Burgundy

Mâconnais: sunny, ripe Chardonnay - Mâcon-Villages to Pouilly-Fuissé.

The warm southern end of Burgundy. Mâcon-Villages and Mâcon + village name are fruity, unoaked or lightly oaked everyday whites; Viré-Clessé and St-Véran step up; Pouilly-Fuissé, under the Solutré rock, is the richest.

The warm southern end of Burgundy. Mâcon-Villages and Mâcon + village name are fruity, unoaked or lightly oaked everyday whites; Viré-Clessé and St-Véran step up; Pouilly-Fuissé, under the Solutré rock, is the richest.

Côte Chalonnaise: Rully, Mercurey, Givry, Montagny, Bouzeron - Côte d'Or style for less.

Just south of the Côte d'Or. Mercurey and Givry are the red villages, Rully and Montagny the white ones, and Bouzeron is the only village appellation for Aligoté. Lighter and earlier-maturing than the Côte d'Or - and much cheaper.

Just south of the Côte d'Or. Mercurey and Givry are the red villages, Rully and Montagny the white ones, and Bouzeron is the only village appellation for Aligoté. Lighter and earlier-maturing than the Côte d'Or - and much cheaper.

Boeuf bourguignon + a Côte de Beaune or Chalonnaise red.

Charolais beef braised in red wine with lardons, mushrooms and onions. A mid-weight Pinot Noir echoes the sauce without overpowering it.

Charolais beef braised in red wine with lardons, mushrooms and onions. A mid-weight Pinot Noir echoes the sauce without overpowering it.

Côte de Nuits for reds, Côte de Beaune for whites - mostly.

Almost all red Grands Crus are in the northern Côte de Nuits (Gevrey to Nuits-St-Georges); almost all white Grands Crus are in the southern Côte de Beaune (Corton-Charlemagne, the Montrachets).

Almost all red Grands Crus are in the northern Côte de Nuits (Gevrey to Nuits-St-Georges); almost all white Grands Crus are in the southern Côte de Beaune (Corton-Charlemagne, the Montrachets).

Hautes-Côtes de Nuits & de Beaune: hill-country Burgundy, fresh and good value.

Higher, cooler vineyards behind the Côte d'Or. Bright red-fruited Pinot and crisp Chardonnay that are getting better with warmer summers - often from the same growers as the famous villages below.

Higher, cooler vineyards behind the Côte d'Or. Bright red-fruited Pinot and crisp Chardonnay that are getting better with warmer summers - often from the same growers as the famous villages below.

Aligoté: Burgundy's tangy second white - and a rising star from old vines.

Lemony and high in acid, traditionally mixed with blackcurrant liqueur for kir. From old vines and good growers - Bouzeron, Pataille - it's saline and complex.

Lemony and high in acid, traditionally mixed with blackcurrant liqueur for kir. From old vines and good growers - Bouzeron, Pataille - it's saline and complex.

Village name + vineyard name, no '1er Cru': a village wine from one named plot.

Producers often add a vineyard (lieu-dit) to a village wine, in small print. It's a step above a blended village wine and a frequent sweet spot - single-site character without Premier Cru prices.

Producers often add a vineyard (lieu-dit) to a village wine, in small print. It's a step above a blended village wine and a frequent sweet spot - single-site character without Premier Cru prices.

A Chablis Premier Cru or a Rully Premier Cru - smart white Burgundy.

Serious, age-worthy Chardonnay well below Côte de Beaune prices.

Serious, age-worthy Chardonnay well below Côte de Beaune prices.

Mid-slope is gold: the best vineyards sit halfway up the Côte.

Grand and Premier Cru vineyards are mostly on the middle of the east- and south-facing slope, with thin soils, good drainage and less frost. Village vines tend to sit lower on flatter, richer ground; regional wines lower still.

Grand and Premier Cru vineyards are mostly on the middle of the east- and south-facing slope, with thin soils, good drainage and less frost. Village vines tend to sit lower on flatter, richer ground; regional wines lower still.

Côte de Nuits: Burgundy's great reds - Gevrey, Chambolle, Vosne, Nuits.

The northern half of the Côte d'Or: deep, perfumed Pinot Noir with structure. Gevrey is firm and dark, Chambolle silky and floral, Vosne opulent and spicy. Marsannay and Fixin at the northern end are the value villages.

The northern half of the Côte d'Or: deep, perfumed Pinot Noir with structure. Gevrey is firm and dark, Chambolle silky and floral, Vosne opulent and spicy. Marsannay and Fixin at the northern end are the value villages.

Côte de Beaune whites: Meursault, Puligny, Chassagne - the world's Chardonnay benchmark.

Barrel-fermented Chardonnay with depth and texture. Meursault is rich and nutty, Puligny tense and floral, Chassagne broad. St-Aubin, next door, gives a similar style for less.

Barrel-fermented Chardonnay with depth and texture. Meursault is rich and nutty, Puligny tense and floral, Chassagne broad. St-Aubin, next door, gives a similar style for less.

Celebration bottle: a Côte d'Or Premier Cru from a top domaine.

A Gevrey or Volnay red, or a Meursault or Puligny white, from a grower you trust - better than a Grand Cru from an unknown one.

A Gevrey or Volnay red, or a Meursault or Puligny white, from a grower you trust - better than a Grand Cru from an unknown one.

Organic and biodynamic farming is now common at the top.

Many leading domaines, from Leflaive in Puligny to Pataille in Marsannay and de Villaine in Bouzeron, farm organically or biodynamically, some with low-sulphur winemaking.

Many leading domaines, from Leflaive in Puligny to Pataille in Marsannay and de Villaine in Bouzeron, farm organically or biodynamically, some with low-sulphur winemaking.

Dureuil-Janthial: precise, mineral Rully - Côte de Beaune quality, Chalonnaise prices.

A top Rully grower, making taut, barrel-fermented whites and fresh old-vine reds on organically farmed vineyards.

Vincent Dureuil-Janthial took over his family estate in Rully in 1994 and has made it a reference for the Côte Chalonnaise. He farms about twenty hectares, mostly in Rully and Mercurey with small plots in the Côte d'Or, organically, with careful yield control and picking only fully ripe fruit. The whites are pressed whole and fermented in barrel with oak kept in balance, giving precise, tense, mineral wines; the Premier Cru Le Meix Cadot is lively and savoury and rewards a few years in the cellar, while Les Margotés from marl soils is richer. The reds, from vines planted in the 1970s, are fresh and fine. These bottles show the Chalonnaise argument perfectly: Côte de Beaune-style whites for a fraction of the price. Buy a Rully Premier Cru as your 'smart white Burgundy' to take home.

Héritiers du Comte Lafon: Meursault know-how applied to Mâcon at Mâcon prices.

The Mâconnais estate of a great Meursault family, making single-site Mâcon whites with real grip and texture.

The Lafon family's Meursault domaine is a leading white-wine estate of the Côte de Beaune, with prices to match. Its Mâconnais project, Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, applies the same attention to vineyards around Milly-Lamartine and neighbouring villages, and bottles them by site. Clos du Four, a low-yielding plot, gives one of the fuller wines of the range, with taut, penetrating fruit and impressive grip on the finish; Le Monsard is more generous. These wines show how much the Mâconnais can deliver when farmed and made with Côte d'Or care - richer and more complex than ordinary Mâcon-Villages, yet priced far below a Meursault. Order them by the bottle on Burgundy wine lists; they are ideal with poultry, river fish and creamy sauces, and keep well for four to six years.

De Villaine: the Bouzeron estate that made Aligoté respectable.

An organic estate in Bouzeron, founded by the family linked to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, whose old-vine Aligoté is the reference for the grape.

Aubert and Pamela de Villaine bought a small estate in Bouzeron in 1973, at the northern tip of the Côte Chalonnaise; it now covers around 21 hectares, almost half of them planted with a fine old strain of Aligoté called Aligoté doré. The vineyards have been farmed organically for decades and the domaine has been directed since 2000 by their nephew Pierre de Benoist. Bouzeron became a village appellation reserved for Aligoté in 1998, largely thanks to this work, and the estate's Bouzeron is bright, saline and mouth-watering - proof that Aligoté can be serious. The range also covers Rully whites and Mercurey reds that drink above their price. The family connection to the most famous estate in Vosne-Romanée draws attention, but these wines earn their place on their own. Buy the Bouzeron for a seafood lunch; it is one of Burgundy's smartest bottles.

Rousseau: the Gevrey-Chambertin benchmark - Chambertin and Clos St-Jacques.

A benchmark Gevrey estate, with large holdings in Chambertin and Clos de Bèze and a famed Premier Cru, Clos St-Jacques, that sells like a Grand Cru.

Domaine Armand Rousseau has been bottling its own Gevrey-Chambertin since the early twentieth century and is now run by Eric Rousseau with his daughter Cyrielle. It owns sizeable shares of the two greatest Gevrey Grands Crus, Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, plus a third of Clos St-Jacques, a Premier Cru often priced above many Grands Crus. The house style is fine and elegant rather than heavy: red berries and spice, a silky texture and a long, mineral finish, with power building in Chambertin. The village Gevrey-Chambertin, blended from several plots and some declassified Premier Cru fruit, is the realistic entry point. All are scarce and expensive. If you ever see a Rousseau on a Burgundy wine list at a fair markup, order it; otherwise treat it as the style reference for great Gevrey.

Dauvissat: the reference Chablis estate - Les Clos and La Forest are icons.

A small family domaine whose Premier and Grand Cru Chablis, partly aged in old barrels, are scarce and keenly collected.

Domaine Vincent Dauvissat is a reference point for great Chablis, alongside its neighbour Raveneau. The family farms small parcels of Grand and Premier Cru vineyards and ages much of the wine in old oak barrels and casks that add texture without any oaky taste. The result is Chablis with the classic citrus and oyster-shell freshness plus remarkable depth, needing five to ten years to show its best and lasting far longer. Les Clos, the largest and most powerful Grand Cru, and Les Preuses are the flagships; the Premier Cru La Forest is the bottle many lovers start with. Prices and scarcity are now high; in Chablis wine bars it appears more often than abroad. If it's out of reach, use it as the style marker and look for other growers' Premier Crus in the same mould.

Leflaive: benchmark biodynamic Puligny-Montrachet - and a Mâcon for everyday.

A great Puligny-Montrachet name, long farmed biodynamically, with an affordable Mâcon-Verzé from its Mâconnais vineyards.

Domaine Leflaive is closely associated with Puligny-Montrachet: its village and Premier Cru wines, and a handful of Grands Crus, are reference points for tense, floral, mineral Chardonnay with great length. It was one of the early converts to biodynamic farming among Burgundy's top estates. The Côte de Beaune wines are expensive and allocated, but the domaine also owns vineyards in the Mâconnais and bottles a Mâcon-Verzé - a far cheaper way to taste the house's precision, and a perfect example of the region's value rule: a great grower's humble wine. Order the Mâcon by the bottle on a Beaune wine list; if a Puligny Premier Cru appears at a fair price, it is the celebration choice. Older vintages of white Burgundy carry some oxidation risk, so buy recent ones from good sources.

Pataille: biodynamic Marsannay grower and Burgundy's Aligoté champion.

A Marsannay grower who built a small estate into a reference for biodynamic farming, low-sulphur winemaking and serious single-site Aligoté.

Sylvain Pataille started with a single hectare in Marsannay in 1999 and now farms around fifteen, biodynamically, with very low yields and horse ploughing. In the cellar he uses only native yeasts and adds little sulphur, aiming for transparent wines. He is best known for proving that Marsannay - the northernmost village of the Côte de Nuits, once famous mainly for rosé - can make reds with real depth, bottled from named plots such as Le Chapitre and En Clemengeots, and for championing Aligoté with several single-site cuvées that taste far more complex than the grape's reputation. The rosé Fleur de Pinot is a rare serious Burgundy rosé. Prices are well below the famous Côte de Nuits villages. For anyone who likes natural-leaning wine, this is the producer to seek out on Dijon wine lists.

Altitude is the new asset: the Hautes-Côtes keep freshness in hot years.

The plateau behind the Côte d'Or, at roughly 300-460 metres, was once too cool. Warmer summers now give it ripe yet fresh wines, and famous Côte d'Or names are buying and bottling there.

The Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and Hautes-Côtes de Beaune sit on a plateau above and behind the famous slope, mostly clay-limestone like the lower Côte d'Or but higher and windier. For most of the twentieth century they made light, sharp wines in all but the ripest years. Warmer growing seasons have changed that: grapes now ripen fully while keeping the natural acidity that lower vineyards struggle to hold. Expect lifted red fruit and violets in the Beaune hills, darker fruit and a firmer frame in the Nuits hills, and taut, citrusy Chardonnay. Respected growers in villages such as Meloisey (Denis Carré, Agnès Paquet) and single-vineyard specialists like Alexandre Parigot work here, while Côte d'Or names including Anne Gros, Emmanuel Rouget, Sylvain Cathiard and Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey bottle Hautes-Côtes cuvées. Prices remain a fraction of the Côte d'Or's. For a trip, it's also a beautiful, quieter landscape of small villages above the famous slope.

Local find: serious Aligoté or Hautes-Côtes from a cult grower.

Bouzeron from de Villaine, single-site Aligoté from Pataille, or a Hautes-Côtes cuvée from a Côte d'Or name - rare abroad, priced fairly.

Burgundy's most interesting values sit where the famous names don't. Aligoté, long dismissed as kir wine, has been revived by growers working old vines: de Villaine's Bouzeron is bright and saline, while Sylvain Pataille in Marsannay bottles several single-site Aligotés with real depth, made biodynamically with little sulphur. In the Hautes-Côtes, warmer summers have turned once-thin wines into fresh, red-fruited Pinot and taut Chardonnay, and Côte d'Or estates now bottle Hautes-Côtes cuvées alongside their Premiers Crus. These wines are produced in small amounts, are hard to find outside France and cost a fraction of a village Côte d'Or. Ask a Beaune or Dijon wine shop what they have from these growers; buy a couple of Aligotés for seafood dinners and a Hautes-Côtes red to compare with a famous-village wine.

Mid-slope is gold: the best vineyards sit halfway up the Côte.

Grand and Premier Cru vineyards are mostly on the middle of the east- and south-facing slope, with thin soils, good drainage and less frost. Village vines tend to sit lower on flatter, richer ground; regional wines lower still.

Grand and Premier Cru vineyards are mostly on the middle of the east- and south-facing slope, with thin soils, good drainage and less frost. Village vines tend to sit lower on flatter, richer ground; regional wines lower still.

In the glass: Mid-slope: concentration, finesse, length. Flat land: simpler, softer wines.

Côte de Nuits for reds, Côte de Beaune for whites - mostly.

Almost all red Grands Crus are in the northern Côte de Nuits (Gevrey to Nuits-St-Georges); almost all white Grands Crus are in the southern Côte de Beaune (Corton-Charlemagne, the Montrachets).

Almost all red Grands Crus are in the northern Côte de Nuits (Gevrey to Nuits-St-Georges); almost all white Grands Crus are in the southern Côte de Beaune (Corton-Charlemagne, the Montrachets).

In the glass: Nuits: deeper, firmer Pinot. Beaune: the great Chardonnays and softer, earlier reds.

The grower matters more than the vineyard - many owners share each site.

One vineyard can have dozens of owners, each making a different wine. A top domaine's Bourgogne can outclass a weak producer's Premier Cru, partly because good growers often sell young or surplus vines as Bourgogne.

One vineyard can have dozens of owners, each making a different wine. A top domaine's Bourgogne can outclass a weak producer's Premier Cru, partly because good growers often sell young or surplus vines as Bourgogne.

In the glass: Same label, wildly different quality - follow producers, not just names.

Altitude is the new asset: the Hautes-Côtes keep freshness in hot years.

The plateau behind the Côte d'Or, at roughly 300-460 metres, was once too cool. Warmer summers now give it ripe yet fresh wines, and famous Côte d'Or names are buying and bottling there.

The Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and Hautes-Côtes de Beaune sit on a plateau above and behind the famous slope, mostly clay-limestone like the lower Côte d'Or but higher and windier. For most of the twentieth century they made light, sharp wines in all but the ripest years. Warmer growing seasons have changed that: grapes now ripen fully while keeping the natural acidity that lower vineyards struggle to hold. Expect lifted red fruit and violets in the Beaune hills, darker fruit and a firmer frame in the Nuits hills, and taut, citrusy Chardonnay. Respected growers in villages such as Meloisey (Denis Carré, Agnès Paquet) and single-vineyard specialists like Alexandre Parigot work here, while Côte d'Or names including Anne Gros, Emmanuel Rouget, Sylvain Cathiard and Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey bottle Hautes-Côtes cuvées. Prices remain a fraction of the Côte d'Or's. For a trip, it's also a beautiful, quieter landscape of small villages above the famous slope.

In the glass: Fresher acidity, lighter body, red fruit and floral lift.

Top whites ferment in barrel, with the lees stirred for richness.

Côte de Beaune Chardonnay is typically fermented and aged in barrel on its lees, with the softening second fermentation completed. The result is creamy texture, nutty and toasty notes and long life.

Côte de Beaune Chardonnay is typically fermented and aged in barrel on its lees, with the softening second fermentation completed. The result is creamy texture, nutty and toasty notes and long life.

In the glass: Creamy, nutty, toasty; fuller body and long aging.

Chablis and most Mâcon skip new oak - pure fruit and acidity.

Most Chablis and Mâcon-Villages are made in steel or old barrels to keep fresh citrus and mineral flavours. Some Premier and Grand Cru Chablis uses older oak for texture.

Most Chablis and Mâcon-Villages are made in steel or old barrels to keep fresh citrus and mineral flavours. Some Premier and Grand Cru Chablis uses older oak for texture.

In the glass: Crisp, fresh, citrus and stone; no vanilla.

Domaine vs négociant: both can be great - the name tells you who grew it.

Domaines bottle their own vines; négociants buy grapes or wine and bottle under their own label. Big houses like Drouhin and Jadot are reliable when you don't know the grower.

Domaines bottle their own vines; négociants buy grapes or wine and bottle under their own label. Big houses like Drouhin and Jadot are reliable when you don't know the grower.

In the glass: Négociant wines tend to be consistent; top domaines more site-specific.

Organic and biodynamic farming is now common at the top.

Many leading domaines, from Leflaive in Puligny to Pataille in Marsannay and de Villaine in Bouzeron, farm organically or biodynamically, some with low-sulphur winemaking.

Many leading domaines, from Leflaive in Puligny to Pataille in Marsannay and de Villaine in Bouzeron, farm organically or biodynamically, some with low-sulphur winemaking.

In the glass: Often more transparent, lively wines; low-sulphur bottles can be more variable.