Winophilia

The wines of Burgundy, reds as well as whites, are classified into five categories based upon the quality of their terroir (all the factors that contribute to the distinctiveness of a particular site; please refer to my earlier post on this subject). This hierarchy of vineyard sites has been established over literally hundreds of years. While wine romantics like to believe that this pecking order is based on a given site’s ability to produce wines of outstanding complexity and individuality, a more important original factor may have been far more prosaic: the ability of the site (owing to its soil, exposition, drainage, natural protection from heat and cold winds, and so on) to ripen its fruit on a regular basis.

At the base of the quality pyramid is generic Burgundy (the label simply says Bourgogne), which may come from any vineyard in Burgundy.  Next is a special category of generic wines entitled to use a regional appellation (for example, Côte de Nuits-Villages) on the label.

The third category of Burgundy, popularly referred to as village wine, comes from vineyards located entirely within the boundaries of a group of favored villages, or communes; the label normally lists only the name of the village—e.g., Chambolle-Musigny—although sometimes additional place names (lieux-dit) are appended.

Next in rank in the Burgundy pecking order are the first growths (premier crus), specially designated vineyards with particularly favorable soil and exposition.  The name of the premier cru is appended to the village name on the label (such as Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses), and the words “premier cru” appear on the label.  By the way, lieux-dits can often confound consumers, but if you don’t see “premier cru” or “1^er cru” on the front label, you should not be confused.

Finally, at the apex of the Burgundy pyramid are the grand crus, those ideally situated hillside vineyards that over the centuries have consistently produced the region’s greatest wines.  These grand crus (e.g., Chambertin, Musigny) have become so well known that their labels need not make reference to the villages in which they are located.  In fact, in the 19th century several villages capitalized on the reputations of their most famous vineyards by appending the name of their top cru to their own.  Unfortunately, this can cloud the important distinction between a vineyard (Musigny) and the village in which it is located (Chambolle-Musigny).

Now all you have to do to get your money’s worth from Burgundy is to know your vintages and your producers…