Wine Tasting in Beaune (comments from a novice!)
Vineyard at Comte Senard in Aloxe-Corton
Let me be very clear. If you have a familiarity with French wines, especially from Cote de Beaune, don’t bother to read this post. As I explained in my Beaune post a few days ago, I am a complete novice when it comes to French wine so this is a very rudimentary discussion of our winery visits while in Beaune. I learned so much in a very short time but I still find the whole concept very intimidating. So all I want to briefly talk about is the couple of “ah ha” moments and just list the wineries. That’s it!
A Bit of Info on French Wine……
Cote de Beaune Location in Bourgogne
Pinot Noir & Chardonnay
Essentially the only grapes grown in Cote de Beaune are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (and also Aligote’, not very prevalent)
What is in a Label
Joseph Drouhin: Winery
Beaune: Appellation
Clos des Mouches: Vineyard (Premiere Cru)
Pinot Noir
Whenever I looked at a label on a French wine, I was completely confused. I had absolutely no idea what any of it meant. I frankly still don’t know much…there are so many vineyards that it is overwhelming. But at least now I know that if it is red, it’s a Pinot Noir and white, it’s a Chardonnay! For me, that is a positive step.
Appellations
Very basically, an appellation is how a country categorizes its wines by geo-political boundaries. Each appellation has laws and regulations that may dictate where the grapes were grown and how the wine was made.
France organizes wine with the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée/Protégée (AOC/AOP) system which first started in 1937.
Today, there are over 360 AOCs in France and most are within 11 primary growing regions (e.g. Rhône, Loire, Alsace, Bordeaux etc.). The French AOP system has rules that apply to nearly every aspect of wine production, including grape varieties that may be utilized, minimum alcohol level, aging requirements, and even vineyard planting density.
There are designations (my word) within Appellations that indicate the quality of the wine. From most prestigious to least, they are: Grand Cru, Premiere Cru, Villages and Regionales. This information can be found on the bottle.
That’s all for now. I am thinking about taking some classes on French wine so will update if I do!
Wineries We Visited
Guillaume Baduel in Pommard
Chateau Corton C in Aloxe Corton
In closing, I hope that for wine novices like myself, this post was a bit enlightening. I pray that the information I gave was accurate and made some sense. Wine tasting in Cote De Beaune is truly amazing. I cannot wait to go back and learn a little more about French wines!