Burgundy (Bourgogne): It’s Complicated

16 min readMay 8, 2023

The wine region of Burgundy is the birthplace of terroir, painstakingly and systematically unearthed by diligent Benedictine and Cistercian monks. Over the course of centuries, they recorded their wines, the soils, and other factors and used the results to delineate areas into vineyards, determining, almost down almost to the vine, where the best vines grow. Their grape of choice was the extremely terroir-expressive Pinot Noir, and their centuries of effort established terroir as a core element of viticulture.

As a result of this effort, Burgundy is home to over 100 of France’s ~500 designated appellations, and it also happens to produce some of the world’s most tantalizing (and expensive) wines.

The History of Burgundy (Continued…)

As a result of the Monk’s good work and its spectacular end product, many nobles, including the royalty of France, donated land to the Benedictine and Cistercian monks for them to continue their good work. But, after the Revolution of 1789 (that famous French revolution), the church was relieved of its ownership of these vineyards, and the land was sold off — sometimes one row of vines at a time.

For good measure — and as a final way of confuddling the modern wine lover who wants to understand Burgundy and its wines — Emperor Napoleon I created the Napoleonic Code of 1804. This decreed that when a parent dies, all their heirs must inherit equally.

Meaning that, in today’s age, there are some Burgundians who own just a scant handful of vines; enough for them to produce only a couple of cases of wine. This, and other decisions made by more modern Burgundians, result in Burgundy being the world’s most fractionalized and difficult to grasp wine region — that also happens to produces some of world’s most fascinating wines.

Here we’ll cover all the necessary knowledge for the Introductory Sommeliers Exam, starting by detailing some Burgundy-specific terminology, and then moving on to the five regions that make up Burgundy.

Note that Beaujolais is, for administrative purposes, a part of Burgundy. But it is not discussed here as it is quite different from this region and deserves its own article, which can be discovered here.

Burgundian Terminology

As opposed to Bordeaux, where the focus is on the château and the producer’s name found on the bottle, Burgundian wines are focused on the expression of terroir. For this reason, producers who own multiple plots or vineyards in Burgundy will not blend the grapes from different plots to make one wine, as in Bordeaux. (These owners and producers of multiple wines from multiple plots are called Domaines, of which there are 6000 in Burgundy).

Instead of blending the grapes from different plots, each Domaine will go to the effort to make a different wine from each plot they own, allowing each area of land to shine in its distinct way.

These plots exist in climats, which are specific areas of Burgundy defined by their terroir. Back in the day, the monks marked off many of these climats by building stone walls around them, and a walled-off area like this is called a clos. When a vineyard, or clos, is owned entirely by one entity — like almost every other vineyard in the world — it is called a monopole.

One of these sites, say a Grand Cru site, can have dozens of owners, each producing their own wine from their small selection of vines. All these producers, therefore, use the name of the Grand Cru on their labels. As they’re all making their wine differently, the many wines coming from this same climat will vary widely in quality, style, price, and reputation; so, while it might not seem it on the face, knowing your producers becomes more important the deeper you delve into Burgundy.

Finally, in the past, a lot of the grapes or wines from these vineyards were bought by wine merchants called négociants, who rarely owned a vineyard. Probably the most widespread example of a négociant is Louis Jadot.

These négociants then blended their purchased wines, often into several wines, and sold them. For example, a négociant would blend the wines or grapes purchased from a single vineyard and label it as such. But, in the 60s and 70s, many growers started bottling their own wines under their own label. This lowered the quality of the négociants’ wine and, to rectify the problem, the négociants moved into the business of growing. Their wines are, however, considered to be less exciting than those of smaller, more specific Domaines.

Deciphering a Burgundian Wine Label

With 100+ appellations and multiple producers in each vineyard in each appellation, a Burgundian label is one of the more complex in the wine world. The first thing to know is that there are four appellations that can be applied to the whole of Burgundy:

Bourgogne AOP — Red and white Burgundy made from grapes sourced from anywhere in the region, accounting for ~50% of the region’s production. These wines can lack the specificity of terroir that Burgundy is so famed for.
Village AOP — Made from grapes grown in and around a particular Burgundian village. There are 44 villages in Burgundy, and the village’s name will appear on the bottle.
Premier Cru (1st Cru, First Growth) — in 1861, the Premier Cru and Grand Cru classifications were created, with 629 vineyards now holding Premier Cru status. The wine’s label will feature the name of the village, followed by the name of the Premier Cru vineyard. If there is no vineyard denoted on the label, then the grapes can be a blend of fruit that was sourced from any Premier Cru vineyard in the village found on the label.
Grand Cru (Great Growth) — There are 33 Grand Crus sites in Burgundy, 32 are in the Côte d’Or, and one is in Chablis. A Grand Cru’s label will only list the vineyard. It will not list the village it is located in. These wines account for a mere 2% of the region’s production.

So the wine is labeled based on where it is from, rather than who made it. But how, without memorizing the names of 44 villages, 629 Premier Cru vineyards, and 33 Grand Cru vineyards, does one know what the name on the bottle signifies?

Unfortunately, it’s one of those things that you just have to know. But there are two tricks to help you on your way to decoding the cipher of a Burgundian wine label:

Vineyards are often preceded by the French word le or la (meaning “the”).
Many villages have hyphenated names, having chosen to add their most famous vineyard onto the end of their village’s name, e.g., the village of Aloxe added the name of its most famous vineyard, Le Corton, to its name, becoming Aloxe-Corton.

While a wine is labeled based on where it is made, the producer will still put their name on the label, and if they’re a Domaine or monopole, this terminology will also be included. However, there is no standard for labeling. So some producers put the village name in the largest font, some put their own, others put the vineyard. That’s why it’s good to get down to a wine store and practice decoding the Burgundian ciphers on the shelves to familiarize yourself with Burgundian labeling practices.

Burgundy’s Climate, Vintages, and Soils

Burgundy stretches from north to south across the mid-part of France and is one of the world’s coolest and northernmost red wine growing regions. Each of Burgundy’s five regions has a continental climate but, due to specifics in their geography, each region faces its own unique climate threats each year. We’ll detail each region’s unique climate threats when we dive into the individual regions.

As a result of the high variability brought on by Burgundy’s climate and northerly location, Burgundian vintages can vary quite a lot. Phenomenally intricate and complex wines can be produced in good years, but bad years — with too little sunlight throughout the season to ripen the grapes or too much rain falling in the fall diluting their juices — produce less flavorful wines. This is not to say they are bad wines (not at all!), they just don’t offer up the same levels of complexity that good years might.

Regarding soils, it is limestone and limestone-rich clay soils, called marl, that make Burgundy special. These are especially prominent in the northern regions of Burgundy, and this is where the most prestigious wines come from. We’ll also look at the unique elements of each region’s specific soil and terroir in our breakdown a little later on.

The Grapes of Burgundy

Burgundy is the spiritual home of two of the world’s most popular and terroir-expressive grape varietals: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. While these make up the vast majority, 90%+, of the vines planted in the region, there are other permitted grapes.

Pinot Noir — A major grape that is the source of everything red, from simple Bourgogne Rouge to the most sought after Grand Cru Burgundies. It is a thin-skinned grape, which means that it is lighter in color than most other reds. This lighter color often misleads the casual observer into thinking that the wine might lack flavor. On the contrary, these wines can have very concentrated flavors that almost leap out of the glass.

Chardonnay — Also a major grape, again the source of everything from basic Bourgogne Blanc to those found on the upper echelons of the white wine shelves, Chablis.

Aligote -The most widely planted, and only noteworthy, of Burgundy’s minor grapes. It is mainly grown in the Mâconnais and used to make cheap, frivolous wine, along with the region’s slightly more prestigious sparkler, Crémant de Bourgogne.

Other minor grapes permitted to be grown in Burgundy, and grown in minute quantities, are Pinot Beurot, Melon, Sauvignon Blanc, and César. Of course, don’t forget Gamay, the grape of Beaujolais, but this is rarely included Burgundy’s red and rosé wines.

Regarding the replanting of vineyards: the Burgundians are extremely partial to a technique called massale, massal selection in English. In this process, cuttings are taken from numerous vines around the vineyard, and buds from all of them are then used to start a new vineyard — thus replicating the genetic diversity of the original vineyard in a single vine.

Burgundian Winemaking Techniques

Using “Burgundian methods” is a phrase used around the world to describe the way a wine was made. So what is unique about the Burgundian way of winemaking to make others use this terminology? In fact, there are multiple unique elements of Burgundian winemaking:

The grapes are harvested in small batches, and each lot is vinified separately.
Indigenous yeast is used to ferment the must (no commercial yeast is inputted).
White wines are barrel fermented.
White wines undergo malolactic fermentation.
White wines sit sur lie for an extended period, and those lees are also periodically stirred, a technique called bâtonnage.
Red wine is fermented in small, open-top fermenters.
The wine is handled as little as possible after it has been made.
White wines (Chardonnays) are fined with casein or isinglass.
Red wines (Pinot Noir) are fined with egg whites.
15–18 months of aging in small oak barrels, usually not 100% new, is typically for all the best wines. These barrels have a 228l capacity and are shorter than Bordeaux barrels, with a deeper, rounder bilge. Perfect for capturing the lees on which whites are aged.

Before winemaking cometh the harvest doth cometh, and harvesting in Burgundy is a finicky business. If a producer picks their grapes too early, their grapes won’t be ripe enough and the fruit won’t have had the time to full ripen. This might result in too much acid in the wine. If a producer waits too long, their grapes could get bloated and their flavors diluted by the rains of early autumn, or, even worse, they could start to rot on the vines.

Chaptalization, the addition of sugars to the must, is a legal and common practice in Burgundy. This technique can be used to add more alcohol and, therefore, more body to wines that are picked too early. In red wines, it also helps to extend fermentation and, thus, the maceration period for grape skins, increasing extraction and the structure of the wines.

Burgundian Regions from North to South

This is the meat and potatoes, the main course, of everything that is Burgundy, especially for the Introductory Sommeliers Exam. The Burgundian appellation system is styled to fit their preferred purpose of producing great wine that allow their terroir shine.

As mentioned before, Burgundy has 100 of Frances ~500 AOPs. We won’t be going into all of them here but we will be detailing the need-to-know ones. Previously, we listed the four main appellations of Burgundy, and these are the basic structure for the systems used inside each of Burgundy’s regions.

Here we will also look at each region’s unique aspects of terroir, the climate threats faced by producers throughout the growing season, and any unique winemaking practices employed.

Chablis

Chablis is located far away, 80 miles, from the rest of Burgundy, and it is actually closer to Champagne, just 20 miles away. Because of this northerly location and its cool-continental climate, timing the harvest right is imperative to preventing the late season frosts from destroying the grapes. As a result of this climatic influence, the best Chablis wines are extremely vibrant and feature a crisp acidity. Only Chardonnay is grown in Chablis.

Chablis features just one of Burgundy’s 33 Grand Crus and is a landscape of rolling hills made up of Kimmeridgean clay (a limestone-rich soil) and coated by the thinnest layer of topsoil. It is common to find fossils in the limestone rocks that litter Chablis’ vineyards. This limestone is said to be the source of the wines’ high minerality (a good Chablis is said to have flavors of gunflint, goût de pierre à fusil), and the vines’ roots tunnel 70+ feet into this bed of limestone in search of the water and nutrients they need.

The majority of the wines produced here are fermented in stainless steel tanks to protect the aforementioned flavors, but some, especially Grand Cru wines, are barrel fermented instead. Malolactic fermentation is commonly applied to the wines of Chablis.

The AOPs of Chablis are as follows:

Chablis AOP — A generic AOP for wine coming only from Chablis.
Petit Chablis AOP — An AOP for wines coming from the outlying areas of Chablis.
Chablis Premier Cru AOP — There are 40 designated Premier Cru vineyards.
Chablis Grand Cru AOP — There are seven designated Grand Cru vineyards, most of which face south/southwest for the greatest exposure to the sun — which is essential this far north. From west to east, these Grand Cru vineyards are:
Bougros
Les Preuses
Vaudésir
Grenouilles
Valmur
Les Clos
Blanchot

Côte d’Or

The Côte d’Or is the place all of Burgundy’s famous red wines come from — along with some of its most famous whites — and it is split into two distinct sections, the Côte de Nuits (the northern half that is almost entirely planted with Pinot Noir) and the Côte de Beaune (the southern half that is planted with both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with Chardonnay dominating).

The Côte d’Or is a 30-mile limestone escarpment, i.e., ridge, running north to south, whose eastern slope was cleared and planted with vines by monks. These vineyards are perfectly orientated to catch each day’s morning sun, and because the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune are distinct in so many ways we will discuss them separately. However, the Côte d’Or does have one AOP:

Bourgogne Cote d’Or AOP — A sub-appellation of the region-wide Bourgogne AOP, for wines (both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) made from grapes grown only in the Côte de Nuit and Côte de Beaune regions.

Côte de Nuits

The northern half of the Côte d’Or, featuring the highest quantity of soils that are composed of marl and limestone, and 24 of Burgundy’s 33 Grand Cru vineyards. The most prestigious vineyards are located in the middle of the slopes, and the region is threatened each year: by frost in both the spring and the autumn, hail in the summer, and excessive rain in the autumn.

The wines from here are aged in French oak, with new French oak often used. Some producers will ferment with whole grape clusters, stems and all, while others will de-stem.

The AOPs of Côte de Nuits are:

Côte de Nuits-Villages AOP — General appellation for wines from five small areas in the Côte de Nuits. Only for Pinot Noir.
Village AOP — Made only from grapes grown in and around a village in the Côte de Nuits. The name of the village will appear on the bottle. There are nine of these in the Côte de Nuits (villages are also called Communes, meaning municipality). From north to south, they are:
Marsannay
Fixin (1st C)
Gevrey-Chambertin (GC) (1st C)
Morey-St-Denis (GC)
Chambolle-Musigny (GC) (1st C)
Vougeot (GC) (1st C)
Vosne-Romanée (GC) (1st C)
Flagey-Echézeaux (GC)
Nuits-Saint-George (1st C)
Premier Cru (1st Cru, First Growth) AOP — All the grapes in these wines must come from the Premier Cru vineyard specified on the label. The label will say the name of the village and the name of the Premier Cru vineyard. If no vineyard is specified on the label, then the grapes can be a blend of fruit from any Premier Cru vineyards in the village named on the label (there are 130 Premier Crus in the Côte de Nuits) coming from 6 villages, marked 1st C above.
Grand Cru (Great Growth) AOP — All of the grapes must come from the Grand Cru vineyard listed on the label, and the label will only list the vineyard — not the village it is located in. 24 of 33 of Burgundy’s Grand Crus are in 6 of the Côte de Nuits communes, marked with GC above. Musigny is the only white Grand Cru in the Côte de Nuits, the rest are red.

Côte de Beaune

While the Côte de Beaune has a continental climate, its microclimates vary from village to village and sometimes even vineyard to vineyard. These vineyards, like those of the Côte de Nuits, feature soils of Marl and Limestone, and French oak, often new, is used in the production of white and red wine.

The Côte de Beaune produces red and white wines, from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay respectively, with whites dominating production quantity. The appellations of the Côte de Beaune are as follows:

Village AOP — Made from grapes grown in and around a village named on the label. There are many named villages in the Côte de Beaune. From south to north they are:
Pernand-Vergelesses (1st C)
Ladoix (1st C)
Aloxe-Corton (GC) (1st C)
Savigny lès-Beaune (1st C)
Chorey-lès-Beaune
Beaune (1st C)
Pommard (1st C)
Volnay (1st C)
Monthélie (1st C)
Saint Romain
Auxey-Duresses (1st C)
Meursault (1st C)
Blagny (1st C)
Puligny-Montrachet (GC) (1st C)
Chasagne-Montrachet (GC) (1st C)
St Aubin (1st C)
Santenay (1st C)
Premier Cru (1st Cru, First Growth) AOP — All of the grapes in these wines must come from the 1st Cru village named on the label, and the label will contain the name of the village and the name of the vineyard. If there is no vineyard on the label, the grapes can be a blend of fruit from any Premier Cru vineyards found in the village named on the label. The Côte de Beaune is home to hundreds of Premier Cru vineyards, located around the 16 villages marked 1st C above.
Grand Cru (Great Growth) AOP — The bottle’s label will only list the name of the vineyard, not the village it is located in. Eight of Burgundy’s 33 Grand Cru vineyards are located in the Côte de Beaune. The only red Grand Cru here is found in Aloxe-Corton. These are marked GC above.

Côte Chalonnaise

Côte Chalonnaise is found just beneath the Côte d’Or, and is made up of 5 districts — each with a main village — that are also its AOPs. Both red and white wines are produced here, but they’re not of the same caliber as those from its northern neighbors. This is shown in the fact that the Côte Chalonnaise features no Grand Cru vineyards, but it does have multiple Premier Cru locations, and the village with the most Premier Crus is the most northerly, Montagny.

There is no hillside escarpment to protect vines from westerly winds as there is in the Côte d’Or, and the Côte Chalonnaise features a continental climate with limestone soils — although the limestone isn’t as omnipresent as in the Côte d’Or. There is no little to no new oak used in the production of the wine’s from here, and the grapes grown are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Aligoté (in a small volume).

The Appellations of Côte Chalonnaise are the five main villages. From south to north, these are:

Montagny AOP — Only white wines, and only from Chardonnay.
Givry AOP — Whites from Chardonnay and reds from Pinot Noir.
Mercurey AOP — Whites from Chardonnay and reds from Pinot Noir.
Rully AOP — Whites from Chardonnay and reds from Pinot Noir. The sparkling wine of Crémant de Bourgogne, is made from both of these.
Bouzeron AOP — White only, 100% Aligoté.

Mâconnais

The Mâconnais is quite a large region where easy-drinking Chardonnay is the dominant wine produced — along with a few more impressive and finer versions. Red wine, from Pinot Noir and Gamay, is also made here. Oak is rarely used in the production of wines from the Mâconnais, with the exception of Pouilly-Fuissé, where it is very common.

The Mâconnais is made up of low-lying hills, flat woodland, farmland, and meadows, all littered with pockets of limestone and marl soils. Granite soils also pop up occasionally in the southern part where the Mâconnais borders Beaujolais. This region, again, features a continental climate, but due to its more southerly location, it is slightly warmer and drier than its more northern sister regions.

There are no Grand Cru or Premier Cru vineyards in the Mâconnais, and it is the main villages that have their own AOPs. The appellations are:

Mâcon AOP — mainly whites, only made with Chardonnay.
Saint-Véran AOP — A village producing white wine, using only Chardonnay. Sometimes new oak is used in production here.
Pouilly-Fuissé AOP — A village producing white wine using only Chardonnay. Sometimes new oak is used, and these are the most notable wines of the Mâconnais — they are typically more expensive than others from this region.

That Be Burgundy!

Discovered and cataloged by monks, further divided by the results of the French Revolution, and then again by a law for legislating the fair distribution of property to a parent’s heirs, Burgundy is almost as complex as the wines that come from it.

Burgundian wines evolve a lot in the glass, with layer upon layer of flavor emerging as time passes — and once a wine drinker has experienced the highs of a good Burgundy, they are often found continuing to chase that high. To do that, it is first pertinent to understand the regions and the classifications of Burgundy so that it is easier to zone in on the wines that speak to you. Once you’ve found your Burgundian home, you can be sure it will always be one of your happy places.

Sources

MacNeil, K. (2015) The Wine Bible, Revised 2nd Edition. Workman Publishing

Robinson, J. (2015) The Oxford Companion to Wine, 4th Edition. Oxford University Press

Monosoff, M. (2018) Introductory Sommelier Course 2018 Workbook.

Beavers, K. (Host). (2020, Sep 16th). Burgundy (№17) [Audio Podcast Episode]. In Wine 101. Vinepair Podcast Network. https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-burgundy/