44. Burgundy Basics - Understanding Burgundy's Wine Grapes

Join us in this episode for a short but informative discussion that will help you better understand the wines of Burgundy!

The episode is part of the Wineitupanotch “Diving Into Burgundy” series, which aims to simplify the complexities of this renowned French wine region. 

The focus of this episode is the grapes of Burgundy. We answer the aged old question - what grapes are used in the wines of Burgundy?

Tune in and learn two foundational rules that will ensure that you know what is in your glass when you are having a glass (or a bottle) of wine from Burgundy, France!

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Transcript

In Episode 44 of The Wineitupanotch Podcast, host and certified wine specialist and expert Anshu Grover offers a quick tip episode focused on the wines of Burgundy. 

As part of the Wineitupanotch “Diving Into Burgundy” series, Anshu strives to simplify the complexity of one aspect of Burgundy wines, namely the wine grapes used in this prestigious wine region in France.

By outlining two essential rules: the 'rule of four' and the 'rule of one', we aim to simplify this topic for you. 

The episode also delves into the unique characteristics, historical significance, and terroir of Burgundy, making it easier for listeners to better appreciate Burgundian wines.

TIME STAMPS:

00:55 “Diving Into Burgundy” Series Overview

01:48 Understanding The Wine Grapes of Burgundy 

02:56 The Rule of Four and The Rule of One

05:56 Grape Plantings Breakdown in Burgundy Vineyards

07:04 Why Pinot Noir and Chardonnay?

08:36 Wine Profiles and Vintage Variations

10:40 Conclusion and Further Resources

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Anshu Grover: 

​[00:00:00] 

Hello, and welcome to The Wineitupanotch Podcast, a podcast where we talk about wine, life and everything in between. My name is Anshu Grover, I am a certified wine specialist and your host for this podcast, and I am so thrilled that you've decided to join me today. Thank you for doing so. 

Welcome to Episode 44 of the podcast.

Today, we're doing a quick tip episode. Now, I try to intermingle these or sprinkle them in, into our regular longer form podcast episodes and if you've listened before you will know what the purpose is, but if you're new, the purpose here is to give you some really good information that will help you learn more about wine and feel more comfortable in a short period of time. 

And it happens to be Tuesday today so it is “quick tip Tuesday” here at Wineitupanotch Studios! 

And today we are going to dive into the wines of Burgundy very quickly. Now, if you don't know already, we have kicked off a "Diving Into Burgundy" series at Wineitupanotch. If you go to our website, www.wineitupanotch.com, you can see a press release where it talks about the fact that the focus of this series is to talk about different aspects of Burgundy and really bring the region to life. It is undoubtedly one of the most coveted regions in the world. But it can also be a region that is extremely confusing and for good reason, because there's just so much to know. There actually is a lot of complexity when it comes to Burgundy. 

So the Wineitupanotch "Diving Into Burgundy" series is all about trying to take some of the most salient points and break them down into smaller pieces and make them more understandable. 

There is content available on the website in article format. There will be content available here on the podcast. There'll be some YouTube videos coming out and obviously, posts on social media. So there's lots there that you can delve into! 

Now today's episode is focused on the grapes of Burgundy. And I really love this particular topic because actually in the context of Burgundy, it is dead, 

[00:02:00] 

dead easy. Okay. Now I'm not kidding when I tell you that what I'm about to share with you might surprise you because it's so simple. And I think most people think of Burgundy as being extremely complex. And that includes myself. And it is - listen, it's not easy to wrap your head around this tiny little region that is sitting in sort of central France. Burgundy is about a two hour drive from Paris. It is a pretty small skinny region. It's got sort of, you know, four or five discrete parts to it….we can talk about that in another podcast episode. And yet it has got this incredible name and fame in the world. And so everybody who's into wine (who either gets into it or really loves it) wants to know more about Burgundy. And as soon as you start to get into it, it very quickly becomes overwhelming. 

Yet, when we talk about grapes, that is not true at all. 

There are just a few key things you need to know when it comes to the grapes in Burgundy. And I'm going to break those down for you right now. 

There are essentially just two rules that are worth remembering. And the first one, I call the “Rule of Four”. 

Whenever you encounter a wine from Burgundy, just remember this simple rule. Most red wines from Burgundy are actually made from Pinot Noir and white wines are usually made from Chardonnay. So you only really need to know that there are two key grapes, one red grape, one white grape. 

Now why is it the Rule of Four? 

Because there are two other grapes that are important to the region, but they are cultivated and produced in much smaller amounts. 

When we talk about red wines, the second grape is Gamay, which you might be familiar with if you have ever learned about Beaujolais or are interested in the wines of Beaujolais. Beaujolais is geographically right under the Burgundy region, and Gamay actually used to be an extremely important grape in Burgundy. But around the 1400s, there was a very important official in the historical context of Burgundy who effectively banned Gamay and said the wines must be produced from Pinot Noir. The reason being that the Gamay 

[00:04:00] 

grape does not do as well in the conditions that are present in Burgundy. But it is still grown in the region, as I said, in much minor quantities and I will tell you what the quantities are in a moment. 

And then the fourth grape you want to know is Aligoté. Aligoté is a white wine grape and it produces the other notable quantity of white wines from the region. 

So let's go through that Rule of Four again because this is true. And about 99.9% of all wines in the region. White wines are either made from Chardonnay or to a much smaller extent, Aligoté. And red wines are generally made with Pinot Noir, or to a much smaller extent, they may be made with Gamay. 

Now you also want to remember this second rule, and that is the “Rule of One, Not Many”. What I mean here is that in other parts of the wine world, blending is a very common aspect of wine production. So in almost all areas of the world -  and it's not categorically true, but again, talking in broad strokes and particularly I could use Bordeaux as an example, since Bordeaux is another very prominent region in France - the blending of different grape varieties is a very common practice. 

However in Burgundy, that is not a common practice. Most wines are made from only one grape. So that is the “Rule of One, Not Many”. So if you're drinking a red wine and you're thinking, okay, this is likely made from Pinot Noir, remember too that it's likely made from 100% Pinot Noir. And the same goes for the white wines, whether it be an Aligoté wine that you're drinking or a Chardonnay based wine that you're drinking…. they will generally be 100% expressions. This tends to dilute in terms of a rule when you get into the more regional, less expensive wines, but for those prestigious, highly priced, highly coveted wines, the rule of one absolutely applies. 

And it really is that simple when it comes to remembering the grapes that are present in the wines of Burgundy. I told you - it is very, very easy. So remember those two rules and you will be in good shape. 

Now let's quickly talk about the breakdown of these grapes in the vineyard, because it's 

[00:06:00] 

important and it'll help you to understand what really matters in Burgundy. 

In a combined sense, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir represent over 85% of the total acreage dedicated to vines in the Burgundy region. 

To get more specific, according to the governing body of the region, which is called Vins de Bourgogne, the exact breakdown of grapes planted in the vineyard at the time of recording of this podcast is as follows: 

• Okay. So Chardonnay represents 49.2% or let's call it 49% of all plantings in the region; 
• Pinot Noir is at 39.6 or let's call it 40% of all plantings in the region;
• Gamay is a pretty small player, but one of the four that are worthy of calling out - it's at 3.8 or almost 4%; and 
• Aligoté is at 6.5%. 
• And then the remaining, roughly 1% goes to grapes such as Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon, and there are a few other minor grapes. It's worth noting that of these other grapes Sauvignon is the most prominent grape in this “other” category; it's used in some specific appellations for some specific reasons. 

So I think this begs the question - why Pinot Noir and Chardonnay? 

Pinot Noir has been grown in the region for the longest time. It's thought that it was grown there since Roman times. And Chardonnay also has a similarly long and storied history in the region. But truly the reason that they are so highly cultivated is because truly the terroir and the weather - the conditions - produce some of the finest examples of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the world. 

So Burgundy is absolutely considered to be a benchmark for the highest quality of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the world. 

There's a high demand for it. There's a high degree of matching between the grape characteristics and the conditions that are present in the vineyard. 

At the end of the day, those are the best wines. They come from the best grapes and the best clones are actually in the region as well. So one other interesting thing to know is that many parts of the world - when I say “benchmark” -  they 

[00:08:00] 

try to strive to get the same level of quality of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that is present in Burgundy. And they accomplish that by using the clones of Burgundy. 

So plantings and clones of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the region have been transported to other parts of the world. That's how successfully those grapes are grown in the region. The most common clones of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay coming from the region are called Dijon clones. If you ever hear that term, that is somebody trying to tell you that they are using the clones from the Burgundy region and likely trying to get to the same level of expression and quality as is the case in Burgundy. 

So let's talk very quickly about the profile of the wines from the Burgundy region. 

There is never one single profile, okay. That's worth noting. But when it comes to Pinot Noir, it is important to remember that these wines are going to tend to be delicate. They tend to have a lot of finesse. They are long lived and have the ability to age, generally speaking. They will tend to be more red fruited and herbal and a little less prominent on fruit than in some parts of the world. 

They tend to have kind of a restrained elegance to them and the tannin structure is often delicate and fine. Although let's be honest, these things do change from year to year. And that's an important thing to remember in Burgundy is that vintage variation or the variation from year to year. Is a very important part of the profile of the region because the weather is so variable there. 

So the wines do differ from year to year. And they do also differ from village to village, plot to plot, appellation to appellation - because the conditions and the terroir changed so much that the expression of the wines changes accordingly. 

When it comes to Chardonnay, Chardonnay also tends to have a more elegant and restrained expression. It is not tropical or heavy. It tends to be rich and full bodied, but more on the orchard fruit side. You might get a little bit more richness and a little bit more depth and tropicality as you go further south in the Burgundy region. For example, when you're 

[00:10:00] 

in Maconnais in particular. But again, generally speaking, these are the best expressions of Chardonnay in the world. They are great with food. And as I mentioned, they've got a fuller body. They often have oak treatment, unless they're coming from Chablis - Chablis is an area in Burgundy where some producers are starting to use oak, but generally oak is not used. But outside of that area, there is a lot of oak usage in higher end Chardonnay based wines in the region so you get this kind of richer profile. And what I want you to remember is elegance and restraint, as opposed to power, heavy oakiness, butteriness.... that's not going to be present in the white wines of Burgundy, even if you're looking at the lower rungs of quality. 

So there we go! Hopefully that gives you a good overview of the grapes that are present in the Burgundy region and helps you to feel like you know what you're drinking when you are having a glass of Burgundian wine, or a bottle. 

Now of course, as I mentioned, things do vary from village to village, from appellation to appellation, from vintage to vintage. But I want you to walk away from this particular podcast episode feeling confident that you at least know what the grapes are that are being used to produce the wine because those grapes and the way in which they're expressed in the region are definitely going to drive a certain style, which with practice and time, you should be able to pick up in the glass and maybe even start to differentiate from other examples of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that you are drinking in the course of whether it be your wine steady or just your wine enjoyment journey. 

I hope you found this quick tip episode useful! 

I have certainly enjoyed sharing this information with you. If you want to know more, you can head over to the Wineitupanotch website. There's a full article on the wines of Burgundy that also has some visuals that will help you to understand the information. Please feel free to peruse that to learn more, if you want to, or to revisit this, or of course you can bookmark this podcast episode and come back to it anytime you'd like. 

And with that, I will bring this episode to a close. 

It's been a pleasure chatting to you today. I hope you have a wonderful, beautiful, happy day, and I hope you have lots of good luck and good wine in your life. 

Until next time, cheers!