Like shyly asking out that girl in school you’ve always kind of liked, but have never gotten around to it because the bold, aggressive girl next door was so much easier and quite a lot fun… if you know what I mean I am reaching out and looking for some more elegant wine love with Burgundy.  With the storied history and romance of that region, perhaps she is merely allowing me to do so.

Burgundy is a 200 mile long region in France that runs North-South following along the west side of the Saone River from Chablis down through the Cote d’Or, Cote Chalonnaise, Maconnais and ending in Beaujolais.  The main grape varieties used to make wine here is Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay (mostly in Beaujolais) and Aligote.  Burgundy has an extensive wine history going back to at least 200 A.D. with ownership changing hands multiple times including the Romans, the Catholic Church, and the Benedictine Monks.

Sure, you may be grumbling to yourself, assuming you’re actually still reading this post must less this blog… “so, there’s a lot of history, romance and mystique, but how do those wines taste?  Are they too refined for my overly oaked and jammy-flam-blasted American palate?  And how can I even tell what I’m getting with all that French and cryptography on the labels that prevents me from even looking in that section of the wine store?”  Well, for some, it is tough to give France a chance as a lot of the wine here can be found to be more refined, elegant and often comes with distinct old world characteristics (musty, dank, barnyard, brett, etc.) that many aren’t familiar with, though that is not always the case.  If you’re used to drinking big fruit bombs, it will probably be an adjustment.  However, to completely experience wine, it is my opinion that your palate absolutely must pass through this region or you will be robbing yourself of not only tasting very good wine, but the nifty insights this arguable source of the moden wine world has to offer.  Here are a few I recently experienced and I wanted to share:

2007 Macon-Pierreclos Jean Claude Thevenet - Pierreclos is a village in Maconnais.  Yes, in many cases you need to learn a few of the AOCs to know where the wine is coming from and there’s a whole hierarchy to the AOCs (Appellation d’Origine Controlee) that relate to quality, but we’ll discuss that in more detail separately.   Just know that almost all white wines in Burgundy will be Chardonnay, though many bottles now include the varietal on the label as well as words like “White Burgundy Wine” or similar.  This wine was a Chardonnay that displayed apple notes and mineral on the mid-palate and had fairly high acid making it quite crisp.

2006 Mestre Michelot Bourgogne - This one is a little easier because “Bourgogne” means Burgundy in French.  “Chardonnay” was identified on the label and this particular wine presented a distinct hazelnut and toast aromas I enjoyed.

2005 Chablis Saint-Pierre Jean Dauvisatt - Here, Chablis is the AOC and region that makes Chardonnay with flinty/mineral characteristics due to its unique “kimmerdgean” soil of oyster shell fossils, and St. Pierre is a specific vineyard.  This Chard had some serious funk, wet newspaper and mushrooms on the nose with lemon lime and wet rock on the palate.  Very distinct, indeed!

For those of you who do not enjoy the heavy cream and buttery nature of some new world Chardonnays, give Burgundy a chance as many are made with either older, less oak or none at all for a more refreshing juice like I’ve described above.  From the red part of the spectrum, every Beaujolais is made from the Gamay grape variety.  Also, reds from Cote de Beaune will tend to be more feminine in character and structure than those from the Cote de Nuits, which will be more masculine and pair better with meats.  Two reds (rouge) that we liked:

2006 Vosne-Romanee Hudelot Noellat - From within the Cote de Nuits, this wine has an awesome aroma that included asian spice with big red fruit and cherries, medium mouthfeel/texture and a long finish.

2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Drouhin Laroze - Also from the Cote de Nuits, this wine had a darker hue, some gamey-ness on the nose and was very “plush.”  There were medium tannins and also a long enjoyable finish.  This would go well with venison.

Now, I’m starting to warm up to the quiet, less-brash, elegant young lady in the back of the room… hey, you… yeah, I’m talking to you, come sit next to me and let’s get to know each other better… if you know what I mean