All Change on the Cote-d'Or?
The Ouche Valley, in the Côte-d’Or department of eastern France – a name synonymous with fine wines – was the destination of this year’s summer holiday. A bucolic landscape surrounded my holiday rental, given to agriculture, rather than viticulture, yet a mere twenty minutes’ drive from the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune. I wanted to view vinous matters from a distance, while casting my mind back to those first visits to Burgundy that started in the early 1980s when I was living in Switzerland, close to Lake Geneva. But for the limitations imposed by life events, and the more recent restrictions on overseas travel, I have visited the area on an annual basis ever since, its pull being a kind of pilgrimage, in the way some feel compelled to walk the Camino di Compostela or visit the shrine at Lourdes.
Burgundian viticultural practice dates back to Napoleonic times, when land owned by the church was broken up, and the effects resulting from fragmented land ownership can still be felt. Winemakers are born and die in the same village and family names, posted on village noticeboards, make familiar reading for those who know their wines. At first glance, it seemed that little had changed in the forty-five years I had been coming here. A few days in and I realised that in fact things have changed, in subtle ways, and the difference in the way the Burgundians treat their wine tourists could be best described as less complacent, making a visit to this region and the enjoyment of its food and wine more accessible. In the six-week period I was there, I set out to establish the reasons for this change.
The first observation was the lack of tourists. On the streets, foreign number plates were very much the exception – the Dutch aside – making the villages seem very parochial, their people going about their daily business with barely a nod to the region’s reputation as a producer of some of the world’s greatest wines. The roads in and out of previously popular hot spots, such as Meursault and Beaune, had little traffic. The presence of wine tour companies was not obvious, and an evening visit to Meursault in August revealed deathly quiet streets and empty restaurants. It is a well-known fact that the French take their summer holidays in August - and it could be frustrating to find a restaurant that had recently been reviewed had shut up shop for four weeks - but the desertion was widespread and certainly not something I had experienced during the main school holiday period in the past. Those restaurants that were open, however, tended to offer excellent value. Loiseau des Vignes (part of the Bernard Loiseau group of restaurants) in Beaune was offering a lunchtime menu for twenty-eight euros. Eating in such an establishment forty years ago would have been unthinkable. While this kind of experience satisfies a certain grown-up style of dining, remarkable things were happening elsewhere, too. Le Domaine du Moulin aux Moines, a former monastery turned winery in Auxey-Duresses, has an enviable location overlooking its vines. During the summer months, a pop-up catering area is provided by Maison Escoffier, serving visitors with food prepared in an outdoor bread oven, accompanied by an eye-watering choice of wines from the region. With a casual, young persons’ vibe, Le Moulin was packed both lunchtime and evening, all trestle-table and festoon lights, with music playing out until dusk. Slabs of pissaladière and platters of spareribs were rushed from the serving counter as empty wine bottles collected on tables. For those just wanting an aperitif in an idyllic setting, Philippe Bouzereau’s Au Vieux Clos in Meursault offers wines by the glass on its roof terrace. A glass of Meursault, produced from vines you can almost reach out and touch, can be yours for a few euros. This struck me as all very inclusive and accessible, compared to the way restaurants used to be geared around wealthy clientele visiting the Côte-d’Or. For those whose lives do not revolve around wine, Burgundy provides scenic and safe opportunities to cycle through its vineyards, on the Voie des Vignes, well away from what little traffic there is. Arriving in Puligny Montrachet, thirsty and saddle sore, Olivier Leflaive’s hotel and restaurant offered a range of dining options, from a three-course lunch menu with accompanying wines to a cyclists’ tasting menu. It really seems as if there is something for everyone in the new-style Burgundy.
What is behind these changes?
Wine producers need to appeal to a wide range of consumer. Burgundy’s reputation for producing some of the world’s finest wines, with correspondingly high price tags, only sets to serve a very tiny proportion of wine drinkers. By value, Burgundy is still in ‘pole position’, according to Robbie Stevens, of Liv-ex (Mileham, 2023). However, most producers see their wealth tied up in their land (and machinery and winery equipment), which does not necessarily make them rich during their lifetime. Land prices on the Côte d’Or are such that inheritance taxes can result in unimaginable problems for surviving family members as inheritance laws dating back to Napoleonic times dictate that children must inherit equal shares. So, with not only taxes to pay, but raising the capital to potentially buy out a sibling may prove impossible. A visit to Domaine Prieuré-Roch in Premeaux-Prissy reinforced this fact. Unable to purchase a bottle of their Ladoix Le Clou Rouge anywhere in Beaune, despite shop windows teasing us with empty bottles of the wine, I made a booking at the domaine’s restaurant, Premnord, which is nestled among the vines of Nuits-Saint-Georges. There was no possibility of purchasing a bottle here to take away either, but I finally got to try it over lunch. With prior knowledge of this wine’s value on the secondary market, I was curious to understand more about how the domaine operates. Engaging the sommelier in conversation, I asked him why Le Clou Rouge is so difficult to track down, and why at 130 euros a bottle in the restaurant, the producer was not seeking to maximise his profits. It seems this comes down to those same inheritance laws and land price issues. An increase in the wine’s value could have a detrimental effect on the land’s value – not only for the domaine – but for neighbours’ land, too. Activity on the secondary market is actively followed by the proprietors, enabling them to buy back their own bottles and thus control the market. The sommelier told of the need to keep a watchful eye on wine values, for the reasons mentioned, before adding ruefully that he can only afford to drink wines from the Loire. So, a controlled pricing mechanism? A rejection of elitism? Or by setting a price ceiling, are they creating an increased demand for these wines? Whatever it is, the controls are vigorous. I headed home, pondering on what I had learned, with my now empty bottle of Ladoix Le Clou Rouge, its label defaced prior to release.
Prieuré-Roch is not alone in restricting access to sales, and buying through the cellar door in Burgundy has never been straightforward; such is the demand for its wines. One tasting I did manage to set up, was at a producer’s in Cheilly-lès-Maranges. When I raised the question about the absence of tourists, the response was that as far as the British are concerned, there has been a huge decline since Brexit. Without pursuing the reasons for this further, I could not help but think that Brexit was too simplistic an explanation. Lovers of Burgundy in search of bottles for their collection are quite different from the so-called ‘booze cruise’ brigade who would previously cross the Channel to stock up on cheap wine for Christmas. Presumably, those tourists are no longer attracted to cruising now that the personal import allowance is reduced to twenty-four bottles. For those seeking wines on the international market - wines worthy of exporting - prices are similar in the UK and France, such is the importance of London in the fine wine market.
Trends
Wine consumption is declining amongst younger people, which begs the question: what will the future look like when the generation of wine drinkers with bespoke cellars and accounts at prestigious wine merchants pass on? So called Millenial and Gen-Z adults can barely afford to house themselves, let alone provide the space for a wine collection, meaning their purchases are more likely to be for consumption in the short term, buying the wines of the moment. Perhaps the downward trend in drinking habits of the next generation of drinkers is making the Burgundians less complacent.
The response to wine-buying habits has seen a change in packaging, of both label design and in some cases, a move away from traditional bottles. Approaching Meursault from the south of the region, I stumbled across a cave that included, along with its usual bottle offerings, regional wines sold as bag-in-box. Surprising, only because Burgundy produces some of the world’s most sought-after wines, and maintaining its traditional practices of cork closure and iconic bottle shape has been an important part of its heritage. But for lower value wines, there is no reason not to use alternative packaging. The harmful effects of glass production, further exacerbated by the problem of shipping heavy bottles, is well-documented, and there are compelling arguments for alternative, more sustainable packaging for wines not destined for keeping. Traditional production methods tend to adhere to sustainable methods of production, often organic or biodynamic. This is nothing new in the region, Burgundy being one of the early adopters of these viticultural practices. The back label on bottles now provides information on the method of production and the style of wine. Descriptors such as low-intervention, unfiltered, and natural are all buzz words for the younger generation of drinkers.
A simple factor in an otherwise complicated winemaking region is Burgundy’s reliance on two principal grape varieties. In trying to understand the changes taking place in the region, it is important to make sense of the enduring appeal of Burgundy. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are cool-climate grape varieties that grow very successfully in a number of other countries and regions of the world, in many cases showing less vintage variation than those from Burgundy. Now, it seems, its reliance on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is being disrupted by the emergence of young, talented winemakers who are taking the production of that less well-regarded grape, Aligoté, to new heights. Not just in Bouzeron, which has the only appellation for this variety, but throughout the Côte-d’Or. Some excellent examples of this previously unremarkable grape variety are being produced, as far north as Marsannay by Sylvain Pataille, along with examples from Fanny Sabre, Claire Naudin, and Jean-Marc Roulot, to name just a few. Perhaps it is the region’s vulnerability to climate change that makes its dependence on its original two grape types an increasingly unsafe bet, or maybe it is a further example of the changing scene in the region. ‘Les Aligoteurs’, an organisation created to promote quality wines from talented producers, is collectively elevating this grape variety, producing some fine wines. The man on the ground, Jasper Morris MW, explained in an open discussion, held on 26 September 2023, that he believes this variety is here to stay, but also expressed concern that it might become ‘super-collectable and trendy’; with evidence it is already selling on the secondary market for ‘ludicrous prices’. JM went on to point out the advantage of its lower alcohol levels, which in hot vintages can reach 12.5 per cent abv (compared to Chardonnay grown on the same sites, coming in at 14.5 per cent). The lower alcohol levels could well be part of its appeal, especially among younger drinkers, seeking lighter, more refreshing options. Aligoté production, in the hands of talented winemakers, would seem a good prospect, and future generations of Burgundians may well concur with Napoleon that ability is nothing without opportunity.
Conclusion
Ultimately, climate change is likely to pose the biggest threat to wine production in Burgundy, a fact that every grower in the region is painfully aware of. With harvest dates being brought forward year on year and winemakers having to balance sugar and acidity levels in their wines, at the same time keeping alcohol levels at an acceptable level, the traditional Burgundian way of life must be very precarious. Aligoté production, with its naturally high levels of acidity, might be a very smart marketing move, but there can be no denying that a warming climate in this part of the world is extremely worrying for its wine industry. Evolving as a region in the way it welcomes its visitors can only help.