WWCS: Next Tuesday, March 28, we will have our first tasting in a long time of wines from Burgundy. Annette Schiller, who presented wines from Austria in February, is back to bring us these wines. She will be accompanied by Thibaud Marquis, the manager of the Louis Jadot portfolio in the United States. Annette has worked very hard to bring us these wines at a price the class can afford.
This message is from Annette:
Burgundy is one of the world’s best-known wine areas producing some of the world’s most sought-after wines which achieve dizzying prices on the world market. But perhaps Burgundy is one of the least understood wine regions.
Burgundy is the most terroir-oriented region in France. Immense attention is paid to the area of origin, as opposed to Bordeaux, where classifications are producer-driven and awarded to individual châteaux. In Burgundy a specific vineyard or region will bear a given classification, regardless of the owner or producer. Secularization during Napoleonic times and the Napoleonic inheritance law led to a subdivision of even the most precious vineyards so that some growers hold only a row or two of vines. Clos de Vougeot for example is a vineyard of 130 acres today parceled into plots owned by 80 different owners. This led to the emergence of wine merchants, the “ Négociants" who aggregate the produce of many growers to make a single wine. In Burgundy it is easily recognizable on the label if the wine is produced from purchased fruit or from estate grown fruit. If the fruit is purchased, the label says: “Maison” followed by the name of the winery. If the fruit is estate grown, the label says: “Domaine” followed by the name of the winery.
Burgundy with its 80,000 acres under vine represents just 3% of of the French vineyard surface area. The core of the Burgundy region is divided into five appelations from north to south: Chablis, a predominantly white wine region; Côte de Nuits, predominantly red with the world-famous Grands Crus such as La Tache, Romanée Conti, Clos de Vougeot, etc; Côte de Beaune, red and white, including the world’s most expensive white wine, the Grand Cru Montrachet as well as the famous Grand Cru Charlemagne. Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune together form the so called ‘Côte d’Or’, where the Grand Crus are located. Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais follow further south and transition into the Beaujolais. According to the French land registry Beaujolais belongs to the Burgundy region. When we talk about Burgundy here I am referring to the 5 core regions. Nearly all white Burgundy is Chardonnay with only 6% Aligoté planted. Red Burgundy is almost 100% Pinot Noir, with a small amount of Gamay. There also is 3% ‘Passetoutgrain’, which is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay.
Burgundy has a 2000 year long history of winemaking. Since the 9-hundreds AD Cistercian monks worked the soils in Burgundy acquiring viticultural knowledge which brought winemaking to a different quality level. Cistercian monks were also instrumental in spreading the art of winemaking to other parts in Europe.
During next Tuesday’s tasting we will have 5 wines from Louis Jadot - 2 Chardonnays and 3 Pinot Noirs from the different Burgundy regions. Louis Jadot is an iconic estate with an iconic logo - the Bachus head. Founded in 1859 Louis Jadot has become one of the most trusted and revered wine houses in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. Louis Jadot produces wines under the “Maison Louis Jadot” label as well as “Domaine” labels. They own 528 acres of vineyards, including 280 acres of the Cote d’Or’s most prestigious Premier and Grand Cru plots.
No reservations are required.
WHERE & WHEN WE MEET: The Seminar meets at 7:45PM every Tuesday (except for July, August and the weeks of December 25th and January 1st) at St. Patricks Episcopal Church at 4700 Whitehaven Pky, between Foxhall Road and MacArthur Blvd.
The last Burgundy and Champagne Tour by ombiasy WineTours took place in 2018.
See:
Burgundy (and Champagne) Tour 2018 by ombiasy WineTours: From Lyon to Paris - Wine, Food, Culture and History, France
The next Burgundy and Champagne Tour by ombiasy WineTours will take place in July 2023. The tour is fully booked.
See:
Announcement: Burgundy and Champagne 2023: 12-day Total Immersion - From Lyon to Paris by ombiasy WineTours
Our way of traveling allows wine lovers to fully experience the greater Burgundy area and to get a good idea about Champagne making. What comes to your mind, when you hear ‘Burgundy’? First class Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; ancient history; world-renowned vineyards; Cistercian monks; 1000 year old abbeys; quaint small wine villages; the Hospice de Beaune; good cuisine. All this applies and we will explore in detail these different aspects during our tour through Burgundy and the Champagne region.
We start in vibrant, cool, sophisticated Lyon, the capital of Haut Cuisine, travel through Beaujolais, and work our way up to the north - nothing else makes sense, since we all want the suspense finishing with the famous 'Grand Cru' regions - visiting the Mâconnais, the Côte Chalonnaise, traveling through the most famous white wine vineyards in the Côte de Beaune, to the world famous red wine vineyards in the Côte de Nuits, to Chablis and finally crossing into the Champagne region, and spending the last two nights in the world's capital of bubblies - Épernay.
The tour ends in Paris. We will travel through beautiful vine-ribboned countryside dotted with witnesses of the great history of the Burgundy and Champagne region.
schiller-wine: Related Postings
Announcement: Exciting ombiasy Wine Tours in 2023
ombiasy WineTours: Wine Tour Schedule 2023 - Austria, Germany/East, Burgundy/ Champagne, Germany/ North
Announcement: Austria 2023 by ombiasy WineTours - 12 Days: May 28 - June 08, 2023
Announcement: The Wine, Concert, and History Tour - Germany-East 2023 by ombiasy WineTours - Monday, June 19 - Thursday, June 29, 2023
Burgundy and Champagne 2023: 12-day Total Immersion - From Lyon to Paris by ombiasy WineTours
Maison Guigal in Ampuis, Côte Rôtie, Northern Rhône: Cellar Tour, Tasting and Vineyard Tour - Rhône Valley Tour 2022 by ombiasy WineTours: Wine, Culture and History, France
Tour and Tasting at Château Haut-Bailly, Graves, Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé, with Cellar Master Jean Christoph - Bordeaux Tour 2022 by ombiasy WineTours, France
Cellar Tour and Tasting with Daniel Wagner at Weingut Wagner-Stempel (VDP) in Siefersheim, Rheinhessen - Germany-South and Alsace 2022 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting with Helmut Dönnhoff and Sascha Johannes Schömel at Weingut Dönnhoff (VDP) in Oberhausen, Nahe - Germany-South and Alsace 2022 by ombiasy WineTours
2022 Annual Riesling Party at the Schiller Residence in McLean, Virginia, USA
Christian Schiller`s SCHILLER-WINE Blog on Corking Wines` Top 101 Wine Writers of 2020 List
The Wines of Germany: Presentation by Annette Schiller at the German Embassy in Washington DC/ Consular Conference December 2021
Massive Tasting of Bordeaux 1982 - the Vintage that made Robert Parker a Star, USA/ France
Carl Willner, Christian Schiller and Ken Bensley of the German Wine Society/ Washington DC Chapter (Re-)elected to the National Board, USA, Germany
The American Wine Society National Conference 2022 in Bellevue/ Seattle, Washington State - Seen through Christian Schiller`s Camera Lens
The End of the "Grosslage" in Germany - Seminar about the new German Wine Law of 2022 at the 2022 American Wine Society National Conference in Bellevue/ Seattle, Washington State, led by Annette Schiller
Christian Schiller: Re-elected to the Board of the "Weinfeder", the Association of German Wine Journalists
2022 Holiday Party of the German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter) at the Cosmos Club in Washington DC Downtown, USA/ Germany
All Sorts of Sparklers: How do the Bubbles get into that Bottle? - Tasting at the American Wine Society (NoVa Chapter) led by Annette Schiller
Germany's Weingut Künstler #2 on James Suckling's List of the Top 100 Wines of the World (2022)