The wines of France’s Burgundy region have always set a benchmark for the world’s best examples of chardonnay and pinot noir. One might think that with such quality and prestige, the local bourgeoisie would be living in the lap of luxury: fancy cars, grand estates (or domaines), and roads of gold, right? Not quite.
Many residents of Burgundy are farmers at heart, proud custodians of the land. Most live at or below a middle-class income level, and they rely on Mother Nature for its bounty and their livelihood.
During the past five years, Burgundy’s wines have ranged from the epic 2010 vintage to near-disasters like 2013 and potentially 2014, when the weather played a heavy role. Hail ravaged the vineyards in Burgundy’s southern portion, Côte de Beaune, for two years in a row; in some cases, it left only 10 percent of the original fruit. As a result, Burgundy’s variation in vintages is among the most dramatic in all of France.
Residents of Burgundy also must cope with growing issues like premox, a premature oxidation primarily of white wines, starting with the 1996 vintage.
At the same time, there’s been a proliferation of counterfeit wines from Asia and parts of the West Coast. While imitations are nothing new, the money generated from such fakes is at an all-time high.
And while the aforementioned factors are causes for concern, the state of succession taxes might be equally vexing. You see, Burgundy is one of the last vineyard areas in France to practice fractional ownership, in which the vineyard holdings of a domaine are equally divided among the family’s heirs. If the children get along and want to stay in the business, there are fewer worries. But if the opposite happens, great wineries can quickly disappear.
So what will save Burgundy—or does it really need saving? I believe Burgundy will eventually come to share the limelight with Bordeaux in its appeal. Like Bordeaux wines, these varietals are increasingly rare and difficult to obtain: characteristics of a status symbol.
Now if only the heirs to those Burgundian vineyards could get along.
A former sommelier at The French Laundry, Chris Hoel serves as a senior wine advisor for Soutirage, a Napa Valley wine merchant and advisory firm.
TASTE TEST
Here in St. Louis, compare older-vintage Burgundies, like the 1999 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Hospices de Beaune Pommard Cuvée Billardet ($175) and 2002 Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin ($110), with more recent ones, such as the 2010 Domaine Charles Audoin Marsannay Les Longeroies ($36) and 2012 Albert Bichot Bourgogne Vieilles Vignes ($20). Both are available at Balaban’s (1772 Clarkson, Chesterfield, 636-449-6700).
