Records tumbled at last Sunday’s Hospices de Beaune 2018 wine auction, with just over €14m of 2018 Burgundy passing under the hammer – money which will be used to fund the Hospital and its associated good works in the months and years to come. ‘Great Wines for a Great Cause’ is the motto. Prices reached…
Inside Burgundy
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HOSPICES DE BEAUNE 2018 November 1st, 2018
The Hospices de Beaune Auction is coming up on the 3rd Sunday of November as ever, which falls on the 18th this year. I have just spent a fascinating long week in Asia – every day a new city – and it is clear there is going to be a great deal of interest. I…
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NOT MAKING LAND ANYMORE? November 1st, 2018
It has been a truism for a while that there’s no more vineyard land to be had in Burgundy. However several new initiatives suggest that a few more hectares may become available for certain appellations. There is a plan to promote 80ha of Bourgogne vines in Couchey, Marsannay and Chenove to AOC Marsannay and a…
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GOING, GOING, GONE November 1st, 2018
I am slightly sceptical of the idea that Burgundy is disappearing into foreign hands. It is true there have been some very high–profile cases of late, notably Clos de Tart and Domaine Bonneau du Martray, where in each case some family members would have preferred not to sell. The fame of the domaines has put these…
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TASTING 2017 November 1st, 2018
First we are all caught up in the current harvest, then everybody’s attention turns to tasting the previous vintage in barrel, ready for the flurry of Opening Offers in January. It is a tough call to cram in tastings at all the key domaines while sniffing out some new names, in the two short (or…
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THE 2018 HARVEST November 1st, 2018
Certain vintages get a reputation for greatness almost before they are picked and 2018 looks like joining that elite group. The frost risk was minimal after two tricky years, though a deluge of rain in the spring caused worries in the first part of the season. However apart from a few storms in the first…
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Bien Boire en Beaujolais May 30th, 2018
Bien Boire en Beaujolais This wine tasting event happens every year in April, uniting five groups of Beaujolais producers, individual domaines with a certain bias towards the wild side – I tend to be one of the few clean-shaven males in the room. It is a great opportunity to catch up with the new vintage…
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Mâconnais thoughts May 30th, 2018
For many years it has frustrated me that Burgundy enthusiasts don’t show a little more love to the wines of the Mâconnais. Smart restaurants may have a page of different wines from Chablis and then a token Mâcon Villages. There is so much more going on here at the moment, not just because a few…
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Chablis 2017 May 30th, 2018
Whereas the Côte d’Or more or less escaped the frost in 2017, more northerly Chablis suffered colder temperatures in April and noticeably more damage. The worst hit sectors were the northern part of Chablis, around Lignorelles and Maligny, and then the top vineyards, premier and grand cru, on the Right Bank. These latter may well…
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Grands Jours de Bourgogne 2018 Highlights March 23rd, 2018
Burgundy welcomed many thousand visitors during the week beginning 12th March for the 14thedition of the Grands Jours de Bourgogne. I have attended pretty much every day of all those events since the first edition in 1992, This year’s version was probably the most stimulating to date, and allowing for inevitable minor inconveniences, the best…
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January Wines February 1st, 2018
Friday 5th January Dinner at la Tour d’Argent featuring a range of Dujac wines between 1972 and 1990. Best wines at each level? Village Morey 1978, 1er cru Gevrey-Chambertin Combottes 1990 and Grand Cru Bonnes Mares 1972. There were also some sublime white wines of which Pierre Morey’s 1979 Meursault Charmes won pride of place….
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Mature Volnay October 30th, 2017
I have just returned from a 10 day visit promoting the Hospices de Beaune wines in various markets in Asia. Before the main work got underway I caught up with some old friends to enjoy a Volnay dinner. I have been singing the praises of Volnay for many years, and this event, based mainly around…
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Burgundy 2016: Overview January 2nd, 2017
Review of the 2016 Vintage in the Côte d’Or What to Expect from this Report My aim is to give a relatively comprehensive guide to the 2016 vintage in Burgundy. I have visited around 100 producers and completed notes on around 1350 wines. In future years I hope to add in further producers, a mix…
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