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Côte de Beaune Part 3

Perhaps The Great Whites of Burgundy would be a more evocative and maybe even more informative title than Côte de Beaune Part 3? After all, we have travelled from Dijon along the Côte d'Or savouring almost exclusively red wines along the way (although of course we must not forget the sometimes excellent white Corton-Charlemagne). And yet now it is time to see why Burgundy has just as fine a reputation for white wines as it does for red. We are here. We have arrived at the spiritual home of Chardonnay, the world's most famous white grape. We are about to set foot on the soils of the Montrachet vineyard.

Well....not quite. The Montrachet vineyard sits astride the boundary that separates the communes of Puligny and Chassagne, a little to the south. Before we reach those vineyards we have one other appellation to explore first. As was the case with the red communes of Volnay and Pommard that we have just left behind us this commune also has no grands crus to its name, nevertheless it has considerable fame all the same, and like Puligny and Chassagne its reputation is based solely on white wine. Our next stop is Meursault.

Meursault

A handsomely sized commune amounting to more than 430 hectares, to the north and north-west Meursault borders (running from east to west) Volnay, Monthélie and Auxey-Duresses, and to the south lies Puligny-Montrachet. The village lies slightly closer to the northern than the southern end, and is surrounded by a considerable swathe of village vineyards, and to the north even one vineyard (Les Santenots) the produce of which is bottled and sold as Volnay Les Santenots if red - but as Meursault Les Santenots if white. There are some village vineyards committed to Pinot Noir, such as Les Malpoiriers and Les Dressoles, the wines taking the little-known Meursault Rouge appellation, and many premier cru climats can legally be planted to red, but in practice most are white and as a result this is by a huge margin a white wine commune.

Meursault: The Vineyards

There are a number of very good premiers crus here which are largely concentrated in the southern half of the commune, with just one, Les Cras (3.5 hectares) to the north. Some of these can produce exceptional wines; whereas I often think of Meursault as one of the richer, occasionally more voluptuous of the three white Côte de Beaune communes, some wines from the premier cru vineyards, endowed with a fine linearity and precise fruit, have the capability to quickly dispel this whitewashed misconception. The best are certainly worth knowing, and it should be made clear that there are also a good number of unclassified lieux-dits which can yield very good wine. The largest vineyard lies at the very southern end of the commune; this is Les Charmes (31.12 hectares), a long slope some of which should arguably be downgraded to village appellation. Nevertheless the upper slopes can produce excellent wine; I have had some very fine examples of Les Charmes, including some that have still been drinking very well at twenty years old.

Next comes Les Perrières (13.72 hectares) which lies just above Les Charmes on the slope. Divided into two sections, unimaginatively but informatively christened Dessous and Dessus, it is the former that is generally regarded as the better site. The style tends to be fresh and delineated. Les Genevrières (16.48 hectares) is the third in this trio of large vineyards; this site lies just a little further into the commune than Les Charmes and Les Perrières, and it sits on the border of both. Unlike those two climats, however, it probably gives what many people would expect from Meursault, yielding a somewhat richer style of wine. The image above shows two of this premier cru trio, with Les Charmes in the foreground and the similarly ranked Les Genevrières and a number of village lieux-dits in the distance.

Even though Charmes, Perrières and Genevrières might be regarded as Meursault's holy triumvirate, there are a number of other, smaller sites, many of which can have merit. Perhaps the most notable are Les Gouttes d'Or (5.3 hectares) and Le Porusot (11.4 hectares).

One final curiosity in Meursault, before moving onto the Montrachet communes, is Blagny. This neighbouring village, which sits on the hills above Meursault and Puligny, has a number of vineyards including several premier cru sites. If yielding a white wine these latter climats are entitled to either the Meursault or Puligny premier cru appellation, whereas if the wine is red they remain Blagny premier cru. I have provided details of all the Meursault vineyards, including those in Blagny, on the right here.

Puligny-Montrachet

First in our inspection of the Montrachet communes is Puligny-Montrachet, and there are many ways in which this is appropriate. Geographically it comes first in our vicarious north-south journey, directly abutting Meursault to the north. More importantly, perhaps, Puligny is the strongest contender in the competition for the white crown of Burgundy. Here we have not only a fine source of village and premier cru wines but also the leading source of at the grand cru level. In contrast to the myriad of red grand cru climats dotted along the Côte d'Or there are only six such appellations for white wine. Of these one is Corton-Charlemagne, which covers white wines produced on the hill of Corton. The other five are shared between Puligny and Chassagne, and although the smaller of the two communes Puligny would appear to have the lion's share of the greatest vineyards.

The village of Puligny has its origins during the latter years of Rome's influence in France when it was known as Puliniacus. Unsurprisingly the unbroken thread of viticulture that stretches from those ancient times through to today has been carried, for many centuries, by a number of religious orders. In the case of Puligny a Benedictine order based in Maizières tended many of the vineyards, which were donated or bequeathed to them in the usual fashion. There was a brief hiatus during the 14th century when the Duke of Burgundy Philippe le Hardi seized some of the land from a local opponent, but by the following century what was lost had been replanted and the commune has never since looked back. There have been upsets along the way - during the Revolution many vineyards, including much of the Montrachet vineyard - was confiscated and sold off, and of course there has been phylloxera and the other vine diseases of the 19th century. But on the whole the village and vineyards have thrived.

The wines produced in this commune are some of the world's most enticing, and they certainly provide us with some Chardonnay benchmarks. Those from Montrachet and the associated grand cru sites are some of Burgundy's most iconic wines, whereas those from the premier cru sites can also be magnificent and age-worthy, if not quite so rich or concentrated. There is also excellent character to be found at the village level. On all rungs of the ladder though there is a common thread running through the wines that distinguishes them from those of Chassagne-Montrachet to the south, and Meursault to the north. Those of Puligny tend to have a firmer, more precise style, being more taut and linear, than the softer wines from Chassagne and the occasionally more heady Meursault. Please note though that these observations are very broad generalisations; although I recall several occasions where the wines have performed true to this cliché, I have equally have had my share of softer Pulignys and taut, minerally, well-defined Meursaults.

Puligny: The Vineyards

The grand cru vineyards sit at the southern end of the commune, just to the west of the village itself. Both the premier and grand cru sites run along the slopes behind the village, with the communal appellations lower down on the plain. They do not quite encircle the houses of Puligny itself, and unlike some other communes to the north they stop well short of the RN74 which runs between Beaune and Chalon-sur-Saône. Amongst the grands crus it is Montrachet that deserves our attention here; it has certainly attracted the attention of those before us. Thomas Jefferson, who became enamoured with the wines of Burgundy during his time as ambassador to France, ranked it among the best wines of the Côte d'Or along with those of Chambertin, Clos de Vougeot and La Romanée. Likewise the French gastronome Maurice Sailland, who wrote under the name Curnonsky, was equally smitten; he ranked the site as one of France's top five vineyards, the other four being Yquem, Coulée de Serrant, Château Grillet and Château Chalon. Such was its fame that this commune, as well as neighbouring Chassagne which also claims a section of the site, appended Montrachet to the village name, in both cases in 1879.

There are 8 hectares of vines to Montrachet divided between a small cornucopia of proprietors including great names such as Comtes Lafon and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Thus several producers have very small holdings, tiny fractions of a hectare. Rarity combined with supreme quality can make for very expensive bottles, so these wines are sold and bought at sometimes exorbitant prices, outclassing not only most of Burgundy but also most of Bordeaux, even if we include such wallet-busters as Le Pin and Ausone. For a more attainable example of the vineyard one might have to look to one of the lesser domaines or négociants, or perhaps one should settle for a wine from one of the neighbouring grands or premiers crus.

The grand cru neighbours include Chevalier-Montrachet (7.4 hectares) which lies on the slope just above Montrachet; this is perhaps number two in the Puligny firmament, producing a generally superior wine to those from Bâtard-Montrachet (11.9 hectares), which is downhill. The final Puligny grand cru is Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet (3.7 hectares), which occupies the corner of Bâtard-Montrachet closest to the village of Puligny itself. There is one other 'Montrachet' vineyard, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, but I deal with this under Chassagne-Montrachet, below. Finally, at the premier cru level there are many fine sites here, and perhaps naturally those that deserve closest examination are nearest the cluster of grands crus. These include the tiny Les Demoiselles (0.60 hectares) and Les Caillerets (3.33 hectares); the former is a small enclave within the latter and it would appear to be superior, lying with Montrachet to the south and Chevalier-Montrachet upslope. Next to these two are Les Pucelles (5.13 hectares) and Clos des Meix (1.63 hectares), in this case the latter is an enclave within the former. With Bâtard-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet just to the south these two are also well positioned to offer fine drinking. And as I have already discussed, a small number of Blagny premiers crus are entitled to the Puligny appellation if the wine is white. I have again listed all such sites in the box above, right.

Chassagne-Montrachet

Chassagne is a somewhat larger commune than Puligny, with a large swathe of premier cru vineyards running along the slope here, sitting slightly higher than the grands crus of Puligny. Historically the town is ancient, once known as Cassaneas, and as with Puligny much of the vineyard was in the hands of the Benedictines at Maizières. The village itself is ensconced in the centre of this patchwork quilt of vines, with a similar area of communal vineyards down the slope, bisected by the RN6 which runs between Paris and Lyon. As with Puligny the wines are largely white, although not exclusively so, and indeed only a hundred years or so ago the village was better known for its red wines (save for Montrachet itself which has always been white). During the 20th century this state of affairs gradually reversed, kick-started by the need to replant after the phylloxera epidemic near the end of the previous century, and then reinforced by the growing recognition that the wines here were much better in white than red, and thus the former could command significantly higher prices.

Chassagne: The Vineyards

Having just cantered through the vineyards of Puligny it makes sense to immediately continue with those sites that run across the boundary into Chassagne. Both Montrachet and the lower Bâtard-Montrachet fit this description, and at the end of the latter there is a tiny collection of vines (just 1.6 hectares) which goes by the name of Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. In terms of the Montrachet grand cru hierarchy this site sits on the third rung alongside Bâtard-Montrachet and Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet, beneath Montrachet itself on the top rung and Chevalier-Montrachet on the second level. Nevertheless the wines, from the right domaine, can still be excellent.

As for the premiers crus the best include those nearest Montrachet, these being Les Chenevottes (9.26 hectares), Les Bondues (1.73 hectares) and a handful of others. A commonly sighted climat is Morgeots, a huge grouping of close to 20 premiers crus amounting to just over 54 hectares which includes much of the lower land at the southern end of the commune. Found in both red and white, the quality is not the highest but from a good domaine they can be reliable wines. As for the communal wines, as with Puligny these are largely white although there is still a small production of red wines permitted. In total the commune covers more than 340 hectares.

And onwards....

Chassagne is not the true end of the Côte d'Or, but it is where this simple guide draws to a close. It would be foolish not to at least mention St Aubin, another village like St Romain which is set back from the true Côte d'Or which has, nevertheless, managed to earn an appellation to distinguish it from the Côte de Beaune-Villages. It has turned out to be a good source of white wines, as well as some rustic reds, with a number of premier cru sites being exploited. Hubert Lamy is often touted as one of the leading growers. Then further south there is Santenay and then Maranges, these two villages being the golden slope's last gasps before the favourable slopes and soils peter away, leaving us only the vineyards of the Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais and Beaujolais to look forward to. And these regions - of which at least one some people argue should not be considered a part of Burgundy at all - are the next up for consideration.

• Part 14: Côte Chalonnaise