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Côte d’Or: An Introduction

Burgundy is the Côte d'Or. And of course the Côte d'Or is Burgundy. I know that the catch-all regional name of Burgundy must, by rights, be applied to all the relevant appellations, including Chablis, the Côte Chalonnaise and the vineyards around Mâcon and Beaujeu, but for most I suspect it evokes thoughts of the Côte d'Or more than these other regions. When a Burgundy acolyte thinks of Burgundy, he thinks first of the vines of this 'golden slope', and when his eyes mist over, he is dreaming of bottles from Meursault and Gevrey Chambertin, not Beaujolais or the Mâconnais. When he recalls his trip to the region, and his walk amongst the vineyards, he was strolling though the Montrachet vineyard, or standing on the road looking over the vines of La Romanée, not kicking up the dirt in Givry or Fleurie. Yes there are those that prefer the wines of Chablis, and I certainly have empathy with that position, and there are those who have more interest in the undersung wines of Mâcon and Beaujolais, an equally laudable stance, but in most cases it is the Côte d'Or that draws us back to the region. We wish once again to savour the wines of this great region, and hopefully find that next haunting bottle, the memory of which will last a lifetime.

The Côte d'Or runs on an approximately north-south axis from just south of Dijon down to Santenay, its last outpost before the Côte Chalonnaise begins. It is some distance from Chablis, which as I mentioned in my Chablis guide arguably has more in common with Sancerre - in geography, terroir and style - than these Burgundian vineyards. Within there are about 5500 hectares of vines, of which about four-fifths are red, roughly one-fifth white. The varieties, largely Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, I have already discussed in the instalment entitled History and Variety. What must be approached in this instalment of my Burgundy wine guide is the issue of terroir, followed by a few words on climate. I finish up by looking at some Côte d'Or controversies; sadly, this latter section is the largest.

Côte d’Or: Terroir

As I mentioned in my Chablis guide, the slopes that surround that town are formed partly by water erosion, the instigators of the process being the Serein and her tributaries, and partly by ice erosion at the end of the last Ice Age. Here though the geology is quite different, although one similarity is that here, as in Chablis, the vineyards of the Côte d'Or were for many millennia underwater. As a consequence the soils contain many small fossils dating from this prehistoric era. Many of the rocks of the 'golden slope' are sedimentary, formed at the seafloor in a process lasting eons, the slow and continuous settling and compaction of a combination of sediment and organic debris that would be slowly fossilised. Other rocks, principally limestone and marl, formed from the precipitation of solids out of the seawater on the debris, whilst others are formed from fine particles of clay, silt and sand washed down from the nearby land. These different rock types all make their appearance at some point along the slope.

But what of the slope? It was not principally erosion by water or ice that created this viticultural homeland, although it has played a part, creating the little valleys that run back to the Côte d'Or 'associates' - communes set back from the main slope - such as Savigny-les-Beaune or St-Romain. No, rather it has been the land movements that occurred with the formation of Europe's mountain ranges such as the Alps that created the Côte d'Or. The sea that covered Burgundy receded about 70 million years ago, and the mountains to the east began to move skyward 35 million years after that. As they did so faults, running in a north-south direction, began to form on the great plain to the west, and shifting of the land produced ridges and slopes, gigantic scratches and scars in the landscape, running in a north-south direction. Millions of years later, this cornucopia of different limestones, marlstones, fossils and more would provide a perfect site for vines to rest, bathed by the rays of the morning sun. And so the Côte d'Or was born. Today almost every square inch is covered in vines, as shown in this image on the left taken from midway up the slope near Vosne-Romanée. In the foreground are the vines of the celebrated grand cru La Romanée-Conti, then before the wall those of La Romanée, complete with vineyard worker, dog and horse-drawn plough. Beyond the wall is the premier cru Aux Reignots, and the vines on browner soil running up the slope to the right of them are grand cru Les Richebourg and premier cru Les Petits Monts.

Côte d’Or: Climate

We are somewhat further south than Chablis here, and the oil burners that litter the vineyards there are not seen on the Côte d'Or. The climate tends to be continental, with more stable temperatures throughout the season, rather than the more erratic coastal pattern. The prevailing winds come from the west, often bringing rain; nevertheless rain is not an outstanding feature of the local climate, and neither are humidity nor hours of sunshine, both of which are relatively unremarkable in comparison with other wine regions on a similar latitude. As with all regions there may be challenges to face as a consequence of global warming, and in the case of the sensitive Pinot Noir this may be a very important consideration.

Côte d'Or: Controversy

There is no shortage of controversy here, as like anywhere else in Burgundy (and beyond) there are appellation irregularities, issues of rootstock selection and clonal suitability, the debate of machine versus hand-harvesting, yields, organics, biodynamics, chemical treatments (not uncommonly sprayed from helicopters, who aim for the numbered posts in the vineyards, like the one shown here on the right), chaptalisation and more. Some would argue that the region is too complicated, citing the existence of 600 appellations (although they are mistaken - the premier cru climats which they must be counting do not each have their own appellation), and yet for many it is the patchwork nature of Burgundy, and the never-ending journey of discovery it engenders, which creates a large part of the appeal. Unlike Chablis, where there are obvious and inherent controversies concerning the relationship between appellation and terroir, or the use of oak, the Côte d'Or does not have such overtly apparent or specific issues. And it may be that one of the greatest Burgundy controversies simply reflects how difficult it is to just understand Burgundy, particularly red Burgundy and the delicate and perfumed style it embodies. Fresh and acidic, often light in colour, at their apogee these wines are stylistically a world away from the darker, richer, less acidic wines of Bordeaux or California, for example. So this is the first of two Côte d'Or controversies that I will allude to here, the fact that for many years the author of one of the world's leading wine publications, Robert Parker and his Wine Advocate, was - in the words of many - “persona non grata” in this greatest of wine regions.

Although his opinions of wines from Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley have carried great clout for many years, Parker never seemed to establish a similar reputation when assessing Burgundy. An endorsement of the 1983 vintage, a year tainted by hail and rot, caused the eyebrows of many Burgundy savants to rise sharply, although it is only fair to say that the vintage certainly has plenty of fans, and overall opinion is divided rather than one-sided. With the 1993 vintage a much more negative opinion was expressed, and yet the wines found much more favour with other palates, such as Clive Coates who described it as “an exciting red-wine vintage”. Years later, as Burgundy drinkers became increasingly familiar with the vintage and its wines, the debate continued to rage on Parker's online forum, with many fans of the region vociferous in their appreciation of the vintage. The furore over this vintage was a turning point for The Wine Advocate and Burgundy, and with time Parker ceased reviewing the region and focused his attention elsewhere. Perhaps the final straw came in 1996 when he faced a lawsuit for libel from François Faiveley, of the Burgundy négociant of the same name. Faiveley was infuriated at Parker's comments in his Wine Buyer's Guide (Fireside, 1993) in which he wrote “the Faiveley wines tasted abroad would be less rich than those one can taste on the spot" - a statement which I believe Faiveley interpreted as meaning the wines he shipped to the USA where not the same as those he served Parker when tasting in Burgundy. The case was due to come before France's superior civil court, the Tribunal de Grande Instance, Parker being summoned to appear in February 1994, but he settled out of court before the proceedings got underway. This episode seemed to mark the end of Parker's relationship with Burgundy, as he subsequently turned over its review to hired associate Pierre-Antoine Rovani in 1997

Rovani continued to stir up his own storm in a wine glass, with most controversies centred around his opinions of not only the 1993 vintage, as previously reviewed by Parker, but also 1998. For Rovani, though, this is now all very much in the past; he has given up the critic's pen and returned to wine retail. To this day, however, Parker continues to contract out the review of Burgundy and David Schildknecht fills this role very nicely. For those looking for guidance beyond Schildknecht's words there are plenty of alternative references, including the published works of the retired Clive Coates, and perhaps the most popular choice Allen Meadows (who I have already mentioned in this guide) who writes his own publication, Burghound. Guidance on what to buy is out there, if you look for it (and if you pay for it).

Understanding The Pox

So that is one controversy, although it is one that has kept many fans of Burgundy interested and entertained rather than causing any great distress. That is certainly not true of the second Côte d'Or controversy which warrants a mention, the recently described and seemingly very prevalent problem of premature oxidation, 'prem-ox' (or sometimes just 'the pox') for short. In truth this is not just a Côte d'Or problem, as many wine drinkers have also described unexpected oxidation in Chablis, and indeed some have commented that other regions outside Burgundy - such as Alsace, or Savennières in the Loire - may be affected. Whatever the case, it is certainly an ailment that affects white Burgundy more than any other style, and when would such an affliction be more painful then when it has robbed you of your prized bottle of Corton-Charlemagne, Montrachet or Bâtard-Montrachet? Never, I suspect, so it is an affliction I deal with here.

The problem of prem-ox is easy to understand; young wines expected to be in good condition, based on provenance at purchase, subsequent care with storage, reputation or experience of the vintage and knowledge of the domaine's track record, are instead found to be oxidised and undrinkable. Sometimes these are inexpensive bottles, but just as often these are more precious examples, coveted bottles that represent a significant financial outlay. Unfortunately the cause of the problem is not so easy to determine, and as yet no good explanation has been found. Numerous commentators have their own theories, Rovani and Tanzer being two notable examples, but the approach is often simple - looking for one over-arching cause - and baldly stated. Proffered theories range from faulty or poor quality corks, under-use of sulphur, inadequate filtration, heat damage and more. One explanation I heard offered in Burgundy was that the corks used today were of too small a diameter to provide a good seal, an unlikely explanation, and proof that not every wizened and seemingly sage old vineyard worker has an opinion worth listening to. As yet no one individual has provided a credible and coherent explanation.

Why should this be, considering the prevalance of prem-ox is irrefutable? After all, some figures suggest well over 10% of all white Burgundy is affected, and for some individual producers the reported figures are closer to 100%. This is not a problem in our collective imagination. How can we determine or at least understand the likely causes? We should perhaps look to other industries, such as aviation or healthcare, for some analogies. When things go wrong in these arenas only rarely is it due to one single error, like those suggested (or summarily excluded) by a number of critics. More often than not it is due to a sequence of small errors or changes in practice, none of which in isolation seem significant or have any effect on outcome, but when added together the result can be disaster. A popular analogy is the 'Swiss cheese' model. Consider each step in your system - whether that system be the delivery of healthcare, or the process of vinification - to be a layer of Swiss cheese. No individual process or layer of cheese is perfect - in each one there are holes, potential small errors. Nevertheless, when the layers of cheese are stacked there is no single straight route through the holes, no way for the error to be transferred through to the final outcome, and the system is safe. The disaster occurs when the holes are aligned, or rather when a sequence of small errors or omissions conspires to allow harm to result. This is a systems failure, and I suspect the process of prem-ox is yet another example of this well-described phenomenon. Determining the identity of the culpable processes, errors or omissions, and the role each has played in the eventual outcome is extremely difficult, and demands a careful root cause analysis; unfortunately, no such process seems likely in the prem-ox problem, one which has received very little attention in the printed wine press. For the time being, every drinker of Burgundy opens his or her next bottle of Les Charmes or Les Mouches with a moment of trepidation, unsure whether they will be savouring the wine with great pleasure, or cleaning their drains with it. Unlike the Parker affair, this is a real controversy. In fact it is more than that. It is an unmitigated, ignored and uninvestigated disaster and one that should leave many in Burgundy hanging their heads in shame.

• Part 8: Côte de Nuits Part 1