Question: What is Nielluccio?

Answer: It’s a red grape variety that grows well in dry, hot, sunny regions and is widely planted on the French island of Corsica. Related to the Italian variety of Sangiovese. Another important grape in Corsica is Sciaccarello (Mammolo) which also produces herbal reds & roses. Growing in popularity. Check these out.

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One of the most frequent questions your scribe receives on our Wednesday weekly feature of Ask Sid is “What are the best red Burgundy values? ” My usual answer over the years has been to look for the 3 key factors of Vintage, Producer, and Region. In the past it was recommending the 2005 (also 2009/2010/2015) Vintage from a quality Producer from AC village sites. Of course less expensive regions with Premier Crus also come to mind like Savigny-Les-Beaune (especially La Dominode). All of this came back to me last week while enjoying at home a roasted pheasant dish paired with a bottle of 2005 GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN DOMAINE ALAIN JEANNIARD. This was a brilliant match as waiting nearly 20 years for the powerful structured tannins of 2005 to melt away successfully left a stunning bouquet with round silky textures. A wise investment. Previously divine matching with fresh quail. Bought also their more forwardly 2006 and the two vintages of Morey-Saint-Denis AC as well all of which provided enjoyable earlier drinking pleasures. The producer Alain Jeanniard made an initial name for himself from 2000-2006 with viticulture for the Hospices de Beaune wines in Clos de la Roche & Mazis-Chambertin – and his own family Domaine. Smart purchases that with consumer patience brought wonderful satisfaction at a bargain price.

What about red Burgundy purchases today? IMHO the same principles apply but because of the increased prices of all Burgundy – including popular AC village wines – it is necessary to go further afield. Santenay and Maranges have become more popular areas. My favs are the regions that previously were a bit too cool to fully ripen but now are thriving with global warming. Best examples are the adjacent neighbours of coveted Clos St. Jacques: Lavaux St. Jacques to the West & Les Cazetiers to the East. Even Estournelles, Poissenot, and Les Veroilles further West & Combe aux Moines, Les Goulots, and Champeaux further East now are worth exploring. My go to purchases have been Hautes-Cotes de Nuits (and Cotes de Nuits-Village) for good value. A wine like 2019 BOURGOGNE ROUGE HAUTES COTES DE NUITS AU VALLON DOMAINE MICHEL GROS fills the bill. A big fan of the ageability of the 2019 reds and this Domaine pioneered these regions with early eighties plantings at higher elevations including Monopole Fontaine Saint Martin. Since 2015 they have also produced Au Vallon from the top of this formerly cooler site on top of the Cote d’Or escarpment. Domaine Alain Jeanniard and other producers have wines from this expanding region. These currently are the kind of wines to seek out for the best quality for the price value with some aging ability to resemble the higher priced Grand & Premier Crus – and now Village ACs. Good luck in your shopping!

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Question: I am buying some newer releases of Gevrey-Chambertin and would like to know your preferred recent vintage recommendations.

Answer: This is a similar question to the one I answered here at Ask Sid on June 12th. I stated that “Your scribe is bullish on the 2019 vintage for red Burgundy.” There is an interesting current review by Frederic Weber of Bouchard Pere on the four vintages of their Gevrey-Chambertin from 2017 to 2020 referenced below. He likes all of them for different reasons. Perhaps buy some bottles of each vintage and do your own comparison. Most educational.

Gevrey-Chambertin 2017

Sourced from vines across the appellation, Gevrey-Chambertin is considered one of Burgundy’s top villages for Pinot Noir.

Gevrey’s diverse soils create a textured, firm, rich wine that leads with intense floral aromas, with hints of spice and earthy tones.

2017 was a compelling vintage in a great drinking window now, with silky tannins and bright acidity – a truly elegant wine.

Gevrey-Chambertin 2018

Despite history in Côte de Beaune, Bouchard has produced sought-after Pinots from Gevrey-Chambertin for decades!

Spectacular vintage perfect for long cellaring – warm conditions led to a concentrated fruit profile balanced with great acidity, firm tannins.

Flavors of ripe cherry, red berries, and forest floor intertwine into a full, rustic vintage that can age for over 20 years.

Gevrey-Chambertin 2019

A personal favorite vintage of Bouchard’s cellar master Frédéric Weber – a vintage of “outstanding quality, similar to 1949.”

Bouchard crafts stunning wines from Gevrey-Chambertin, reflecting the bold, earthy, savory components classic to Gevrey-Chambertin.

Textbook representation of appellation – dark berries, pine, intense floral aromatics, vibrant acidity. A great vintage for long aging potential.

Gevrey-Chambertin 2020

One of Burgundy’s most-collected appellations – Gevrey produces wines of incredible character, ageability, and concentration.

Parcels across Gevrey produce a layered, rich wine of immense structure and vibrant fruit that will develop for decades after release.

2020 was a powerful, exceptional vintage in Gevrey-Chambertin. Fruit-forward, firm intensity, great acidity. A wine that over-delivers!

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White Burgundy is well liked and admired by your scribe. It covers a wide area from northerly Chablis to southern Maconnais with the heart of the most expensive in the region being the Cote de Beaune. On this Blog we often have discussed in detail my particular favs of Chablis Les Clos, Meursault Perrieres, and Chevalier Montrachet. Also, I am a big admirer as well of Corton Charlemagne, a wine that truly captures power with a stony acidity balance which can age spectacularly. Fortunate to taste many very old ones especially from the late 1920s (before pre-mox vintages) and though are quite variable as expected have provided some of the greatest complex white Burgundy ever experienced. However, today it is even more risky to wait decades to open them.

Corton Charlemagne with that famous hill has many producers led by the Top Five of Louis Latour (10+ hectares), Bonneau du Martray (6 1/2), Bouchard Pere (nearly 4), Domaine Rapet (3+) and Romanee-Conti (nearly 3). One of the smaller owners we cherish is Tollot-Beaut based in Chorey-Les-Beaune but with a tiny .24 hectares of Corton-Charlemagne vines in east facing Les Renardes planted on chalky marl back in 1956. During the seventies and eighties during many visits to Burgundy we usually stayed in a Gite de France rental nearly next door to this winery and visited them several times. Always impressed by the dedicated quality wines of the Tollot family (back to 1880), the old historic cellars, and the limited production of only one or two barrique Bourgogne (now more like 5 and aged 18 months in 60% new oak) of their Corton-Charlemagne. The C-C was not available in Canada but was discovered first by Frank Schoonmaker for export to the USA and discovered by us in Portland Oregon through the Al Giusti Wine Merchant. Enjoyed many younger vintages showing textbook appellation signatures of lively tension filled acidity balance with a unique terroir. Especially found that the 1979 & 1985 vintages aged well over time and we opened our last bottle of each last week. First night was the elegant 1979 CORTON-CHARLEMAGNE TOLLOT-BEAUT that displayed a deep golden colour with rich sweet flavours paired with a tomato lasagna dish. Enjoyable but a maderizing bottle that didn’t have enough fruit remaining that was so prominent in the earlier ones. Should have opened years ago when singing at its best.

Second night was 1985 CORTON-CHARLEMAGNE TOLLOT-BEAUT matched with a wild Alaska Sockeye salmon that was sensational. Reminiscenced back to my days as Chair of the IWFS Wines Committee with some of our most spirited debates ever among John Avery, Michael Broadbent, Clive Coates, and myself about the merits of 1986 vs 1985 white Burgundy ratings. I supported 1985 ripe creamy structured staying power (1985 Meursault Charmes Francois Jobard) while 1986 less clean, often heavy with much botrytis (memories of Sauternes-like 1986 Meursault Poruzot Francois Jobard). This 1985 C-C T-B is still fresh enough fruit fleshy from the naturally higher acidity of the site yet marvellously mature smooth very complex bouquet and textured flavours. Best white Burgundy we have tasted so far this year. Sublime purity. That’s what aged white Burgundy is all about! Hope you have had or will have this experience! Good luck.

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Question: Are wineries presently facing unusual financial pressures?

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