Journey into drinking Burgundy, short intro and simple rules

Let’s dispel the well-established and perhaps captious myth of the “inaccessible Burgundy”: it is simply not true, almost an ideological fallacy to mythologize and give the side to inevitable speculation. Difficult yes, but not impossible.

The experience of many years has brought the realization that with a few simple rules to follow or a few tips to exploit, it is possible to achieve the desired goal: to own but, above all, to drink and know in depth the great wines of Burgundy, those that are rarer or only seemingly related to imponderable factors.

Some simple rules

I quickly summarize some of the rules, simple ones, that have helped me over the years. Personal experience has allowed me to be able to drink everything, I mean everything great that this extraordinary area, with its chosen producers, has bestowed on beonaut humanity:

1. Large if not unlimited economic availability: thus being born specifically into wealthy (preferably very wealthy) families choosing from categories considered privileged in this regard, such as big oil tycoons, financiers, bankers, managers of multinational corporations, entrepreneurs, nobles (not penniless), landowners… the categories are many: I know for a fact that for these opportunities/variables of life it plays out a pinch of luck, which never hurts.
2. Network of knowledge related to distributors and producers: it is a dense network that is built over time, giving away quintals of Parmigiano Reggiano, culatelli, delicacies from Emilia/Lombardy, bouquets of flowers for the wives, and gifts of various kinds: this allows over the decades to establish an empathy that stabilizes and allows easy access to prices that are not notarized or to goodies that are almost impossible to find in the usual commercial circuits (especially GDO or Hard Discount).
3. Spirit of sacrifice: to give up, more often than not, the new car or to give it as a gift to the newly licensed 18-year-old son (despite his extraordinary scholastic achievements with imminent graduation and related 100/100 rating in the most emblazoned secondary schools) in order to be able to buy, at last, the longed-for bottle and target it in peace. The alternative is to devote the family savings of years, after giving up vacations, travel, home renovation or designer clothing, right to the purchase of that much-desired bottle and, without remorse, enjoy the joy of incomparable sensations only read on the web.
4. Have four generations behind you of enthusiasts/enologists/producers/traders who have woven nearly century-long relationships with producers, négociants, importers and distributors.
5. Having purchased the “mythical” wines at a time when it was still convenient to buy them (by 2010) , after which speculation made them even before they were unaffordable … unobtainable. Because there are many rich people in the world, while several jewels of Burgundy are very rare, if not even produced in “confidential” or, even, virtual quantities, such that they are a phoenix for almost the entirety of the wine world.
6. Read reports or “the drinking stories” on DoctorWine (recommended option).

Post Scriptum:

More often than not, it is not the single variable, the discriminant, as much as an interweaving of the various hypotheses outlined above. Giving names or practical examples: if I want to cheerfully drink a bottle of Romanée Conti, the first point is necessary but almost sufficient because the quantities involved are not trivial. It is, therefore, sufficient to have a nice credit card properly covered by a suitable bank account and, after few apparent difficulties, the expressed desire is fulfilled.

If I want a Montrachet from Domaine Leflaive, a Musigny from Madame Leroy or from Roumier, economic availability is not sufficient but it is essential to add (a) to (b), (d) and, in part but including, (e).

A few samples:

But let’s look at some samples of Burgundy still accessible from areas adjacent to the media splendors of the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune…however, from iconic producers.

Mâcon Verzé 2018 Domaine Leflaive

Score: 93/100
Average price in wine shop: € 70

As we will often see later, by far one of the most important white wine-producing vignerons in the world. With this wine, produced in the limestone area of Verzé of Mâcon, the Domaine wants to offer a wine with good value for money.

100% Chardonnay from different plots. 80% steel and 20% wood for 10 months. Yellow with distinctly greenish highlights. The nose is citrusy, balsamic, variegated by slightly spicy notes. The mouth is very fresh, with nice substance and excellent persistence.

Rully 1er Cru Champ Cloux 2016 Domaine Ramonet

Score: 93/100
Average price in wine shop: € 100

When a supreme producer of white wines from the Côte de Beaune tries his hand at Pinot Noir grapes, more often than not a wine with the characteristics…of a white wine is born. Rully is an appellation of the Côte Chalonnaise overlooking the Côte de Beaune.

100% Pinot Noir. 18 months in wood, light toasting, 30% new. Light red color, nice transparency. Aromas at first glance of flowers, followed by small black fruits that act as a counterpoint to spicy notes. Fine on the nose as fine in the mouth, almost graceful, “feminine,” very fresh, compulsive drinking.