Burgundy Seminar – Understanding Burgundy
Burgundy Event
Vendor Magazine
Heather Kingston
ISG Certified Sommelier
The Burgundy Wine Board recently held a daylong seminar and tasting in Calgary. Francios Labet, an award winning winemaker from the region, was our host. He led us through an extensive flight of white and red wines with his massive amount of knowledge. Burgundy is the benchmark for production of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. These wines have been made in this small area of France since the first century. Over time, the best grapes and growing sites were determined mostly by monks who took up the task of making wine. Now there are 177 million bottles marketed every year.
For consumers in Canada, the challenge is understanding what is in the bottle. Traditionally the name of the grape is not on the bottle. More producers are putting the grape variety on the back label. We know Chablis is Chardonnay and Beaujolais is the Gamay grape. Within Burgundy, the Cote de Nuits is Pinot Noir and the Cote De Beaune, Cote Chalonnaise and Maconnais is Chardonnay. These wines work well with food, so plan to sip Burgundy wines with dinner.
