The Burgundians have a unique way of doing things. For example, some villages have appended the name of their most prestigious vineyard to their own name. That custom started in 1847, when the village of Gevrey appended the name of its best grand cru vineyard and became Gevrey-Chambertin. Others soon followed.
- They did this because they thought that adding a prestige vineyard’s name would enhance the reputation of all the village’s wines, thus increasing sales and prices. Not a bad marketing strategy.
- Simply adding a prestigious vineyard name, however, does nothing to improve the quality of the village’s other wines -- it merely increases their price and causes consumer confusion. Unwary consumers sometimes see a basic village level wine such as a Gevrey-Chambertin and think that they’re getting a much higher quality grand cru. (More on Burgundy wine classifications here.)
A good example of how this works is Montrachet, in the southern part of Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune region. Montrachet is one of the most prestigious white wine vineyards in the world. Among its many accolades, Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, said that Montrachet should be enjoyed on one one’s knees with one’s hat removed. While intended as a gesture of respect, that also reduces the risk of injury if one imbibes too much and topples over.
- A Montrachet Grand Cru will set you back somewhere between $400 and $900. These will be labeled with one of the five Grand Cru vineyards: Le Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet” and Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, and typically include “Grand Cru” on the label. All are located in the villages of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet, but you won’t see the village name on the front label.
- A Premier Cru from Puligny- or Chassagne-Montrachet will cost from ninety to hundreds of dollars. These are a step down the quality ladder, will be labeled “Premier Cru” and will include with the name of the village where it is produced and sometimes the name of the specific vineyard.
- A Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet village level wine will cost around fifty to seventy dollars. These show the village name on the label, perhaps with the name of a vineyard. These wines are produced from lesser vineyards and have correspondingly lower quality. But, in Burgundy it’s all about the producer – a good producer can make a really fine wine where others might fail.
Our wine of the week is a 2017 Olivier Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet ($65 retail). Leflaive is one of our favorite Côte de Beaune producers, and they did not disappoint: this was an excellent wine, and well worth the money.
- This wine is 100 percent Chardonnay made in a typical Burgundian style. It’s aged for one year in stainless steel and mostly old oak and has a relatively low 13 percent alcohol level, so you don’t get the overtly oaked and high alcohol style all too often found in New World Chardonnays. It has aromas of pear, green apple and honeysuckle. On the palate, it’s medium-plus bodied, with notes of green apple, peach and minerality. The wine has a pleasant acidity, is nicely balanced and has a long and interesting finish.
- The wine pairs well with grilled saltwater fish, grilled veal and goat cheese. We paired it with grilled tuna.
- This wine is at its peak when it’s around three to seven years old.
Cheers!