Burgundy in British Columbia
Burgundy is one of the foremost wine growing regions in the world, associated with the highest quality red wines based on the Pinot Noir grape and white wines based on the Chardonnay grape. Burgundy is situated in north eastern France, just a stone's throw from the country's internationally renowned city Paris and just south of the sparkling wine juggernaut of Champagne. Burgundy offers some of the most greatest examples of Chardonnay and age worthy Pinot Noirs the world over. Also, it is a region traditionally associated with expensive wines and thought by many consumers to be inaccessible for everyday enjoyment. Is this image a reality or is it based on misperception fuelled by over exposure of the top Gran Cru wines, which often fetch price tags in excess of a small down payment?
Speaking with Jean Francoise Curie of the Bureau Interprofessionnel de Vins de Bourgogne (BIVB), the promotional body for the wine region of Burgundy, we addressed just this issue. Official statistics demonstrate that sales and consumption of Burgundy wines within Canada have consistently increased over the past ten years, moving up to almost five million bottles imported in 2007-2008, with an estimated dollar value of thirty-two million Euros, or fifty-two and a half million Canadian dollars. This places Canada as the fifth biggest importer of Burgundian wines by revenue and seventh biggest by volume. In recent years imports of red Burgundy have increased to reach parity with imports of white Burgundy. Today there is almost equal representation of red and white Burgundy in the Canadian marketplace, not surprising given the recent trends towards red wine consumption.
Speaking about international wine consumption habits, Jean Francoise talks of one major global trend emerging as a product of recession and economic declines. This is the move away from licensee sales towards retail sales: meaning that people are spending less money on wine in the restaurant, wine bar, and lounge environments, and instead purchasing wines for home consumption. Jean looks at this shift as an opportunity for Burgundy to reposition their image on the global market and to promote the lesser known appellations of the region. These appellations often provide the consumer with excellent wines at a fraction of the price and are drinking beautifully upon purchase. It is these wines that tend to over perform for their price point, many falling within the twenty to thirty dollar range, and carrying village appellations. Jean Francois recommends looking for red wines from Fixin or Rully and white wines from Saint-Veran in the Mâconnais. However, these recommendations are only the tip of the iceberg and I would refer to the BIVB's website at www.burgundy-wines.fr for in-depth details on value appellations, as well as classic appellations, and excellent in-depth food and wine pairing suggestions.
Beyond simply recreating the image of Burgundy and opening the consumers eyes to the many great affordable wines the region has to offer, the BIVB has also strategically recognized the public desire to know more about food and wine pairings and has focused a substantial section of their website on the classic food pairings for each region and style of Burgundy to feed the public appetites. Jean highlights the versatility of Burgundy wines for matching with a wide variety of foods; the key being to have fun with the wines of Burgundy, as they are extremely food friendly and provide a wonderful compliment to home cooking. Many of the classic French dishes emerged out of this natural symbiotic relationship between the wines of Burgundy and the food, just think of a great Beef Bourguignon or Coq au Vin!
When exploring the wines of Burgundy, Jean Francois reminds wine lovers not to forget about the sparkling wines of the region, known as Cremant de Bourgogne. These sparkling wines are made in the traditional method and provide an excellent alternative to classic Champagne, often with a much more reasonable price tag. The sale of sparkling wines of Burgundy are growing in the U.S. and foreign markets, where ten years ago all of the sparkling Cremant de Bourgogne would have been consumed within Burgundy and France, today over twenty five percent makes it to the export market. In British Columbia alone over the past three years, sales of Cremant de Bourgogne have increased nearly three hundred and fifty percent. These predominantly Chardonnay based sparkling wines often capitalize on the lesser known white grapes of Burgundy like Aligoté, to provide body, and Pinot Gris, to provide fruit.
Jean Francoise credits the great representation of Burgundy in our B.C. market to the hard work of David Hopgood, one of the head buyers for the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Department. David is a great fan of the wines from Burgundy and it is his personal enthusiasm for the region and their wines that accounts for great representation in our market. Although Burgundy wine production makes up a mere 0.5% of the total world production of wine, we see a far exaggerated share of Burgundies' wines in our market. Furthermore, B.C. wine drinkers enjoy and connect with the Burgundy palate, favouring elegant wines with a great acidic structure, similar to the cold climate wines we know and love locally from the Okanagan Valley, a region climactically and stylistically similar to Burgundy.
I am pleased to hear from Jean Francoise that nearly five thousand growers within Burgundy are certified organic, making up 5% of the regions production totals, with many more non-certified producers practicing sustainable farming methods. In a region so heavily vested on terroir and history, it is standard practice for producers to carefully nourish the vines with many of the standards of good viticulture overlapping nature with the standards of organics. The region has many notable producers at the forefront of the biodynamic movement, most famously Biz-Leroy, who has vineyard holdings throughout the Côte d'Or.
With the string of consistent warm temperatures and solid vintages dating back the past three years, I was interested to hear Jean's take on the role of Global Warming. Although he does not deny the presence of climate change, he advises caution in accrediting success in Burgundy with global warming. First off, we need a solid sample of data from an extended period of around fifty years before any causation can be determined. Secondly, we have to remember that there are many factors outside of vineyard temperatures that can affect the quality of wine produced. What we can be certain of is that evolving technology and winemaking facilities have better equipped winemakers to take advantage of what nature offers.
The take home message needs to be that Burgundy has brilliant wines to offer for all price points and occasions. Never assume that because a given region carries with it such notoriety and acclaim, that it is by connection out of reach. Within Burgundy there are tens of thousands of individual producers, with a wide array of styles and wines to experience. Although the Premier Cru and Grand Cru wines of the Côte d'Or consistently perform well, it is important to remember about the numerous other wines that Burgundy has to offer the world. The next time you are searching for a bottle to enjoy with dinner look to the a red from the Côte Chalonnaise or a white from the Mâconnais. Before reaching for that overplayed bottle of Champagne, look to a lesser known Cremant de Bourgogne and treat yourself to a new wine experience.