Category: Burgundy

People sometimes ask why we’re so drawn to Burgundy. Partly it’s nostalgia -- we lived here for a year two decades ago, and have a fondness for the place and its people. But our goal at Ansonia is to find wines that reflect their origin, and no region does this better than Burgundy.

We spent yesterday morning in Chablis, where winemakers were just finishing a difficult week. After eight consecutive nights fighting damaging frosts, the Chablisiens were sleepy but tentatively optimistic that the worst was behind them.

This week in France has been a reminder of the precarious livelihoods of winemakers. Overnight frosts devastated vineyards in several regions in France this week, and the vignerons aren’t out of the woods yet. As we drove through the Côte d’Or yesterday, winemakers were readying bales of hay in the vineyards, in preparation for the overnight bonfires to protect against…

Spend even a few days tasting Burgundy, and the power of terroir is hard to miss. From a single grape, planted across a 30 mile collection of towns, comes an astonishing array of wines. Cellar work, weather, harvest times, and other factors play a role in the final product, but in Burgundy, location (terroir) is king.

Vintages play an important role in the style of wine. Each vintage has its own character, a result of weather patterns, harvest dates, and temperature swings. Some are difficult, requiring regular intervention to from the winemaker. Others are easy, where everything seems to go right.

The city of Beaune is the beating heart of Burgundy. Set at the midpoint of the Côte d’Or, this ancient town has been a viticultural hub for thousands of years. Though it’s surrounded by vines, the wines of the Beaune appellation have never been as famous as neighbors Pommard and Volnay to the south or Corton to the north.

Burgundies are not getting any cheaper. With limited supply and ever-increasing demand, good values are harder and harder to find. But one Burgundian town that continues to deliver far more than people expect is St-Aubin. And we’re not the only ones to notice.

When we shape our portfolio, we look for wines that “punch above their weight.” These are wines that exceed expectations based on the price tag and the name on the label — bottles that, if tasted blind, you’d put in a higher class. One of our favorites in this category has long been a premier cru white Santenay from Roger…

There’s been no shortage of hype surrounding the 2015 Red Burgundies. Even our favorite reviewers, who we follow in part because of their restraint, have been effusive. “One of the half-dozen top vintages for red Burgundy of the past generation,” writes Steven Tanzer of Vinous; “a genuinely great vintage,” opines Allen Meadows (Burghound). And indeed, our initial tastings from barrel…

Most of the red Burgundy we import comes from the Côte d’Or. Stretching thirty miles from Dijon to Santenay, the Côte d’Or is home to nearly all of Burgundy’s famous vineyards. But continue south past Santenay and there’s a whole other world of Burgundy to discover -- one with quieter names, simpler wines, and far more reasonable prices.

The hillside of Montrachet produces the world’s finest dry white wine. In production for nearly two thousand years, the vineyard straddles the border between the neighboring towns of Puligny and Chassagne. Each produces wine of a different character, and though their terroirs meet in the famous plot, there are noticeable differences in the extraordinary wines that both villages make.

“If gold were a flavor,” Matt Kramer once wrote, “it would taste like Meursault.” Though it has no Grand Cru vineyards, Meursault’s wines are among the most sought after in the world. The name recalls white Burgundies of decadence, opulence, and style.