by Adam Lechmere – The campaign for Burgundy’s Cote d’Or Climats to join the UNESCO world heritage list has moved closer to its goal.
Climats: centurys-old heritage
Last week the Ministry of Ecology and Culture agreed to officially propose its inclusion in the July 2013 listing.
The term climat is specific to Burgundy, and relates to a named plot of vines most usually dating back centuries, with one of the oldest being Clos de Bèze, which can trace its origins to 640AD.
The Cote d’Or climats stretch between the towns of Dijon and Santenay, just south of Beaune, encompassing vineyards in the Cotes de Nuits and those in the Cotes de Beaune. In total, the submission concerns 50km of land, and 1,247 individual climats.
Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée Conti is president of the association behind the movement, which will see the Burgundy vineyards proposed alongside 25,000-year-old cave paintings in the Grotte Ornée Chauvet-Pont d’Arc.
UNESCO recognition can lead to a 30% increase in tourism, Christelle le Presle, who has been working alongside Villaine, told Decanter.com, Continue reading “decanter.com: Burgundy climats edge closer to UNESCO listing”
by Adam Lechmere – The Loire is the latest wine region to announce that its harvest will be one of the earliest on record this year. Vignerons in Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne have alread cancelled holidays in order to manage harvests that will be starting weeks earlier than normal.
Now the Loire trade body, Vins de Loire, has said early ripening, dry conditions and temperatures well above the seasonal norm mean harvest will begin at the end of August. Continue reading “decanter.com: Loire follows Bordeaux, Burgundy with ‘earliest ever’ harvest”
by Adam Lechmere – The problems of oxidation in older white Burgundy are going – but not gone, Stephen Brook says in the latest issue of Decanter. Burgundy aficionados have long been aware of what Stephen Brook calls ‘random oxidation’ of wines mainly from vintages of the 1990s.
Despite strenuous efforts of winemakers, no conclusive cause has been found, and prominent Burgundy collectors give damning testimonies of the devastating effects or premature oxidation on their cellars.
‘I’m afraid of cellaring white Burgundy,’ Wine Spectator Continue reading “Decanter.com: Oxidation problem makes white Burgundy unreliable”
by Panos Kakaviatos, and Adam Lechmere – In common with Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy are preparing for the earliest harvest ever as record sunlight hours and temperatures have advanced the vegetative cycle.
Most wine regions have traditionally counted on full ripeness coming 100 days after flowering. With modern viticultural techniques this often comes down to around 90 days. Continue reading “Decanter.com: Bordeaux, Burgundy expect 2011 harvest to be earliest ever”
Stuart Todd – Global exports of Burgundy wines rose in both volume and value in the first quarter of the year, according to trade body the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins du Bourgogne (BIVB). Continue reading “FRANCE: Burgundy wine exports rise in Q1″
By Panos Kakaviatos – Christie’s is claiming a world record auction price for a single bottle of red Burgundy. At the auction on 17 May at Christie’s Geneva a private American buyer bid US$123,889 (€87,815) for a single 75cl bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1945.
Other top wines at the auction drew bidders from Asia, Russia and Europe as well as from the United States, Christie’s spokesman Cristiano De Lorenzo told Decanter.com Continue reading “Decanter: Christie’s record for Burgundy bottle”
By: Stuart Todd | 14 January 2011
Burgundy’s wine trade body, the BIVB, is planning to invest EUR1.85m (US$2.5m) annually over the next three years to market the region’s wines in key export markets.
The export drive will focus on the US, UK, Belgium, Japan and China. It is part of a five-year strategy to make Burgundy “a world leader for great wines born out sustainable production methods,” said BIVB president Michel Baldassini today (14 January). Continue reading “FRANCE: Burgundy wine trade body plans marketing drive”
by Stephen Brook – Seven hectares of vineyards have been sold in Meursault in Burgundy, including an outstanding premier cru, in a €12.3m deal.
The sale consists the vineyards and their associated buildings of Domaine Rene Manuel by Burgundian firm Cottin Freres, which bottles and sells mostly under the well-known label of Laboure-Roi.
The domaine includes the Clos des Boucheres (about 1.5ha), which forms part of the premier cru Boucheres, and around 1.3 hectares of the outstanding premier cru Poruzots.
In addition the domaine includes an excellent Village site, the 2.4ha Clos de la Baronne. The entire value of the sale is €12.3m, a press release says, adding that the land was last valued in September 2009 at €6.7m. Continue reading “Decanter: Seven hectares sold in Burgundy”
Source: Stuart Todd -
After 18 months of continuous decline, Burgundy wine exports increased by almost 6% in volume in the final quarter of 2009, according to regional wine trade body BIVB.
Exports in 2009 as a whole decreased by 15.7% in volume on the previous year, to 78.6m bottles. Value exports were down 22.1% to EUR496m (US$663.7m).
However, BIVB pointed to a resurgence in the final three months, particularly in December.
The trade body noted that the fall in exports for the year had been less sharp than originally feared. But, it added: “Burgundy has suffered from its mid to top-of-the-range positioning and its very strong links with the UK and the US.” www.just-drinks.com
James Lawrence – The wines of Meursault, Montrachet and Volnay could disappear forever as increases in temperature destroy the unique terroirs of Burgundy, a new report from Greenpeace says. Published last Friday, the report – the first time Greenpeace has focussed on the effects of climate change on wine – offers a sobering prediction. Continue reading “Greenpeace: climate change could destroy Burgundy”
Graham Tearse in Paris – Burgundy producers are forecasting a ‘magnificent’ 2009 vintage, with an early harvest across the region’s appellations. The vintage will be close to the exceptional quality of 2005, some vignerons are predicting. The first grapes will be picked on 5 September. Continue reading “Burgundy predicts magnificent 2009″
The traces of a Gallo-Roman plantation of vines have been discovered in Gevrey-Chambertin. It is the oldest direct proof of vine-growing in Burgundy. It probably dates from the 1st century AD. This discovery means our history books on Burgundy vines will need revising. For a long time now specialists have dated the appearance of vines in Burgundy to circa 312AD, when a certain Eumenius sent a text describing the Burgundy vineyards to the Continue reading “HISTORY: A GALLO-ROMAN VINE DISCOVERED IN GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN!”
The 2008 Burgundy harvest is down 5.3 % on the 2007 harvest, and 4.4% against the average of the past five years. It amounts to the equivalent of 193 million bottles for a virtually unchanged production area (-0.2 %) of 27,626 hectares. Continue reading “2008 BURGUNDY HARVEST DOWN 5 %”
Exports of Burgundy wines have risen sharply since mid-2005. Although 2008 did not start as strongly as 2007, the 2007/2008 sales campaign is still the second best campaign carried out in Burgundy (after 2006/2007) thanks to an excellent year-end in 2007. Continue reading “EXPORTS: HOLDING UP WELL DESPITE THE CRISIS”
Extraordinary growth in export sales, sustained sales from wine growers to traders, Burgundy has beaten all its records for the last two campaigns. Sales activity reached such a level that the region had clearly Continue reading “MARKETS & DEVELOPMENT OF BURGUNDY WINES: BACK TO NORMALITY IN A GLOOMY GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT”
The first grapes of the 2008 vintage were picked around 20 September in Burgundy under glorious sunshine, but the real harvesting began around 25 September. Continue reading “BURGUNDY 2008 VINTAGE”
Fine, cold and dry: Burgundy harvest begins in sunny weather
Beaune, September 23rd 2008
For some years now, Burgundy grapes have been harvested in early September. This year Continue reading “Burgundy harvest begins in sunny weather”
by Sophie Kevany
Burgundy, the French region that exports the largest percentage of its wines, had a record-breaking year in 2007, but has been hit by dollar weakness in the first part of 2008. Continue reading “Burgundy value rises despite economic slowdown”
