Spoil yourself with a ‘restaurant’ Burgundy
I’m hoping that what I’m talking about today may hit the spot because this is the most miserable time of the year at the best of times and there’s no doubt that we need a little something to cheer us up. And if we can spoil ourselves — remembering that a lot of people can’t — I want to suggest, for once, spending as much on a bottle of Burgundy as we would, in happier times, have to shell out on something fairly run-of-the-mill in a restaurant.
I mean, we’re talking basic Chilean varietal, at best, for €23 in most establishments. And the dearest wine I’m proposing here would cost €80 in a restaurant, but €35.75 to you now.
So all of this week’s wines are calculated to spoil us while also offering good value for money. Yes, they are from
Burgundy but, these are not ‘serious gear’ from the Côte d’Or but what Jancis Robinson has described as their “country cousins”, the wines of the Côte Chalonnaise, south of there and north of the Mâconnais. And while none of them hit the high notes of, say Corton or
Eschezeaux (nor their stratospheric prices), the best of them can be truly lovely expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (and not forgetting the minority white grape, Bouzeron, which is bigger here than elsewhere in Burgundy).
The Chalonnaise is much more mixed than the Côte d’Or, with vineyards and farmland forming a patchwork. Yields are higher than in the posh bits up north, except in Mercurey, which explains how you could easily take a Mercurey premier cru for, say, a Beaune. Mercurey is the biggest AOC here and is entirely devoted to reds, just as Montagny is all white. Rully is mainly white but produces some light and juicy reds, while Givry is mainly red.
The wines of this region used to be described as ‘rustic’ and there’s no doubt that quality has shot up in the past few decades.
While there are some exceptions, these wines are ready to drink much more quickly than their northern cousins. Yet another reason to take some comfort and spoil ourselves.
These wines offer good value for money