading, are less clear as the the exact sequencing of the strata layers.  Its probably true that less specific research has been done on most of these vineyards, absent Montrachet itself. As one moves south many different types of bedrock replace the type slightly further north. I have not been able to be precise about the names of all the rock types.  The best visualization I have found is the graphic on page 116 of James Wilson’s book “Terroir” 

At the base of the Corton Hill and stretching to mid slope the bedrock is the “Dallee Nacree” set from the Bathonian and Callovian Periods - the “pearly slab”.  Broadly between Aloxe Corton and Volnay the ‘Dalle Nacree” strata has gone 20 meters deeper and so at Volnay this only is present at the every base of the slope, being replaced at mid slope by younger white marls of the Upper Jurassic - ie Oxfordian marls. On this are grown the lighter styled reds of the Cote de Beaune. These strata have more clay than the purer limestone further north. The strata of the Middle Jurassic resurface around mid slope at Meursault and are present all the way to Santenay.  Hence the term “Volnay Syncline”, representing the dip beneath the slope of the Middle Jurassic strata at Volnay and “Gevrey Anticline”, representing the high point of the older strata at the village of Gevrey. This is why some firmer styled reds - reminiscent of the Cote de Nuits - are made in Santenay and Maranges, at the southern most end of the Cote de Beaune. 

The Cote de Beaune is difficult to pin down geologically because one has to explain the Hill of Corton, the mid section stretching from Beaune to Volnay and then from Meursault south.  Though I have a lot less confidence in the accuracy of this sequence I set out below relative to that that for the Cote de Nuits strata set out above, as I understand it from oldest to youngest in the Cote de Beaune the strata sequence is as follows  - 

1. “Dalee Nacree” - full of fossils, a pearly flagstone - shiny oysters in mud - at the base             under the Hill of Corton
2. Ferriginous oolite - a thin strata layer - red from the presence of iron minerals.
3. Dolomitic Limestone - like the Comblancien layer further north but with more magnesium
4. Pernand or Pommard Marl (depending on how far south ) - thick deposits of calcareous             clay - often interfingered with limestones richer in clay. Prominent in Pernand, Pommard             and Volnay
5. Ladoix Limestone - “laves” (so used for roof tiles) - results from sandy deposits present in             a tidal environment. Per Remmington Norman resent in the upper part of Volnay                         Caillerets and in adjacent parts of Monthelie.  
6. Nantoux Limestone, which forms the ‘cap” at the top of the southern slopes.  Above this l            lies St Romain marl

The Volnay Syncline

Here is something I have some trouble understanding.  The Bathonian and Bajocian limestone bedrock that underpins the bulk of the northern part of the Cotes de Nuits dips down around Nuits St Georges so that the line of the slope from that point south has as its bedrock younger strata. Pommard and Volnay for example have Oxfordian limestone bedrock, the older rock strata of the Cote de Nuits being buried far below. But at about the mid point of Meursault the Bathonian/Bajocian rock raises up again and the mid slope bedrock from that point south is once again similar to the Cote de Nuits. That is the explanation normally given why Santenay produces (or at least can produce) firm red wines with real backbone that resemble those of the Cote de Nuits.  But why then is white wine grown in Meursault and Puligny when these villages have bedrock more suitable for making muscular reds ?  

The only answer I can offer is that the soil in Meursault and Puligny has a lot more marl ( i.e. more clay) than the more limestone rich soils of the Cote de Nuits. Chardonnay likes marl whereas Pinot Noir likes limestone. As the deeper rock rose up in Meursault and Puigny it dragged with it more clay, which resulted in more clay being mixed in to the limestone soil. Voila !  I doubt it is so simple.  And even this explanation raises questions regarding the relative influence of soil and bedrock, which seems by this logic to favor the greater significance of soil. This is borne out by Francoise Vonnier Petit's observation in her presentation at the Paulee in New York in 2017 that its a myth vines really penetrate much into the bedrock. 

Beaune - A deserved resurgence

I can remember many years ago Mary Ewing Mulligan surprised everyone at a tutored event - as I recall hosted by the Burgundy Wine Company in New York - when she stated that Beaune was her favorite Appellation in Burgundy. I think perhaps we misunderstood her meaning since clearly no one would surely assert there are no better wines in Burgundy than those from Beaune. Yet Beaune seems to be out of favor to a degree not justified..  

There are three reasons for this - 

1. The negociants dominated the production for decades - and still do. Therefore the assertion follows that the wines cannot be especially good. And even if one accepts that the negotiant made wines are as well made as any other, these enterprises own land in much more prestigious terroirs than Beaune. The visitor and buyer tends to focus on the many Grand Crus available at these address. The Hospice, although holding fine plots across 23.5 ha, blends five cuvees which, therefore, requires assiduous attention to generate a following. Historically at least , there are no widely recognized cult growers resident in the town to offset this bias.

2. Beaune wine has no particular characteristic to call its own. It is not especially floral, mineral or elegant. As Matt Kramer eloquently put it in 1990 in Making Sense of Burgundy - “the presence of distinctive terroirs is not insistent,”  Beaune wine has no markers to distinguish it.

3. Not only is the terroir not especially distinctive, but it is assumed to be all the same. As Christophe Bouchard put it to Bill Nanson for his Burgundy Report, “ Beaune is hard to sell…In France there is a ‘small is beautiful” mentality and the vines of Beaune in the context of Burgundy are a large “whole”. There are of course no Grand Crus to give definition to the Appellation - but this is no less true in Appellations that today have greater prestige. 

These three influences, which have robbed Beaune’s wines of their historical prestige, are about to change. 

     1.      As consumers continue to look for wine at cheaper price points they are paying more               attention to Beaune, and in doing so will raise the profile of the resident quality producers - of whom there are several (including some negotiants who of course own a good deal of land in Beaune)

     2.       The pendulum of opinion that Beaune’s lack of defining characteristic is a detriment will    swing to become an appreciation that this is more appropriately considered a merit.  The wines, far from being soft and fruity as has been the conventional wisdom, are actually balanced in all components, with drive, freshness and good depth.  If they perhaps lack for the most assertive minerality or floral aromas the wines have characteristics of there own.  Everything is in balance. What is not to like ? This is perhaps what Mary Ewing Mulligan was appreciating.

     3.       It is evident on even a perfunctory inspectionthat the vineyards in Beaune are not all     the same. Even if one tries to generalize about the qualities of the three sections - north, middle and south - the soils are in fact extremely varied even within this division.  The central area - including Cras, Greves and the Teurons surely gives wines of the most distinction - as the slightly lower clay content in the soil gives wines of real completeness that do not lack for elegance.  The locals view Greves as the most regal site but it is a big vineyard and not all Greves deserves such accolade.  More widely across the commune the upper part of Les Bressands, together with Les Feves and L’Ecu from the northern side deserve attention. From the side closer to Pommard there are perhaps fewer reliably excellent climats, but Vignes Franches, Pertuisots and  of course the expansive Clos des Mouches produce wines of character and individuality.      

I commend to you the series of brief articles written on Beaune by Robert Collins in “Collins Corner” on the Winehog website and Bill Nanson’s Article on Beaune in the Summer 2010 edition of the Burgundy Report. More recently there is a webinar by Jasper Morris available through his site and 67PallMall. 

Vineyards - Reputation past and present.

It is rightly said that there are no new discoveries in Burgundian vineyards.  You will not uncover a vineyard whose fine quality no one has noticed before. Yet part of the joy of Burgundy is to develop preferences among the hundreds of vineyards and in this one can, in my view, latch on early to some vineyard whose reputation may be on the rise - especially in the less heralded villages. Vineyards rise and fall in reputation.  Taste preferences change. Climate changes. Through some stimulus or other a particular vineyard may rise in esteem - which of course influences price.  

Since in Burgundy it is the land that is rated not the grower, it is inevitable that, other things being equal,  a vineyard’s present reputation is very influenced by the quality of the growers who currently farm it. This is no less true in Barolo or anywhere else where vineyard designation is important. The true central part of Cannubi for example - as distinct from the adjacent vineyards of Cannubi Boschis or Cannubi Valletta (each also entitled to the singular “Cannubi” designation) - has to my mind no grower making single vineyard designated Cannubi of a style and quality I most appreciate.  Some commentators have come to question the true merit of this historically revered  vineyard.  Examples in Burgundy abound - both of apparently lesser vineyards over performing in reputation because of the quality of growers who farm it (perhaps Gevrey Les Corbeaux or St Aubin En Remilly) and historically more prestigious vineyards that do not today fulfill their apparent potential.  Chambolle Les Charmes for example seems to me to have been long regarded as the finest Premier cru level vineyard in Chambolle after Amoureuses, but it appears of late relatively to have lost this standing in favor of Fuees and Cras as these two previously rather cool sites have benefitted from climate change. The arrival of a single dedicated grower can quickly restore the reputation of an under performing vineyard, which in turn attracts others to it and raises prices.

There are several examples of vineyards whose reputations have much improved of late. .

Vosne Malconsorts, for example, has of course forever been known to be a great site, but absent Cathiard’s wine, there was little actual evidence of this in recent bottles. So it did not make the ‘short list” of the great Premier crus of Burgundy. Now however, due to the buying into the vineyard principally of Dujac and De Montille the fine reputation of the vineyard as a whole has been largely restored. And the prices all the growers can obtain rises to reflect this. Now Malconsorts is rightfully on everyone’s list of Burgundy’s very best Premier Crus. 

Latriciere Chambertin now perhaps has a higher reputation than it ever has by virtue of a mighty prestigious list of growers.  Bize Leroy may have been led the way but many have followed. The very particular qualities of the vineyard have since been brought into clear focus so the vineyard now merits its Grand Cru status.  Perhaps the trend to more elegantly styled wines has also helped the uptick in Latriciere’s reputation.

Vosne Petits Monts is another example.  Veronique Drouhin has always been there making fine wine, but this vineyard has surely risen on the coat tails of the heightened visibility of Vosne Reignots, since Comte Liger Belair took back their land in 2002. Liger Belair also have a plot in Petits Monts since 2006 but now we also have Domaine Georges Noellat and Domaine Berthaut Gerbet to join the roster of quality growers in Petits Monts. DRC of course have a piece also. The vineyard just seems to be getting more attention than before. And prices have gone up accordingly.  

So is Meursault Poruzots - a long a “forgotten” vineyard thought to produce wines in the richer style, now farmed by growers of the highest repute making wines of more restraint and tension, demonstrating only now the quality of which the vineyard was evidently always capable. The same is true of Meursault Bouchiere after Jean Marc Roulot recently acquired a parcel.

Gevrey’s Lavaux St Jacques is another vineyard whose reputation is clearly rising. We have Duroche and Benjamin Leroux’s recent examples plus newcomers Marchant Tawse and Amelie Berthaut. Rousseau now more consistently bottles his parcel separately. Allen Meadows has endorsed the quality of the vineyard, so this cat is out of the bag. 

Beaune Greves is a large vineyard but the locals appreciate its majestic quality. They universally recognize it as the best site in Beaune.  So its quality is hardly a secret. But the wider public will soon latch on to what the locals have long known as the roster of people making Greves grows to include some prestigious and highly competent names. We have for a while had some fine growers in Greves - including Frederick Lafarge and Bouchard, from whose holding in the central part of the vineyard increasingly good wine is being produced. And now we also have David Croix, Etienne de Montille and Dominique Lafon. The future looks bright.

So what vineyards are next to rise in reputation ?

As prices broadly have risen, consumers have looked at villages previously thought to be in the second category and, on inspection , found that some of these vineyards perhaps are not second grade at all. Particularly if one is drinking white burgundy younger (meaning inside the first ten years) so ageability is not intrinsically so much a constituent of quality as before, some vineyards which show earlier appeal have become very popular - St Aubin En Remilly for example. Perhaps the higher parts of Chassagne Morgeots will benefit. Quality growers don’t normally waste their time making wine from suboptimal sites. Unless they inherited them. Here especially the negotiant names have a benefit since they can pick their terroirs. I have always felt that at the Grand Cru level it surely unlikely the negotiants (other than those who own the land) get the best fruit but at lower levels they can pick only sites that really are of interest. The best example of this freedom being exercised perhaps is Benjamin Leroux - almost everything produced illustrates the quality of lesser known sites - his Meursault Blagny for example, or his Premier cru Vougeot.

Some village level sites of course are in the process of seeking higher official designation to Premier Cru.  It is no surprise that these are rising in reputation by having been singled out as candidates even if the process of formal elevation were not to be successful.  These sites may fetch slightly higher prices today - so there is really no “discovery” with regard to these. But as a consumer these are still sites that are not priced quite where they may be - especially of course if the application for promotion is successful.  Among these seeking elevation we have several in Marsannay - including Longerois and Clos Du Roi for example - in Gevrey Evocelles and in Vosne Champ Perdrix as I understand it. I am interested where the prices of these vines go if granted Premier Cru status - especially the many vineyards in Marsannay that have made the application. 

Historically in many locations the most highly regarded vineyards were those where the snow melted first. Global warming has undeniably played a role in reformulating the perceived quality hierarchy of vineyards. There can be little doubt of the reality of this, given today’s preference for more restrained wines.  Sites with higher elevation or in the path of a combe or, in relation to Barolo especially, vineyards facing other than directly due south, have risen in regard as the summers get warmer. In Barolo a full south exposition more or less guaranteed a high reputation, even in the days before there was an official hierarchy. A look at the three dimensional map makes this abundantly clear. The historically most famous vineyards face due south. The grapes from these sites fetched higher prices. Today however, Brunate for example is without question still an astounding site in which one would enthusiastically wish to have vines - but its growers are surely having to compensate in viticulture for its fully southerly exposure in the warmer years. Another example is Villero, which although it has a south west aspect is a naturally warm site.  Growers with vines there perform more canopy management than previously to compensate for increasing temperatures. By contrast, the vineyards of Verduno - and especially Monvigliero- with cooler expositions- are gaining in completeness and desirability. There are countless examples. But while acknowledging global warming is very relevant it is not the only factor. If warmer summers alone can diminish a vineyards reputation, you surely need quality farming to elevate an as yet less heralded site. Examples in Burgundy of vineyards that have surely benefited from recent warmer temperatures should include the two mentioned above - Chambolle Les Fuees and Les Cras plus perhaps Lavaux Saint Jacques in Gevrey.

No doubt better farming techniques have lifted the quality of harvested fruit from all vineyards. This is quite a recent development - really the last fifteen years or so. The need for phenolic ripeness is better understood. The raw material is better, allowing lighter extractions.  Unquestionably some vineyards that previously struggled for ripeness are now - by virtue of these farming improvements - elevating themselves to the highest ranks.  Global warming alone is not responsible for the improvements we enjoy.

It is very reassuring that the direction is exclusively towards adding to the list of sites that are performing at new found higher potential. The historically warmer sites are being skillfully managed with all the viticultural tools available to compensate for their increased warmth - so retaining their reputation. Sites previously marginally too cool are benefiting from greater warmth and better viticulture - so raising the standing of previously less heralded sites. All good for the consumer. 

Predicting which vineyard is next to rise in the popular rankings is a purely intellectual indulgence - a conversation only for the most entrenched wine geeks.  I have some sympathy for Nuits St George Aux Thorey.  There are many vineyards of high repute on the Vosne side of Nuits, but at present Thorey is not among those often mentioned. There has been some turnover in the vineyard - but now Cathiard is back and so is De Montille and Benjamin Leroux. The slope has similar exposition to Clos St Jacques. Others whose views I respect have a great appreciation for Nuits Saint Georges Les Perrierres. Perhaps Beaune Greves ? Meursault Blagny ?