This blog came from a radio script that aired January 12, 2019 on The Spirits of New Mexico. The revamped show now includes an on-air tasting of a wine in the $20-$40 range and a detailed background of the wine region and subregion from which the sampled wine originated.
Once again we return to Burgundy, at least virtually, as we sample a red Burgundy, which uses the Pinot Noir grape. That is reminiscent of my first wine; also a red Burgundy and they’re still some of my favorite reds. We explored this region last week while we tasted a wonderful Pouilly-Fuisse from the Maconnais. The Burgundy wine region is quite broad in latitude; extending from the Chablis wine region in the north to Beaujolais in the south, but we will focus immediately on the Côte d’Or region where the greatest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines are found. Some of the following material was also covered in The Wines of Burgundy, part 1.
Côte d’Or means golden slopes which define the topography and the fact this is premier Chardonnay and Pinot Noir country. It is comprised of two regions that are both known for their iconic whites and reds.
- Côte de Nuits is the northernmost part of the Côte D’or with more emphasis on Pinot Noir, but known for both grapes.
- Côte de Beaune is the southern part of the Côte D’or with more focus on Chardonnay, but our wine to sample on-air is a red Burgundy from the Côte de Beaune so we will spotlight this region today.
Quality classifications
Burgundy, like Bordeaux defines premier and grand cru designations, with incredible respect for terroir. It is important to understand that with few exceptions, it is the vineyard or climat that is rated grand or premier cru, not the winery or chateau. If the resulting wine is made 100% of grand cru it is a grand cru wine. If partially grand and premier cru it is a premier cru wine.
- Grand Cru (great growth) designates Burgundy’s top vineyard plots or climats of which there are 33 in the Côte D’or, and 60% are Pinot Noir.
- Premier Cru wines from Burgundy number 640. Many will list the village name and Premier Cru or 1er and optionally the climat.
- Villages identify quality wines with the commune or village listed on the wine. There are 44 village wines including Chablis, Pommard and Pouilly-Fuisse.
Côte de Beaune and Hautes-Côte de Beaune
The entire Côte de Beaune region is split into two parallel areas with the Hautes Côte de Beaune to the west at a higher elevation, thus the French Hautes for “high” to differentiate the two. Recall that terroir is a near-religious term to the French vigneron, which is someone that grows the grapes and makes the wine. All the chateaux here grow their grapes and make and bottle the wine on their premises to insure the best quality. There are 11 Grand Cru vineyards or climats within this region.
The city of Beaune lies near the heart of this region. The village of Meursault is 5 miles south, and Montrachet is right below it. These communes identify the most sought-after white Burgundies. Meursault is also home to the winery that produced our featured wine.
There are many significant communes within the Côte de Beaune, including many grand cru and premier cru climats. In the northern portion there are 6 Grand Cru climats.
- Pernand-Vergelesses in the northwest corner produces about 30,000 cases, 75% red. For a better perspective on output, Gruet produces over 200,000 cases (as of 2017)
- Grand Cru Charlemagne and Grand Cru Corton
- Grand Cru Corton in Ladoix-Serrigny
- Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne in Ladoix-Serrigny
- Grand Cru Corton in Aloxe-Corton
- Grand Cru Charlemagne in Aloxe-Corton
There’s no way anyone would get those six confused, is there? Right, that’s what I thought.
- Pommard (pronounced Poe-Marr) makes some of the most tannic and full-bodied wines from the Cote d’Or and popular because of name recognition, but no premier cru.
- Volnay are lighter, more elegant and graceful than most other red Burgundies; 26 premier cru
Significant southern communes include the most famous white Burgundies and 5 Grand Cru.
- Meursault, one of Burgundy’s most famous wines, has no Grand Crus, although there have been calls for Les Perrieres to be so designated. The Chardonnay wines are rich and buttery.
- Montrachet (moan-tra, shay) is really two communes separated by Mont Rachaz (Scabby Hill); Puligny (po-leeny) and Chassagne (shah-sohn-je), enclosing one of the most famous vineyard sites in the world. Wines from the Chassagne side are called Le Montrachet and from the Puligny side, Montrachet.
- Grand Cru Chevalier-Montrachet vines are in Puligny.
- Grand Cru Bâtard-Montrachet vines are also in Puligny.
- Grand Cru Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet also in Puligny.
- Grand Cru Montrachet in Puligny
- Grand Cru Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet in Chassagne
- The names of the first two Grand Crus supposedly reflect the division of the estate of the Seigneur de Montrachet between his two sons, one of whom had been a knight in the Crusades, the other was illegitimate. The French word bâtard means bastard so apparently they wanted us to know which one was the bastard. Since three of the Grand Cru includes the name bâtard, one would presume he really got around. Either that or . . . oh, never mind.
Bourgogne Hautes-Côte de Beaune characteristics
Once again I’m using this excellent Burgundy website for in-depth details of Burgundy wines. In this case providing information on the Hautes-Côte de Beaune.
Terroir: The vines of Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune grow on the south- and southeast-facing slopes of valleys cut into the limestone plateaus at between 290-485m (950 – 1590 feet) above sea level, between 100-200m higher than the Côte de Beaune, which results in slightly later maturing and harvesting on average around one week later. The soil is made up of formations laid down 80 million years ago during the Triassic (sandstone and clay) and the Jurassic (marl and limestone).
Aroma and palate: The following is a broad, generic footprint of red Burgundy wines. Red Bourgogne wines are garnet in color with hints of bright red. They exhibit aromas of blackcurrant, floral notes of rose, red fruit (cherry, strawberry), and anise, with accents of pepper and mint. On the palate it is fresh and fairly structured, marked by minerality with crisp tannins and fruitiness, followed by a saline finish, underscored by aromas of cherry and licorice.
What we are tasting: Ropiteau Bourgogne Hautes-Côte de Beaune 2014 $22.99
This red Burgundy comes from a Meursault-based winery so much of their passion is for making great white Burgundy wines, both Montrachet and Meursault. They select many of their grapes from premier cru vineyards and some grand cru. However, that same passion fuels the red Burgundy wines they make as is the case with this wine. The Hautes-Côte refers to an appellation of 48 villages located at 300 to 400 meters, while the rest of the Côte de Beaune is at 250 to 350 meters. There are 663.58 hectares (1640 acres) of red grapes of the 802.57 (1983 acres) total or almost 83%.
Maison Ropiteau Frères red wine is 100% Pinot Noir fermented in stainless steel tanks and 8 months barrel aging in French oak, primarily Allier forests.
Winemaker tasting notes:
Color : Brilliant, light ruby red.
Nose : Elegant, scents of alcohol-preserved fruits, cherries and sloe berries.
Palate : Well-structured with predominant cherry flavors. Fleshy and firm, this wine shows good acidity with some hints of rhubarb.
I must note that “scents of alcohol-preserved fruits” thudded for me. Wow, there’s alcohol in this wine?
Ropiteau produces 48 different wines under the Les Icônes label, 29 under the Les Classiques label which includes are sample wine and 10 under the Les autres terroirs label, or other terroir.
I found this wine to be an excellent value for the price. It brought to mind the wonderful strawberry-rhubarb pies my grandmother used to make. I scored it 91 points and hope my Burgundy bias isn’t showing.
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