Burgundy Uncorked: A Wine Lover's Odyssey

I am not going to set forth a litany of tales of woe from either side – that would take volumes – other than to give you one small example. I have a receipt from a wine auction held back in the 1990s, for a bottle of 1983 DRC Romanee-Conti. The price? $110. Today, Wine-Searcher suggests that the cheapest price for a bottle of this wine, anywhere in the world, is around $33,000. And no, sadly it is long gone.

As are those days. Today, the best we can hope is to try some of the great Burgundian wines at various organised tastings, perhaps even pick up a bottle or two of the really good stuff if stock is available (a lot of the best never even makes retail shelves) and pockets are deep enough, or more likely, to seek out emerging producers, often from vineyard regions that were once almost ignored. Even then, their top wines are likely to sell for many hundreds of dollars. You want a decent bottle of Burgundy for realistic money? You have to do your research and tasting. Although, perhaps the best strategy of all is to have generous friends with great cellars stocked with Grand Cru Burgundies.

Back to reality, the search for top Burgs at realistic prices is a tough one, but more than worthwhile.

One producer making a mark in Australia is Lignier-Michelot, based in Morey-St-Denis, where the family own 10.5 hectares of the better vineyards, as well as vineyards in other appellations. They have been making their own wines since 1999, although they have been in the Village for centuries. The winemaker is Virgile Lignier and their top wines, from Grand and Premier Crus, have been impressing the critics. Most of his wines are made in a similar manner, usually with high percentages of whole bunch fermentation and around 30% new oak, so in each case, it is the terroir that is to the fore.

Those looking to see what reasonably priced (yes, but it is all relative) Burgundy is looking like these days, it is definitely worth having a look at a couple of Lignier-Michelot’s offerings.

Their Morey-Saint-Denis Vieilles Vignes 2016 ($150) is full of red fruit notes, smoked meats, dry herbs and warm earth. The Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée Bertin 2015 ($190) is a step up, with forest floor, animal skins and roast meat notes.