Bourgogne
Chambolle produces the most elegant wines in the Côte de Nuits. They may be a little lighter in colour and less tannic than Gevrey-Chambertin but they have a sublime concentration of fruit. Le Musigny is one of the top half-dozen vineyards in Burgundy, producing wines with both extraordinary intensity and magical, velvety character. Les Amoureuses is also immediately appealing, a wonderfully sensual wine which deserves Grand Cru status.
Bourgogne is of course the original French name of the region that we know as Burgundy, and here the term is used to describe the Bourgogne Appellation, a wide-reaching classification that covers the generic wines produced across the length and breadth of Burgundy that are not represented under area-specific AOCs.
Wines produced under the AOC Bourgogne make up around 53% of Burgundy’s output, across the fields of red, white and rosé. Among these there are several other smaller classifications, some simple such as Bourgogne Rouge (generic red Burgundy), others more specific or unusual, such as Bourgogne Passetoutgrains.
Most of these wines represent quite a standard level of quality due to their generic nature, but as with all wine, a combination of the right conditions and careful management by the producer can result in some generic wines surpassing the standards of a poorly-organised Grand Cru.
These wines tend to be simpler offerings; best enjoyed within 3 or so years, and are very reasonably priced compared to their higher-end counterparts. There is a huge variety of wines available: approximately 24 million bottles are produced in over 380 villages across Burgundy each year, and subsequently the range of wine styles is vast, however the usual Burgundy rules apply of reds being comprised of Pinot Noir, and whites from Chardonnay.
Prices:
H/Bottle
£9.50
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl37cs
Bottle
£17.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl413cs
A beautifully warm, dry summer enabled Jean-Luc Terrier and Christian Collovray to start picking their 2015 vintage exceptionally early. They have skilfully maintained a fresh approach to the fruit, which is full, vibrant and exciting this year. With white peach and summer flower notes, this classical White Burgundy is a delight to drink on its own or with a wide range of poultry, fish or lighter meat dishes.
A beautifully warm, dry summer enabled Jean-Luc Terrier and Christian Collovray to start picking their 2015 vintage exceptionally early. They have skilfully maintained a fresh approach to the fruit which is full, vibrant and exciting this year. With white peach and summer flower notes, this classical White Burgundy is a delight to drink on its own or with a wide range of poultry, fish or lighter meat dishes.
Jasper Morris M.W. - Wine Buyer
Bottle
£12.25
Bottle 12 x 75cl194cs
Bottle
£16.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl18cs
Bottle
£16.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl553cs
Bottle
£16.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl336cs
Will Heslop - Buyer
Bottle
£17.65
Bottle 6 x 75cl4cs
This characterful Crémant de Bourgogne is made predominantly from Chardonnay, with a proportion of Pinot Noir, Gamay and Aligoté thrown in for good measure and additional complexity. It has an altogether enticing quality, from the bouquet of white flowers through to the deliciously rounded palate: undeniably charming – in fact, disarmingly moreish.
Bottle
£17.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl58cs
Bottle
£17.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl3cs
Bottle
£18.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl9cs
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
With prices in Burgundy still rising, even if often for understandable reasons, the appellations Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge are great places to look for affordable wines. You get the opportunity to drink wine from a top winemaker, from vines which are adjacent to the famous villages, and which will be accessible earlier. The 2005 Bourgognes Rouges are still delicious and youthful more than 10 years later, but most wines have been drinking well for a few years now.
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
This was Benjamin Leroux’s last vintage at Domaine du Comte Armand and possibly his smallest yet. Just 18 barrels of Clos des Epeneaux have been made, with a yield of around eight hectolitres per hectare. The vintage began on 25th September with good looking grapes and decent maturity. Benjamin is staying involved to see the vintage into bottle, though otherwise Paul Zinetti is now securely in charge.
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl10cs
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl7cs
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl16cs
Bottle
£21.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl5cs
Bottle
£21.00
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
With prices in Burgundy still rising, even if often for understandable reasons, the appellations Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge are great places to look for affordable wines. You get the opportunity to drink wine from a top winemaker, from vines which are adjacent to the famous villages, and which will be accessible earlier. The 2005 Bourgognes Rouges are still delicious and youthful more than 10 years later, but most wines have been drinking well for a few years now. On these two pages we offer a selection of our favourite Bourgognes.
Bottle
£21.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl20cs
Anne McHale MW - Wine Education Specialist
Bottle
£22.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl29cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Jean-Baptiste reports hardly any hail damage in 2013 but the crop was nonetheless limited by cold damp weather at the flowering. He began picking on 26th September, with all the whites picked before the wet weekend. Malolactic fermentation took a little longer than usual but no real problems in the cellar. The wines will be bottled in December, or January for the Premiers Crus.
Bottle
£22.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
After lengthy negotiations, we have secured a good allocation of these top class 2013s from Jérôme Castagnier. We fell just as much in love with the generic wines as with those further up the scale. Jérôme began on 1st October, taking pains to verify the ripeness of each vineyard before deciding the picking date. The grapes were all de-stemmed.
Bottle
£22.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl8cs
Bottle
£22.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl71cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Virgile went through the vineyards 15 days before harvest, removing the leaves on the south side and taking away anything that was rotten. This kept his crop in good condition so he could afford to wait for full ripeness, not starting until 11th October. He then practised very gentle extraction to keep the tannins supple. He compares 2013 to 2008 but with greater richness of fruit. The crop is 15-to-20% up on 2012 but still well below normal.
Bottle
£22.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl10cs
Bottle
£22.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl8cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
One of the brightest talents in the northern Côte de Nuits is Laurent Fournier who runs the estate which carries his father’s name, as well as being the man in charge of the dossier for defining some Premier Cru vineyards in Marsannay. We have been hugely impressed with his wines for several years and are now offering them En Primeur for the first time. There is a quality of fruit here which fully reflects the joys of the Côte de Nuits, yet at rather more affordable prices.
Bottle
£22.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl4cs
Production of the Dominique Lafon wines has now moved to large cellars at the Château de Bligny, providing much better working conditions than previously. As a result of the hail, there is unlikely to be any village Volnay or Beaune Épenottes for us to offer. However, Dominique has found an excellent source of Beaune Vignes Franches this year to make up part of the shortfall. This cuvée apart, all the vineyards are managed by the Les Héretiers du Comte Lafon viticultural team, using the same methods. Starting this year, the wines will all be bottled using Diam30 corks. From vineyards below Meursault and Puligny, In bottle since September. This is completely beautiful, a lovely expression of fruit, with just the right amount of flesh, absolute precision, very electric. It’s hard to envisage a better example.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director
Bottle
£23.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl5cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director
Bottle
£23.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl59cs
The progress we noted with the 2013 vintage here has been further developed with an excellent range of 2014 wines. Extra details apparent this year are the enhanced use of lees after racking and the minimal use of sulphur without risking oxidation. The Château de Puligny rises a further few notches up the ladder. Étienne de Montille notes that, in 2014, “there was super clean fruit and we could pick at leisure”. Fine and bright in colour, this has a lovely, elegant bouquet, a perfect mix of fruit and gentle oaking. Exuberant, perhaps even beguiling, some old vines form the backbone of this cuvée, helping to provide a lovely mineral thread.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director
Bottle
£24.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl23cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Patrick chose to begin early around 26 September in order to pick while the grapes were still healthy, the relatively high acidity encouraged him to stir the lees a little more than usual and the wines were racked into tank just before the new harvest, apart from the Corton-Charlemagne which is back in barrel.
Bottle
£25.00
Bottle
£25.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl39cs
Will Heslop - Buyer
Bottle
£25.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl16cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
There have been some changes in vinification this year, making the wines a little more Jean-Marc Roulot in style: the grapes are now crushed before pressing, there is less settling of the juice, very little new wood is used and the wines are racked into tank after a year but still kept on their lees. The grapes were picked during the last week in September. Overall, this is an excellent result for the team at Château de Puligny.
Bottle
£25.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl57cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Jasper Morris MW - Wine Buyer