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Inside Burgundy

  • Jasper on Zoom: Hospices de Beaune
    Jasper on Zoom: Hospices de Beaune
    July 7th, 2020
    Ludivine Griveau, Regisseur (General Manager) at the Hospices de Beaune since 2015, is one of Burgundy’s finest talents. With a wealth of experience and an abundance of stories to share, join Ludivine and Jasper Morris MW as they present six classic wines from this classic icon of the Burgundian wine...
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  • JMIB Live: Reviewing the Côte d’Or Whites
    JMIB Live: Reviewing the Côte d’Or Whites
    July 5th, 2020
    This is No. 4 in the JMIB series covering the vineyards and vignerons of Burgundy in this age of global warming. On this occasion we take a look at the white wine vineyards of the Côte d’Or: Which villages and vineyards are coming more into focus in these hotter vintages?...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: The New Generation in Burgundy
    Jasper on Zoom: The New Generation in Burgundy
    July 4th, 2020
    For so many years the “new generation” of exciting young Burgundians at the helm of their family domaine meant the likes of Dominique Lafon, Etienne Grivot, Ghislaine Barthod, Louis Boillot and co. Now, in turn, it is time for them to be thinking of handing on the baton. We invited...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: The Grand Crus of Chambertin
    Jasper on Zoom: The Grand Crus of Chambertin
    June 30th, 2020
    Chambertin and Clos de Bèze have established their positions at the top of the grand cru hierarchy, but: What of the satellite grands crus? Are they all up to the mark? What are their individual characteristics? Who makes the best in each of them? Aided by six samples from a...
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  • JMIB Live: Great Reds of Côte de Beaune
    JMIB Live: Great Reds of Côte de Beaune
    June 28th, 2020
    Following on from our successful webinar discussing the northern half of the Côte de Nuits, we continue with the great red wine vineyards of the Côte de Beaune, including Corton, Beaune, Pommard and Volnay, while touching on some of the more rarely seen appellations which may be enjoying a boost...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: In conversation with Benjamin Leroux
    Jasper on Zoom: In conversation with Benjamin Leroux
    June 23rd, 2020
    Benjamin Leroux is one of the new generation Burgundian winemakers, who has made a big impression in a relatively short time. Benjamin, the gifted manager/winemaker of Domaine Comte Armand launched his own label with the 2007 vintage and works from a brand-new winery in the centre of Beaune (just off...
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  • JMIB Live: Reviewing the Sweet Spots: Gevrey-Chambertin & the Northern Côte de Nuits
    JMIB Live: Reviewing the Sweet Spots: Gevrey-Chambertin & the Northern Côte de Nuits
    June 23rd, 2020
    This zoom webinar will look at recent developments in each of the villages from Morey-St-Denis to Marsannay, predict which vineyards are the new sweet spots and evaluate the producers to follow: Who has raised their game to a new level? Who might be the ones to watch in the near...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: Bonneau du Martray
    Jasper on Zoom: Bonneau du Martray
    June 18th, 2020
    Myths about Corton-Charlemagne abound, but it is accepted that part of the vineyard did once belong to Charlemagne, King of the Franks, Holy Roman Emperor, reformer of education, father of Western Europe and famously, a wine lover… Almost unique among Burgundy growers for only producing grand cru wines, Domaine Bonneau...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: Biodynamic Burgundy
    Jasper on Zoom: Biodynamic Burgundy
    June 16th, 2020
    Is this the new mainstream? Or are biodynamic practitioners “Out where the buses don’t run”? Certainly a number of cult domaines have espoused this philosophy of grape growing and winemaking. To talk us through how the biodynamic movement has developed in Burgundy, I have selected six wines from among the...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: Outstanding White Burgundy: 6 of The Very Best 1er Crus
    Jasper on Zoom: Outstanding White Burgundy: 6 of The Very Best 1er Crus
    June 9th, 2020
    With only Corton-Charlemagne and the Montrachets in the grand cru bracket, we need to test out the options among the finest 1ers crus which can often be just as rewarding and rather better value for money. We have selected one wine from each of six villages – including a rarity...
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  • JMIB Live: The Premature Oxidation Phenomenon
    JMIB Live: The Premature Oxidation Phenomenon
    June 1st, 2020
    This is the first zoom event being offered under the JMIB banner. It is the first part of a series looking at some of the crucial themes in Burgundy. There are no wines to be tasted except what you choose to open alongside, nor interviews with producers enthusing about the...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: 2015 Red Burgundy: Where Does It Rank in the Hall of Fame?
    Jasper on Zoom: 2015 Red Burgundy: Where Does It Rank in the Hall of Fame?
    May 27th, 2020
    2015 is certainly a candidate for an ‘All Time Great’ rating. But just how good are the red wines of Burgundy in 2015? Do they combine the power of 2005 with the grace of 2010? Do they have the potential to develop extra depth and layers of flavour with age....
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  • Surviving The Ice Saints
    Surviving The Ice Saints
    May 13th, 2020
    May 11th to 13th are known as the Ice Saints in France, a cold snap which theoretically marks the last risk of frost damage in the vineyards. It came a little bit close this year: just 2°C on St Pancras’ Day (12th) at our house, though would have been a touch warmer in...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: With or Without Stems
    Jasper on Zoom: With or Without Stems
    May 13th, 2020
    Red Burgundy: To destem or not to destem, that is the question. The latest in our line of top level Burgundy webinars will review three pairs of wines with each pair showing differing approaches to the complex question of what to put in your fermentation tanks: just the berries or the...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: Chablis
    Jasper on Zoom: Chablis
    May 5th, 2020
    Chablis is a gem, known to many but ignored by many more. Maybe the sea of mass market Chablis – and indeed misrepresentations of Chablis over the years – has hidden from view the joy which this region can bring, in authentic hands. Though we shall discuss Chablis as a...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: The Future of Burgundy
    Jasper on Zoom: The Future of Burgundy
    April 28th, 2020
    Following on from the previous week's The Golden Age of Burgundy, we took a look at what's in store for the future. With the 2018 vintage suggesting for the first time that Global Warming might be causing some real problems in the time ahead if intelligent steps are not taken...
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  • Burgundy Domaine Updates
    Burgundy Domaine Updates
    April 18th, 2020
    Domaine de la Commaraine (Pommard): The Domaine has recently purchased some vineyards in the Côte de Nuits to add to their Monopole of the Clos de la Commaraine in Pommard. About half the new vineyards will stay with the vigneron who is currently farming them, but the Domaine will take...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: The Golden Age of Burgundy
    Jasper on Zoom: The Golden Age of Burgundy
    April 15th, 2020
    Today’s Zoom was a cheerful amble through my 40 year career enjoying the wines of Burgundy. We started with setting the scene – slightly miserable scene – of Burgundy in the 1970s and then progressed by decade through all the changes that have turned an under performing region living on...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: Domaine Roumier Chambolle-Musigny 2009 & 2010
    Jasper on Zoom: Domaine Roumier Chambolle-Musigny 2009 & 2010
    April 10th, 2020
    Round two on the zoom front saw a discussion of vintage styles in Burgundy, especially 2009 and 2010, one warmer vintage and the other with an exquisite balance, as portrayed by Christophe Roumier’s Chambolle-Musigny. Both bottles were gorgeous, with the 2010 sitting up and giving great pleasure already, the 2009...
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  • Jasper on Zoom: Puligny vs Chassagne-Montrachet
    Jasper on Zoom: Puligny vs Chassagne-Montrachet
    April 10th, 2020
    My first experience of this new (to me) format was a discussion of the differences between two of Burgundy’s emblematic appellations for white Burgundy: Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. Armed with a bottle of each, and fighting off the occasional technological challenge, we spent a happy hour talking over everything to do...
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  • Happy Easter
    Happy Easter
    April 10th, 2020
    Happy Easter! Here in Burgundy we have lived through three weeks of gorgeous blue skies and sunshine. But there has been quite a difference. Now it feels like the start of the summer, since the wind moved round to the south a week ago. The two weeks before that were...
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  • JMIB and Covid-19
    JMIB and Covid-19
    March 23rd, 2020
    A day goes by and the situation changes. A week ago the biennial Grands Jours de Bourgogne were supposed to start, but were cancelled, wisely, albeit with only a few days notice. Some individual events still took place and as recently as last Thursday (12th March) I attended my last...
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  • Burgundy in March
    Burgundy in March
    March 23rd, 2020
    The blackthorn is out, and with it the risk of a blackthorn winter: the wind has just moved round to the north and we are expecting morning frosts for the next few days. Will it be the same in the vineyards? And have the vines reached the stage where they...
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  • Burgundy in Riga
    Burgundy in Riga
    March 16th, 2020
    It shows just how quickly events are moving. There was no discussion of cancelling my visit to Riga in Latvia to host a series of Burgundy events in early March, but now scarcely more than a week, later, both Latvia and France are in virtual lockdown. My trip may prove...
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  • Auction preview: Hospices de Beaune 2019 barrel tasting notes
    Auction preview: Hospices de Beaune 2019 barrel tasting notes
    November 13th, 2019
    We are gearing up for action for the 2019 Hospices de Beaune auction – number 159 in all - which takes place in Beaune this Sunday. Feel free to buy a barrel or two, or just enjoy my tasting notes on the 50 different cuvées of this superlative 2019 vintage....
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  • Harvest 2019: Picking begins
    Harvest 2019: Picking begins
    September 17th, 2019
    So what happened to the rain? For once the vignerons were desperately hoping for some instead of praying for it to stay away. At one point the remnants of the Caribbean hurricanes were expected to reach France and Burgundy early in the week. But, the weather has stayed resolutely rainless...
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  • Enjoying Burgundy in Iceland
    Enjoying Burgundy in Iceland
    August 29th, 2019
    I have just returned from a week on the north coast of Iceland where they have magical scenery, magnificent horses and some great natural geothermal hot tubs. But no vineyards, and I did not expect to find much Burgundy in this rural idyll, so I brought a few things with...
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  • Healthy looking vines ahead of summer heat
    Healthy looking vines ahead of summer heat
    July 19th, 2019
    I have just been touring some of the Hospices de Beaune vineyards in Volnay and Meursault with Ludivine Griveau (pictured below), and the good news is that the vines are looking particularly healthy. There has been some pressure from oidium this year, but the organic treatments employed at the Hospices...
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  • Listen: Jasper on his life with Burgundy wine
    Listen: Jasper on his life with Burgundy wine
    July 19th, 2019
    Listen below to Jasper's talk on I'll Drink To That! Wine Podcast giving both an overview of his own career as a wine importer and Burgundy specialist and of the vineyards of Burgundy. As published on Levi Dalton's 'Live opens wine' soundcloud profile 'Jasper goes from north to south along the Côte...
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  • Remembering René Lafon
    Remembering René Lafon
    May 27th, 2019
    Several of those who had been there to share the happy lunch with Becky Wasserman on Saturday 18th alas found themselves again together for the funeral of René Lafon in Meursault a few days later. One of my very first visits was to the Domaine des Comtes Lafon back in...
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  • Honouring Becky Wasserman
    Honouring Becky Wasserman
    May 27th, 2019
    I attended a lunch at the excellent Caves de la Madeleine restaurant in Beaune to honour my neighbour, Becky Wasserman, who has been elected to Decanter Magazine’s Hall of Fame – what was previously known as Man or Woman of the Year – for 2019. Two former honourands, Jancis Robinson...
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  • Frost patrol: Sunday April 14th
    Frost patrol: Sunday April 14th
    April 15th, 2019
    On Friday 5th April Burgundy suffered a frost episode which has certainly caused some damage in spots all the way up from Beaujolais to Chablis. The cool north wind returned over the weekend of 13th/14th April but this time the vignerons were prepared. I set out in the early hours...
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  • Bien boire en Beaujolais
    Bien boire en Beaujolais
    April 11th, 2019
    Every year there is a wonderful tasting of Beaujolais wines mostly from the smaller producers – I think there were about 200 in all (plus 21 guests from other regions) showing across three venues, the Châteaux de Corcelles, Pizay and Ravatys. No way that anybody can get to every stand...
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  • Frost latest
    Frost latest
    April 11th, 2019
    Mixed reports are coming in about the damage from the frost last Friday, 5th April. Caroline Gagnard reports that the lower part of Chassagne-Montrachet, especially Morgeot, was definitely affected. Several growers in Moulin-à-Vent reported damage too. And now the wind has swung round to the north, with temperatures expected to drop...
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  • Frost alarm in Burgundy
    Frost alarm in Burgundy
    April 7th, 2019
    The cold night and early morning of April 5th was at least fairly well forecast, enabling producers to light their chaufferettes and groups of vignerons to set fire to their piles of straw at daybreak. The former warm the air around the foot of the vines, by 1.5 to 2 degrees, while the...
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  • Management changes in Morey-St-Denis
    Management changes in Morey-St-Denis
    March 24th, 2019
    I have mixed feelings about the news from Morey-St-Denis. Happy for Jacques Devauges who recently left Clos de Tart and has now been appointed to manage Clos des Lambrays next door. Sad for Boris Champy who has left after just one year in charge. I have not yet had a...
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  • Wine industry honour for Becky Wasserman
    Wine industry honour for Becky Wasserman
    March 24th, 2019
    One piece of wholly good news is this year’s selection by Decanter for their Hall of Fame (previously known as Man or Woman of the Year). My neighbour, Becky Wasserman is the honoured person and I am thrilled for her: she has done so much to benefit the region as...
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  • Henri-Frédéric Roch’s replacement revealed at DRC
    Henri-Frédéric Roch’s replacement revealed at DRC
    March 24th, 2019
    News from Burgundy: DRC has announced a new co-gérant alongside Aubert de Villaine to replace the late Henri-Frédéric Roch. It is to be Perrine Fenay, née Leroy. And from just down the road, we hear that Jacques Devauges has left Clos de Tart to be replaced by Alessandro Noli, who...
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  • Hospices de Nuits auction results 2019
    Hospices de Nuits auction results 2019
    March 20th, 2019
    The Hospices de Nuits auction on Sunday 10th March, a more local affair than the internationally supported Hospices de Beaune, showed a distinct drop in prices for the much heralded 2018 vintage: down 15.7% in total takings and 20.7% in the average price per barrel. This may very well be...
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  • Generous Burgundy 2017 vintage with consistent and delicious whites
    Generous Burgundy 2017 vintage with consistent and delicious whites
    January 18th, 2019
    2017 is set to be a consistent and delicious vintage for white Burgundy. There are many lovely reds in 2017 offering a lighter, fresher style It is a very uniform vintage, with wines of middling intensity, accessible fruit, enough acidity and lightish tannins, reflecting their individual terroirs well. Sweet spots...
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  • Burgundy 2017 vintage: full report now live
    Burgundy 2017 vintage: full report now live
    January 8th, 2019
    The first key fact about 2017 is the return to normal, even quite generous volumes. This matters in general in terms of the market-place, but it really matters in particular for those vignerons in the Côte de Beaune especially, whose crops were so badly damaged by hail for three years...
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  • Hospices de Beaune 2018
    Hospices de Beaune 2018
    November 23rd, 2018
    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'...
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  • HOSPICES DE BEAUNE 2018
    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...
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  • NOT MAKING LAND ANYMORE?
    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...
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  • GOING, GOING, GONE
    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...
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  • TASTING 2017
    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,...
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  • THE 2018 HARVEST
    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...
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  • Bien Boire en Beaujolais
    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...
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  • Mâconnais thoughts
    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,...
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  • Chablis 2017
    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...
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