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Making sense of Burgundy producer portfolios

 

Words: Mark Pardoe
Published: 7th January 2024

SIX-MINUTE READ

 

Flick through our Burgundy price list and land on a random page, and you might find a grower with 10, 20 or 30 different wines, or more. How do you begin to make sense of that? Mark Pardoe MW, our Wine Director, offers his insight.

A lot of us begin our interest in wine-collecting with Bordeaux. That region is relatively easy to understand and its wines relatively easy to buy: a typical Bordeaux château makes just one or two wines, at least in principle. But turn to Burgundy and there is a lot of choice. Too much, perhaps. 

 

One look at a producer’s website (if they even have one), or turning to a page from our price list, will reveal a range of wines. Up to a dozen wines per producer is common, though there is sometimes twice or three times that number or more, and across a variety of prices. 

The reason for this is deeply embedded into Burgundy’s culture and history. Famously, the region is a patchwork of small vineyards, endlessly subdivided by the Napoleonic Code, which splits inherited vineyard holdings equally between siblings. This is further complicated when growers subsequently increase their holdings, either by purchase or through marriage (which is rarely to someone from the same village). 

01: Domaine Simon Colin Chassagne Montrachet

02: Clos des Ruchottes is one tiny part of the Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru

 

The result is that over the years, a larger domaine will have acquired land across a variety of villages, vineyards and quality levels. This is almost always a mosaic of small holdings. You might think it would make sense to combine holdings and market just one or two wines, as in Bordeaux. But the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée rules make this commercially unfeasible: when one wine of a higher designation, such as a Premier Cru, is blended with another of a lower status, like a village wine, then the whole blend must be sold as the lower appellation. 

 

 

In Burgundy, every grower is different. But for lots of them, there is a broadly similar story in how their range came to be. Let us examine this through the lens of a hypothetical estate, Domaine Michel Dupont. Michel Dupont farms 10 hectares of vines, but this is not just one contiguous block. 

 

He inherited three hectares in Vosne-Romanée from his father.

His sister rents her (equal-sized) inheritance to Michel, who farms it as if it was his own; this increases his holding to six hectares. But it doesn’t stop there.  

He is married; his wife’s inheritance of two hectares in Nuits-St Georges is added to the estate following their marriage.  

 

And his wife’s aunt, who hails from Meursault, also has a hectare in that village, which she has offered to Michel to farm.  

 

Lastly, an old school friend has one hectare in Chambolle-Musigny. It’s not big enough to make a living from, so he offers it to Michel under a metayage contract: Michel farms it and pays rent by giving his friend back half the crop as bottled wine. 

 

Most of Michel’s holdings are regional Bourgogne and village-level vineyards. He has four Premiers Crus in Vosne-Romanée, but they are only small parcels, none of them bigger than half a hectare. The jewels in his crown are some Grand Cru vines in Clos de Vougeot and Echezeaux, both 0.25 hectares. His wife’s aunt gives him access to some Bourgogne Blanc and lieux-dits in Meursault. Already, Michel has 12 wines in his portfolio. 

 

 

Furthermore, Michel’s portfolio – and Burgundy at large – has four distinct quality levels.

There are regional (sometimes called “generic”) Bourgogne Rouge and Bourgogne Blanc wines. There are village-level wines from four communes: his inherited Vosne-Romanée, his wife’s Nuits-St Georges, her aunt’s Meursault and the Chambolle-Musigny from his schoolfriend. There are four Premiers Crus from his holdings in Vosne-Romanée. And there are two Grands Crus. 

Growers like Michel can choose to sell their crop as fruit, unfermented grape juice or finished wine, either on the open market or on a contract basis to a wine merchant (négociant). But Michel’s family have been vignerons for generations, and he prefers to make, bottle and sell his wine under his own name. Recent decades have seen more and more growers move towards estate-bottling and marketing their own wines in this way. 

03: Growers can choose to sell their crop as fruit or make their own wine

04: Oak barrels, a key part of wine production in Burgundy

 

Depending on his own winemaking preferences, Michel’s wines may show a similarity of style across all categories. Or he may decide to manage his regional wines differently to his more prestigious holdings. Most commonly this relates to oak barrels: at the entry level, he might use older oak; for his Premiers and Grands Crus, he might introduce some new oak barrels. But whatever options he chooses, our experience of producers like this indicates that there will almost always be a commonality of style across the range. 

 

 

For the consumer or collector, the pathway is relatively clear. Firstly, you should establish whether you like the style of a given producer’s wines. Some people favour a richer and fuller-bodied style of wine that requires time to mature, while others look for more delicacy and finesse. There are all points in between, and this applies to both red and white wines.

05: An average cellar in Burgundy might have 10, 20 or 30 different wines – or more

 

Once you’re happy with the producer’s style, it’s time to choose from within that producer’s range; this should be guided by your budget and preference.  

Returning to Michel Dupont: his regional wines will be his least expensive and will offer attractive, early drinking pleasure in a fashion that loosely reflects his house style. Moving to the village wines, in good hands each will clearly reflect the style of the village: richness in Vosne-Romanée, sturdiness in Nuits-St Georges and elegance in Chambolle-Musigny, for example. Depending on the location of each parcel within the village, there may be a premium to pay for a wine with components from a more favourable location. Scrutiny of the merchant’s tasting notes or the producer’s website should reveal the detail. 

Michel has four Premiers Crus in Vosne-Romanée. Two lie lower on the slope, one at the top, and one in the middle, adjoining the Grands Crus. Each will give a different expression: more energy from the higher site, more structure from the lower parcels. The wines may be priced slightly differently, but the wine that neighbours the Grand Cru will almost certainly carry a premium. The Grands Crus themselves will naturally command the highest prices. They are also likely to be in the most limited supply because of the size of Michel’s holdings. 

 

 

Finding value in Burgundy lies in your expectations. While Michel’s Bourgogne Rouge and Echezeaux will be very different prices, there will be pleasure and fulfilment to be found in both, in their own different ways. The Premier Cru that touches the Grands Crus should demonstrate a little more complexity than its higher- or lower-situated siblings; that will come with a price tag.  

The way to find value is to read the tasting notes: for example, a producer may declassify some wine of a higher status into a lower-level wine, which will certainly add more quality to that wine. This is a decision that a grower might make for various reasons, such as the vines being young or there being a particularly small crop. 

For all these reasons, Burgundy is unlike any other region. The production is condensed into such a tiny area, barely 5,500 hectares in the Côte d’Or (about the size of St Emilion in Bordeaux). Any new acquisitions by producers are almost always of very small parcels of land. Burgundy’s best land is now some of the most expensive real estate in the world, putting new acquisition beyond the reach of most.    

Consequently, Michel has no way to buy more land close to his own. But he might be able to buy vineyard land in less-expensive regions, such as the Mâconnais for white wines; the Hautes-Côtes (de Nuits and de Beaune) for both colours; and northern Beaujolais for reds, where the vineyards of Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie and Côte de Brouilly all have interesting terroir and great potential. This is an increasingly important trend. 

Thus, if he wishes to satisfy the increasing demand for his excellent wines, Michel’s portfolio could become even more diverse in number, style and location.

No wonder people think that Burgundy is complicated, but a little context and research can simplify the journey. And the reward for such attention is a unique array of complexity and diversity. 

 

Photos: Jason Lowe