Wine Tasting.

Living in Burgundy, you cannot escape the influence of wine. We are surrounded by some superb wine growers. One thing surprised me when I first got to know how things worked was that there is in fact no “Burgundy” wine as such. To make a wine and label it Burgundy, you have to follow the rules laid down by the AOC (appellation d'origine contrôlée) committee which include how, when and what to plant, how and when prune, how and when to spray and with what chemicals, how and when to harvest and then how to make the wine.

Having said that, wine from each parcel of land will have its own personal flavour which will vary from year to year, some will be labelled as being from a certain plot of land, or a certain area, some will be labelled as grand cru or premier cru, the list and complexity goes on. The essence of it all is that the flavour comes from the elements in the soil, the amount and timing of the rain and sun and so year to year and plot to plot, the wine will vary in quality, flavour and keepability. It is no wonder that such mystery, myths and wizardry surround wine making.


2015 was an excellent year for the vines and the quality of the grapes was superb, the best vintage since 2009. Sadly though, the weather that gave such a high quality grape, also restricted the actual growth, so most vineyards in this vicinity were down at least 30% and in some cases 50% on their usual harvest, but will the quality be such, that a high enough price can be sought, to cope with that shortfall in quantity? Time will tell on that one as we wait for the wine to mature enough to be drunk.

In the meantime we have to settle for the lesser vintage of 2013 from which the offerings at the annual wine tasting at the wine makers of St Gengoux and Buxy were this week. We are invited every year to attend a wine tasting because we have the gites and campsite. By chatting up the local tourist accommodation providers they hope to make sales – but we only recommend them if we think that they are good enough!

I have to say that the white Montagny premier cru (Buissonnier) was quite superb, the Crément blanc de blanc was also very good and the red Rully (Buissonnier) was not bad at all. As usual the aperitif snacks that we were given to go with the wines complemented them quite superbly. So if you are in the area for your summer holiday, don’t forget to pop in to take a couple of bottles home with you.

For holiday accommodation near some superb wine growers click here.