WINE INFORMATION for your bicycle trip

We've included some information to enhance your knowledge about French, Italian and Spanish wines and wine in general.

A DuVine Wine Tasting Lesson Skillful tasting unlocks wine's treasures. This step-by-step guide gives you the keys.

Visit the Top Burgundy Wine Makers Online

Wine The Oenophile's Giving Guide 

DuVine Adventures Wine Class 101: Burgundy
Want to be the next big-time sommelier or just impress your friends?

Top Bordeaux Wine tasting notes:  Don't miss the first comprehensive evaluation of Bordeaux's new 2001vintage, exclusively from Wine Spectator.

Tuscany Wine information - Chianti, Brunello, Vino Nobile

Rating White Burgundy Wines
Check out the ratings for White Burgundy vintages from 1980-1997.

The Wines of Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune We travel through the heart of the Cote de Nuits and the Cote de Beaune. Learn more about these two superb winegrowing regions.

Serving: Temperature and Glasses
Proper serving temperature and glassware for red and white wines.

FAQs
Confused about Burgundy wine, this section may have answers to them. 

Wine Simple  The Wine Report magazine, America's largest freely circulated wine publication.

WineCommune's wine auction is a revolutionary auction network that connects wine buyers and wine sellers, both private and retail via the Internet.

Shop Wines Online, the destination for wine enthusiasts eager to discover exceptional wines from boutique California wineries.

Links to Other Wine Sites Check out these sites for more information and to buy wine.

Damn Good Wine site! - Great wine site for all information about wine

OregonWines.com:  Wine enthusiasts everywhere now have a new place to learn about Oregon wines and wineries.

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BURGUNDY WINE 101
Burgundy is the birthplace of the Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay and the scene of their development into two of the highest quality grapes currently grown anywhere in the world.

Over the centuries they have made a perfect adaptation to local conditions – a favorable climate plus well-drained clay-limestone soils with good exposure – and now produce on their home ground in Burgundy red and white wines of unequalled richness, breeding and diversity.
Pinot Noir variety

The Pinot Noir is the parent of all red burgundies except Mâcon Rouge and Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains. The name has been known in Burgundy since the late 14th century but the grape itself is certainly older than that. The bunches are small and compact, pine-cone shaped, with small, tight, ovoid grapes, thin-skinned and a velvety blue-black in color.

The juice is colorless. It is the maceration of the pigment-containing skins during alcoholic fermentation which gives the juice its fine cherry-red color tinged with a hint of violet.

The Pinot Noir prefers favorably exposed sites (south-east-facing hill slopes) at an altitude of between 250 and 300 meters with soils that are not too deep and consist of limy marls with a high proportion of stones and good drainage. It is susceptible to gray rot.

Some 10,000 hectares of Burgundy's vineyards are planted to Pinot Noir, or 40% of the total area under vines. The main areas of its cultivation are the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune and Côte Chalonnaise. The grade of wine it yields varies according to location from a simple Bourgogne Rouge – fresh, light, supple, and ready to drink soon after it is made – to a Grand Cru of the Côte de Nuits – deep-colored, rich, powerful, and endowed with an aromatic complexity that will only reach its fullest expression after a number of years in bottle.

Although the Pinot Noir is generally recognized to be among the finest grape varieties, it is not grown as widely as might be expected elsewhere in the world (Oregon, South Africa, Switzerland, etc.). The reason lies in the tightly defined parameters required for any site in which it can be expected to give of its best, and its relative fragility in unsuitable locations, for example, when exposed to a climate that is either too hot or too cold.

Chardonnay variety
The Chardonnay grape yields all the white wines of Burgundy except Bourgogne Aligoté and Bouzeron.

Its origins, though little known, go back a long way. It may derive its name from the village of Chardonnay in the Mâconnais, which has just celebrated its thousandth anniversary. However, it was in the 19th century that it really came into its own. It is a rather vigorous and heavy-cropping variety but is badly affected by cold, especially by spring frosts. The grape bunches are medium-sized, more elongated and less tightly packed than those of the Pinot Noir. The berries are small, slightly irregular in outline and a fine golden yellow in color. The juice is abundant and very sweet.

The Chardonnay adapts well to different types of soil but, ideally, prefers limy marls, often with a high proportion of clay. Thanks to its adaptability, the Chardonnay is cultivated in all districts of Burgundy and accounts for 12,000 hectares or 48% of the total vineyard area.

As with the Pinot Noir, its expression varies according terroir (soil and site) and it may produce unpretentious white regional Bourgogne, or the light, fresh and appealing Mâcon-Villages, or a rich, powerful and structured Grand Cru such as Montrachet, or, yet again, a Chablis – fruity and mineral-dry.

In contrast to the Pinot Noir, on the other hand, the Chardonnay is today one of the most widely-grown grapes in the world, found as far away as California, Australia and New Zealand. It owes its success to its high quality and its ease of cultivation. Burgundy, however, remains the point of reference by which its success elsewhere is measured, and where the Chardonnay yields some of the world's finest dry white wines.

Gamay variety
The Gamay is another early-maturing variety with white-juiced black grape. It has small, compact, cylindrical bunches with slightly ovoid, purple-black grapes covered by heavy bloom.

The Gamay allowed today is a colorless-juiced one. In Burgundy, it is cultivated to produce the Mâcon and Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains appellations, mixed with Pinot Noir (minimum 1/3).

The Aligoté (early-maturing variety) is a semi-fine white variety whose history goes back a long way in Burgundy. It is quite vigorous and higher-yielding than the Chardonnay, its grapes being both larger and more numerous.

It yields only one appellation : the Bourgogne Aligoté.

It may also be blended with other varieties – in defined proportions – in Crémant de Bourgogne.

Four factors are essential to the production of great wines:

1. the right soil,
2. the right grapes for that soil,
3. the right climate,
4. last but not least, the know-how of the wine grower and wine-maker.

Nature has been kind to Burgundy in this respect and men learned, early here, to understand and to exploit the particular virtues of particular pieces of ground. The wine-growing soils of Burgundy are a huge mosaic made up of a small plots of vines, often marked off and enclosed by stone walls.

Each "terroir" has its own character, depending on soil composition, altitude and exposure – factors that can vary significantly within the space of a few meters. So each plot is unique and this uniqueness is reflected in the wine which is grown from it, in nuances of taste and aroma.

The "cépage" or grape variety has to be chosen in such a way as to give fullest expression to the "terroir" on which it grows. It remains an extraordinary fact, however, that despite its huge diversity of wines and soils, Burgundy has concentrated on just two grape varieties, though each supreme of its kind. So, with some minor exceptions, all the wines of Burgundy are produced either from the Chardonnay grape for white wines, or the Pinot Noir for reds. Of the less widely-grown varieties, the main ones are Aligoté and Gamay.

Climate is Nature's way of putting the finishing touch to the personality of a wine. Burgundy enjoys a continental climate with dry, cold winters and hot, sunny summers. In these conditions the Pinot and Chardonnay ripen well and are perfectly at home. Of course there are good years and bad ones. And there are great years, to be welcomed as an extra and special dispensation of an already generous Nature. So climatic variation also contributes to the endless diversity of Burgundy's wines.

Without the skill and know-how of the wine-growers and wine-makers there would be no great wines. There are three in the making of wine ; the cultivation of the grapes, vinification (their transformation into wine), and "élevage" – caring for the new wine until it is ready for drinking. Each stage is a combination of natural processes and human intervention, requiring patience, knowledge, discernment and flair. Since we are not dealing with a purely mechanical process but with one involving human judgment, the results will not and cannot be either standardized or completely predictable : there are as many individual wines as there are individual wine-makers. Therefore the name of the grower or négociant on the label can count for as much as the appellation of the wine. It is his signature, and the consumer's guarantee of quality and authenticity.

Burgundy's wine-capital, Beaune, lends its name to 5,000 hectares of majestic vineyards which extend from the village of Ladoix-Serrigny to the hill-slopes of the Maranges. Variations in terroir make the wines of the Côte de Beaune as diverse in character as they are high in quality – a spectrum which ranges from full, harmonious thoroughbred reds to great rich whites, complex and subtle whose names – Meursault, Montrachet and Corton Charlemagne – are a byword among lovers of great dry white wines the world over.

The prestige of the Côte de Nuits great wines has earned title "the Champs-Elysées of Burgundy". The vineyards stretch in a narrow east-facing band of gold and purple along the hillsides between Marsannay and Corgoloin. The "clos" (walled vineyards) date back to the vine-growing estates of the great tenth-century abbeys. To the monks, also, we owe much of our traditional lore concerning "terroir" – the patch of native soil from which a wine derives its special character – and of "climats" – distinct, named plots of land.

This is the kingdom of the Pinot Noir grape which lords it over 3,000 hectares and eight mouth-wateringly named villages. All the Grand Crus of the Côte d'Or (except Corton) – famous names such as Chambertin, Clos de Vougeot and Romanée-Conti – have their home in this piece of smiling countryside. Further back are hill-slopes of the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits – 550 hectares of splendid wines yielding fine burgundies renowned for their balance and aromatic qualities.

An age-old vineyard
But the origin of wine-growing in Burgundy goes back further still though it cannot be precisely dated. Some would put it as early as the 6th century BC; others date it from between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, following the Roman conquest.

The oldest extant documentary reference to the wines and vineyards of Burgundy dates from the year 312 AD. It comes from a speech made by one Eumenes, a citizen of Autun, and attests to the presence of grapevines in the region.  In the 6th century the Frankish historian Gregory of Tours speaks of "vine-covered hillsides".

Monastic wine-growing
In the 10th century the land, vineyards included, belonged to the feudal aristocracy and the religious orders. The monastic proprietors were not seeking short-term profit. They wanted perfection and experimented with rootstocks, pruning systems, cuttings, grafting, vinification methods, and comparative tastings.

Their most important legacy to the world of wine was to have invented the idea of the "climat", a named and defined plot of ground with known productive properties.  Such plots were often enclosed with walls and these became the famous Burgundian "clos". These two innovations were fundamental to creating the special identity of Burgundy wines.

Ducal Burgundy
The first Duke of Burgundy was Philippe de Valois, called "the Bold" (Le Hardi) who, by his marriage to Margaret of Flanders at the end of the 14th century, added Flanders to Burgundy, doubling the extent of his possessions.  The splendors of the ducal court served to spread even wider the reputation of Burgundy's wines, then known as "vins de Beaune".

Over four generations between the late fourteenth and late fifteenth centuries, the four Valois Dukes established Burgundy as a powerful and prosperous state, entirely independent of the kingdom of France.

Against this background "vin de Beaune" became the best-known wine in Europe.  For Burgundy, with only limited facilities for river transport, it was vital that the wine she exported should command a price that justified the cost of its carriage.

Hôtel des Ducs de Bourgogne
This was a strong incentive to the pursuit of quality. Ducal edicts intended to guarantee the quality of wine were promulgated at this time.  The monks made Burgundy wine a serious product, but they kept it largely to themselves. But in the flowering of Burgundian culture under her Dukes, wine became a high quality commercial product, accessible, fashionable, and exportable.

The 18th century: the rise of the négociant
An improved road network in the 18th century boosted commercial exchanges between Burgundy and Paris, as well as with the North European ports and so with the wider world.

The first "négociants" (wine merchants) were simply middlemen. But gradually the trade became organized and the first firms established themselves in Beaune and, later, in Nuits-Saint-Georges and undertook the care of the wines – new casks, racking, maturing. etc. (This process, of caring for the wine between vinification and sale, is known as "élevage", hence the name "négociant-éleveur). At the same time, the gradual introduction of glass bottles from 1750 onward opened up the possibility of endowing wines with better keeping qualities.

1789: Revolution
During the Revolution, properties were broken up. Church estates were confiscated by the State and put up for sale. The modern pattern of land ownership in the Burgundian vineyards, divided and subdivided among a large number of proprietors, can be traced back to this time.

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RATING WHITE BURGUNDY VINTAGES 1980-1997

*Vintage Ratings
95-100: classic
90-94: outstanding
80-89: good to very good
70-79: average
60-69: below average
50-59: poor

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THE WINES OF CÔTE DE NUITS AND CÔTE DE BEAUNE

Côte de Nuits
The wines of the Côte de Nuits are an incitement to meditation. Great red wines, deep and rich, best enjoyed in the evening when the light is fading over the land between Fixin and Corgoloin. Even in a land blessed by the Gods, the Côte de Nuits is a little paradise. It is a strip of land some twenty kilometers in length and in places no more than three hundred meters in width. And within its fifteen hundred hectares (3,700 acres) are to be found a rich variety of nuances ranging from the power of a Chambertin to the grace of a Musigny. Here are found some of the most famous names in all of Burgundy. Less splendid in renown, but by no means negligible are the vineyards of the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits (some 500 hectares/1,240 acres) and Côtes de Nuits-Villages whose red and white wines are an introductory step towards more sublime pleasures.

These include Marsannay, Fixin, and Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits – supple and well-built wines with intense red-fruit aromas.

From Gevrey-Chambertin come high-bred powerful, deep-colored wines, tannic and square-shouldered, made for long aging.

Morey-Saint-Denis, meaty and with a long finish, has generous aromas of blackcurrant and wild cherry which over time are enhanced by notes of wild animals and spices.

Chambolle-Musigny is lacy, delicate and distinguished, the most supple of the Côte de Nuits wines.

Vougeot is ample, meaty, and remarkably well balanced, combining power with elegance. The whites are supple, rich and quite full-bodied.

Vosne-Romanée is smooth and elegant, long in the mouth, with aromas of cherry, strawberry and underwood.

Nuits-Saint-Georges is strongly colored, solid and full-bodied with complex aromas of red fruits, fur and spices.

Concentrated in the villages of this district are all the Grand Cru reds of Burgundy with the exception of Corton. There are twenty-two of these prestigious appellations: Charmes-Chambertin, Clos-de-la-Roche, Bonnes-Mares, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Clos-de-Vougeot, and others, not forgetting the rare Musigny, which happens also to be the only Grand Cru white of the Côte de Nuits. The Musigny reds are as powerful and solidly-built as the whites – elegant and distinguished, both being known for their breeding, smoothness, fullness, and irresistible aromatic subtlety. All the Côte de Nuits wines have, like the art of meditation itself, an unhurried quality, and can offer a sensual pleasure so intense that you will remember it all your life.

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Côte de Beaune: Inspiration
The Côte de Beaune wines, like the gift of creativity itself, have the ability to inspire. And it was divine inspiration which in 1443 drove Nicolas Rolin to found his Hôtel-Dieu, the famous Hospices de Beaune, to aid the sick and needy. It was a divinely-inspired decision that put the revenues from the sale of the Hospice's wines to the upkeep of the hospital and the modernization of its services. And so that is why now, each November, wine-lovers from the world over flock to the sale by auction of these great wines. There they find themselves at the very heart of the Côte de Beaune, which stretches from Ladoix-Serrigny to Maranges – twenty kilometers and 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of inexhaustible creativity where the finest dry white wines in the world rub shoulders with highly-renowned red crus.

Throughout the nineteen villages of the Côte de Beaune, the red wines derive exclusively from the Pinot Noir grape. With the addition of the Côte de Beaune-Villages wines and the 400-odd hectares (990 acres) of regional Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, the result is a complete range including communal appellations with their Premiers Crus and the single Grand Cru – Corton. The wines of Ladoix, Pernand-Vergelesses, Chorey, Savigny, Monthélie, Auxey-Duresses, Saint-Romain, Saint-Aubin, Santenay, Maranges and the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune are fine, well-fruited, supple, and elegant. Those of Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Volnay, and Chassagne-Montrachet are ample, well-structured, richly aromatic and of great distinction. Pommard and Corton contribute highly-colored wines which are powerful, generous, firm and solidly-built. There is a full range, too, of whites from the Chardonnay grape. They have a fine bright golden color and richly and complex aromas recalling hazelnut and honey. In many cases they have as long a cellar life as the reds and are no less splendid. Those of Pernand-Vergelesses, Auxey-Duresses, Saint-Romain and Saint-Aubin are well-rounded, elegant and delicate; those of Meursault, Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet have fullness, finesse and a miraculous balance – a brilliant gamut of premiers crus and grands crus culminating in Montrachet and Corton-Charlemagne the most sumptuous of all white wines, at once rich and meaty, subtle and powerful. Here in the heart of the Côte de Beaune you are also in the heart of Burgundy. Here the whole history of wine and the vine is open to you. And here, as a final touch of the inspiration, is the capital, Beaune itself.

Character of Beaune Wines
The red wines which come from the centre and southern parts of the Beaune area are tannic and powerful: their color is generally quite dark and they give out aromas both fruity (fruit berries) and "animal" at the same time. The wines coming from the North have a less intense color and are blessed with a fine suppleness.

Beaune whites are supple and rich with good acidity which gives them good structure Their fullness puts them on the level of the top grade whites – similar to Chassagne.

Keeping Qualities of Beaune Wines
The Beaune reds wines offer good aging potential when coming from the southern and central areas: they reach their peak after 8 to 10 years for normal years and around 15 to 20 years in great years. The wines from the northern part of the côte (towards Savigny) will be ready for drinking after 5 years. Wines from great years will have a potential of around 12 to 15 years. White wines are usually at their best after 5 to 10 years evolution.

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SERVING: TEMPERATURE AND GLASSES
The red wines should be served at 15°–16°C.

Uncorking the bottle one or two hours before serving generally improves the "volume" and purity of the aromas.

White wines require a cooler serving temperature : around 12°–14°C. They are mellow enough to support this temperature ; any colder and the bouquet may be lost.

Large balloon style glasses are best adapted to the qualities of the red wines, the size of the surface area helping the rapid development of the bouquet.

Tulip shaped glasses are best for the elegant presentation of the white wines.

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WINE FAQs

What is the size of the Burgundy wine areas?
Burgundy represents only 0.6% of the total wine areas of the world :

Chablis: 5,300 ha (13,000 acres)
Côte de Nuits: 3,300 ha ( 8,100 acres)
Côte de Beaune: 6,600 ha ( 14,800 acres)
Côte Chalonnaise: 4,700 ha (11,600 acres)
Mâconnais: 5,700 ha (14,000 acres)
Beaujolais: 22,700 ha (56,000 acres)

What is the volume of wine produced?
130,000 hectoliters of Beaujolais
790,000 hectoliters of white Burgundy (all appellations)
540,000 hectoliters of red Burgundy (all appellations)

How many people produce wine in Burgundy?
About 30,000 in Burgundy, 8,000 of which produce only Côte d'Or wines.
There are roughly 4,300 domains in Burgundy, with 1,450 in the Côte d'Or.

What is the average size of an estate in the Côte d'Or?
Barely 6.35 hectares (15 acres).

How many owners are there per appellation?
The Montrachet covers about 8 ha with 14 owners, the Romanée Conti (1.8 ha) is a monopoly, and the Clos de Vougeot, the largest Grand Cru, (50 ha) has over 80 owners!

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