Bordeaux and Burgundy are two titans of the wine world vying for the crown of greatest wine region in the world. The great Australian winemaker Brian Croser once said if grape varieties were ice cream flavours, cabernet sauvignon, originating in Bordeaux, would be chocolate, and chardonnay, born in Burgundy would be vanilla. Despite their prestigious reputations, Bordeaux, the world’s biggest fine wine region, can produce wonderful wines from as little as £7 a bottle rising to well over £500. Burgundy is smaller, with less economies of scale, and small amounts of each wine made, which affects demand and small supply, so prices start a bit higher at say £12 and rise to £500 plus or more.
Like Oxford and Cambridge universities, these wine regions both achieve greatness but do it in different ways and have their distinct personalities. Bordeaux classed the châteaux, or brand, Burgundy the land. As a region, Bordeaux is much bigger than Burgundy, and its properties tend to be bigger too. Some Médoc properties are 50-80 hectares or more. Most make just one or two wines. A well-sized Burgundy domaine would be 8-14ha and may make ten or more wines, so there is very little of each wine made.
Oil painting vs watercolour
Both red and white Bordeaux is an assemblage, or blend, made from different grape varieties and vineyards. Burgundy is made from single vineyards and is monocépage, only pinot noir for reds and chardonnay for whites. The ability to blend means Bordeaux wines are more like oil paintings. They are works in progress, with a longer, more protracted harvest meaning different picking dates, different vats and differing proportions of grape varieties to choose from. All this allows for subtle adaptations to the blend according to the vintage. Burgundy is more of a watercolour with often just one picking date, one vineyard and one variety so can vary more depending on choice of date of harvest.
In Bordeaux different varieties thrive on different soils. Cabernet sauvignon only used to ripen on the warm gravel soils in the Graves and Médoc in the region’s left bank, while early-ripening merlot suited colder clay soils of Entre-Deux-Mers and Pomerol on the right bank. Cabernet franc and merlot did well on the limestone plateaux of Saint Emilion. In Burgundy, the soil is a blend of varying proportions of limestone and clay. A preponderance of clay suits pinot nor, while chardonnay excels on limestone-dominated soils.
Corporate giants vs the family firm?
Owners tend to be more hands off in Bordeaux, employing gifted professionals to look after the vineyard and make the wine. Often a consultant oversees the final blends. So, it’s the work of a professional team. The wines are more consistent than in Burgundy as there is less risk taking.
In Burgundy, domaines are or operate like family firms, with the owner and a couple of workers doing all the work. The wines often reflect the vision of the owner. The skill is to keep competent members of the family in control. Style and quality can alter as the domaine is passed down the generations and are often one person's vision.
One can reasonably ask why there is so little cheap red Burgundy compared to Bordeaux’s great offer of reasonably priced wines. It’s because cabernet sauvignon makes good wines at a variety of yields, say 40-80hl/ha, as do most varieties including chardonnay, which in the Mâconnais produces plentiful supplies. But pinot noir’s quality falls off a cliff over 45-50hl/ha. This is why there is very little pinot noir from Burgundy under £26 a bottle, as well as small amounts produced together with continued with very high demand, but lots of excellent Bordeaux petits châteaux below £10 and £20, partly aided by falling demand.
