Among ladies and gentlemen with a corkscrew, you can often hear the phrase: "All roads lead to Burgundy." By many measures, Burgundy is enjoying unprecedented success. Dominating any list of the most expensive wines in the world, this region produces some of the most coveted and expensive drinks on the planet. Moreover, the inspiring philosophy of Burgundy terroir has become dominant in modern wine culture. Other regions that used to talk about castles, brands, and grape varieties are now talking about terroir, dissecting the nuances of height, geology, drainage, and exposure of their Burgundy-inspired vineyards in great detail. Sooner or later, everyone picks up the Burgundy charm. However, as Burgundy's finest wines gained cult status, they became less and less accessible. Part of it is a supply problem. If the production of a large champagne house is in the millions of bottles, and the production of the castles of Bordeaux is in the hundreds of thousands, then in Burgundy anything over 10,000 bottles is considered large, a little to satisfy the big, thirsty world.

Burgundian Hierarchy

At the heart of the quality pyramid are the regional wines of Bourgogne AOC. For this category, it is allowed to mix grapes from all parts of Burgundy - from Chablis to Macon. Further along, are communal wines, named after villages: Chambolle-Musigny, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Puligny-Montrachet, and so on. Then come Premier Cru wines (often spelled 1-er Cru), the label usually shows both the name of the village and the specific cru. At the very top - Grand Cru. There are only 33 Grand Cru vineyards and they account for just over 1% of the wine produced in the region. Each grand cru has its appellation, which is indicated on the label.

Different sub-regions and villages have different reputations, however, the classification approved before and during the Second World War does not necessarily reflect the realities of today's climate: vineyards that barely ripened grapes 20 years ago are flourishing today. In the past, hierarchy was often fate, times are changing, and talented vintners from the humble corners of Burgundy are eager to show what these so-called "lesser" appellations are capable of. A vivid example of this is the wine of Bruno Clair from Marsannay. This northernmost commune of Côte d'Or has long been in the shadows. However, thanks to the Clairs, the commune was able to make a qualitative breakthrough. It is hard to imagine a place in Burgundy whose wines have improved so much in terms of quality over the last thirty years. Today, these wines enjoy great prestige among wine critics and connoisseurs.