The Côte de Nuits In Your Glass(es)

A tour of each village and what they have to offer

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Fixin

A sleeper appellation, Fixin produces masculine reds. Whites are made but are even further off the radar screen. These reds are “working class” compared to the “white collar” wines one town south in Gevrey-Chambertin. They show lots of bravado (solid body with broad tannin) and “cologne” (sweaty flannel and creosote).

Pour: Domaine Pierre Gelin 2009 Fixin

Blackberry and mulberry flavors bump against roasted wild boar accented with lavender. Medium-bodied, the tannins are strapping and the acidity is boisterous.

Photo courtesy of Pascal Labranche via Flickr/cc

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Tags: France, Christy Canterbury MW, Red Wine, wine regions

Comments

nansea999

319715 1

French wines are difficutl for me because the labels never indicate the varietal. i anxiously read your article, only to realize it was as useless as all the labels. All it said was red, fruit and tannans no mentions of the grapes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if your newsletter is supposed to be informative: it is not.
Nancy

Aug 09, 2012 at 12:41 PM
Christy-
Canterbury-
MW

Hand of Snooth

1060100 41,254

Hi Nancy,

Sorry for that omission, but red Burgundy is always made exclusively with Pinot Noir. I hope you found the rest of the several hundred words helpful :-)

Aug 09, 2012 at 12:47 PM
mrooney16

1025588 3

Are there any whites in these villages that are worth looking at?

Thanks!
Maureen

Aug 09, 2012 at 2:59 PM
Christy-
Canterbury-
MW

Hand of Snooth

1060100 41,254

Hi Maureen,

Not too many. In the northern part of the Côte d'Or most of the wine production is red. A few steps south, in the Côte de Beaune, however, you can feast on many wonderful Chardonnay! I did, however, mention the crystalline Morey-St-Denis Blancs of Domaine Dujac in this piece. They're pricey but quite wonderful.

Here's my last piece on the Côte de Beaune: http://www.snooth.com/articles/bull... . My parallel piece on the Côte de Beaune in Your Glass(es) will be out very soon.

Santé!

Aug 09, 2012 at 4:43 PM
zinfandel1

Hand of Snooth

154660 690

As I am just beginning to get into Burgundy wines, what do you suggest as far as reds that are affordable and still give a good representattion of each of the areas you covered?

Aug 09, 2012 at 9:31 PM
Christy-
Canterbury-
MW

Hand of Snooth

1060100 41,254

Hey Zinfandel1,

"Affordable" is the key word here. Can you define a range of numbers? To talk straight, prices start at $25 for Côte de Nuits village wines. If that's too juicy a number, there's other great red Burg...we'll just slip to a different area! Let me know!

Aug 09, 2012 at 9:59 PM
zinfandel1

Hand of Snooth

154660 690

Good Morning
I'm looking in the $25-$50 Range. Hopefully that will give me some sense of the region as far as taste.

Aug 10, 2012 at 7:18 AM
topherg3

921880 74

That's why I love French wines, because the label only tells you the place from where it comes. You have to do some research as to what varitals are excepted in each AOC. We as Americans want it as simple as possible. If it's Pinot Noir then put that on the label. But the problem with that is, one Pinot Noir from the next is going to taste different. That's the whole point of Burgundy. Each village and each little tiny plot of vineyard has it's own destinct characteristics that only are found there. I just got back from Beaune and the guide told me when someone comes and orders a Pinot Noir, we ask which one we have thousands. Doing alittle research about each region is not too much to ask I think.

Aug 10, 2012 at 8:31 AM
LoveVinum8-
6

502734 10

Thank you for this informative article.
Are the differences in tannins, aroma and flavour mainly due to the various soils or is the weather also so different between the various villages / appelations?
Any comment on the recent wine scandal in Burgundy and whether all of the forged bottles have been removed?

Aug 10, 2012 at 9:23 AM
Christy-
Canterbury-
MW

Hand of Snooth

1060100 41,254

Zinfandel1,

The Fixin and Morey I mention in the article are good places to start. Charles Audoin makes great Marsannays in that price range, and Frédéric Esmonin's Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Prieur is not to be missed. I hope you enjoy them...and many others!

Aug 10, 2012 at 9:48 AM
Christy-
Canterbury-
MW

Hand of Snooth

1060100 41,254

LoveVinum8,

The differences are mostly due to soils and exposure. The weather is fairly homogenous within the Côte de Nuits, but there can be surprising differences between the Côte de Nuits and Beaune depending on the year. And, of course, weather events like hail can affect part one of a village and not the other.

I'm not sure sure which scandal you are referring to, but I'm guessing you're referencing the Rudy Kurniawan one. (Background: Rudy faked bottles of great wines, including a lot of Burgundy.) Unfortunately, many of those wines are still "out there" (after all they've been bought by many different people over many years), and many people don't know whether or not they have fake bottles. The good news is that this affects largely only the most coveted bottlings and older vintages. There's plenty of bona fide Burgundy out there!

Aug 10, 2012 at 9:58 AM
SM

1097030 209

Hi Ms.Canterbury,
I did enjoy your article Cote de Nuits as its simple to understand and informative, with the whole of Bourgogne being intricate and intertwining articles that break it down village by village.

Eagerly looking forward to your Cote De Beaune in Your Glasses article!

Cheers!

Sol

Aug 10, 2012 at 12:21 PM
Michael-
Altman

1127050 92

Loved your snap shot view of the Cote de Nuits. But there as many exceptions as there are rules and individual vignerons play the greatest roles. One of my favourites is Domaine Rene Leclerc in Gevrey Chambertin with Rene's son Francois now running the show. Looking forward to your next piece.
Michael

Aug 13, 2012 at 6:49 PM