A round of trade talks between Australia

[bdjakaria76]

xEXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS happens so frequently these days that when a vintage is called ‘dramatic’ it almost seems trivial. Fortunately, in the case of the 2019 Burgundy vintage, the word “dramatic” is coupled with the word “great”.

The weather in Burgundy that year ranged from frost and rain to intense sunshine and prolonged dry spells. But everything was fine in the end. Indeed, the Burgundy Wine Committee used the word ‘magic’ to describe 2019 – although the same press release noted that the winemakers were stressed and tense. This struggle made the 12 bottles of Bourgogne Blanc 2019 that I bought to taste even more impressive.

While Burgundy’s four-figure grands crus could represent the phone number library pinnacle of winemaking success each year, they are only accessible to the truly wealthy. I chose the region’s simplest wine – the “basic” white Burgundy – on the assumption that it could offer a taste of a great vintage at a reasonable price. Every bottle I bought – save one – costs $ 40 or less.

“This Bourgogne Blanc is “the cheapest good wine you can buy”.“

Wines labeled Bourgogne Blanc can come from white grapes grown anywhere within the 74,260 acres of Burgundy vineyards. It can be good or bad: good because producers have a wide range of options for sourcing fruit; bad because some of these sources might be irrelevant or worse.

The Burgundy classification system is built on a hierarchy of vineyards classified at several different levels. At the top are the wines from one of the 33 grands crus. Then come the wines of the Premier Crus, much more numerous (662) and more varied too. Then come the village wines, made in a specific municipality or village. Then regional wines, such as Bourgogne Côte d’Or or simply Burgundy.