There is a lot of focus on the top end producers – DRC, Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, Frédéric Mugnier, George Roumier, Coche Dury, Domaine Leflaive …
And the focus is mainly on the top end wines – like Romanee-Conti, La Romanee, Musigny, Bonnes Mares, Meursault Les Perrieres and Montrachet. This is understandable as these wines are among the best wines made in the world today.
The problem is however that focusing only on these relatively few and rare top end wines is a complete and utter misconception of what Burgundy is all about .. diversity and complexity.
Burgundy offer so many wines … a vineyard like Clos de Vougeot has more than 80 owners – and its only 50 ha – in Bordeaux the area of Paulliac is 1200 ha and with around 130 Chateau’s. In Bordeaux Chateau Lafite Rothchild is 107 ha .. more than double the size of Clos de Vougeot – and 70% of the total area of all the vineyards in the Vosne-Romanee appellation.
Micro complexity
The vineyards of Burgundy is UNESCO world heritage .. and the history of the vineyards goes around 1000 years back – when the monks established the foundation for vineyards we know today.
Going 250 years back to before the revolution the ownership structure was more simple – one owner of Clos Vougeot – but these days there are very few monopole vinyards – and most vineyards have many owners – thus offering multible expressions of the same terroir.
The pinot noir grape also allows for a very clear expression of the terroir, as the transparency of the wine is very high – if the wine is not forced by excessive extraction.
This means that you within a few square meters can find perhaps 5 different wines of top quality expressing the same terroir in a different way. That’s diversified complexity .. a world of opportunities to taste something new, better or just different!.
The devaluation of the repeated events
When I was a child we only had salmon on special occasions … it was then a very expensive fish, and it was therefore regarded as a luxury product. It was more of a special treat to taste salmon back then, although I’m sure the quality of the salmon offered is just as good now – perhaps even better. Today Salmon is farmed and abundant – and the price is now quite low – and the event of eating salmon has now depreciated … or should I rather say … its not an special event anymore.
The same happens if one only drink the top end wines .. the value of the event of drinking a Romanee-Conti will slowly but surely depreciate, first time is a big occasion as is second and third time. But if you taste the 2009 for the third time within two years … the event is no longer special … its more or less just another glass of wine.
What happens next is that one starts to look for faults and compare with bottles earlier tasted or other vintages … but the spontaneous joy of the event itself is partly gone .. and the hedonistic pleasure is perhaps not there to the same degree.
I taste a lot of wines … and some of the hyped wines (not Romanee-Conti though) I taste rather often, and while I enjoy them, the sense of occasion is gone. That’s a occupational hazard – I know – but seriously .. if you drink Musigny on a ordinary Tuesday – what should you then open when you turn 50 or 60?
There is a time and occasion – the window of opportunity
For me its important to respect the wines … wines that should be an occasion should be respected as this – and only served and enjoyed as just that – and shared with friends.
Wine is a social thing and tasting a 1929 Musigny alone would in my perspective be disrespectful to the wine, and furthermore deprive me of the main joy of enjoying the wine .. sharing and cherishing a moment and discussing the wine with other wine geeks.
As a consequence of the quest for only the big wines – a lot of the great grand crus are consumed way way too early … outside their window of opportunity … or drinking window if you like. But seriously this is what happens if there is only grand cru and other big wines in the cellar …
Personally I really enjoy to have Bourgogne rouge or blanc from new producers in the cellar, to avoid drinking bigger wines too early.
This opens up a new world of joy and pleasure … firstly one taste a lot of new producers – secondly it sets focus on the hedonistic element – as labels, high expectations and price does not cloud the thoughts.
I try to spare my best bottles for moments – occasions with friends and other wine geeks, and while I quite often drink wines too young just like most other collectors – I do try to keep some respect for the grand crus. I try to cellar these with the purpose of enjoying these wines when they mature or at least are matured.
As prices increase the same more or less apply to the village wines and 1er crus from the top end producers .. these are wines to treassure .. and a mature village can yield much greater pleasure than a closed down grand cru.
So my simple advice …
Treasure and respect the great wines – save them for an occasion and do not focus only on grand cru – they will not mature within the first 15 – 25 years. Build a diversified cellar – many different producers – wines from Bourgogne rouge to Montrachet. This is exploring and enjoying the complexity and diversity of Burgundy.
Finally think about the drinking windows .. some producers mature quicker than others, and some producers have a much larger drinking window – but I will cover this in another article – so stay tuned!