What's your favorite white Burgundy?

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Cotes de Beaune

Corton-Charlemagne

Corton-Charlemagne is a rich, powerful wine;

those of Meursault are softer, less showy but with great depth and complexity, and the various Montrachets have a luscious concentration of flavor that makes them the most prized of all.

Grand Cru

Beware of mold. My wife is allergic

 

I asked a buddy of mine that owns & operates dam* good downtown wine bar about white Burgundies. His reply made me wonder if renaming the wine was just a domestic thing or did other wine-growing regions outside of France also adopt the new name?:

Burgundy is the exact same as 'Pinot Noir' here in America. But because Robert Mondavi introduced Americans to "Hearty Burgundy" in the 1980s and it was absolute *crap*, we got a bad connotation when we heard the word 'burgundy'. So when it was reintroduced to America several years ago via the movie "Sideways', they could not call it Burgundy. Some smart person said, 'hey, we can't call it by that name, what'll we do?. What is the (grape) varietal that it's composed of?" The answer was Pinot Noir. So now that's a best seller. The white version of this wine is......white burgundy.

The 'white' part of its nomenclature is obtained by simply not letting the juice have extended contact with the dark red skins. ALL grapes (OK, there's one tiny exception) have clear (white) pulp. You can make a white or a red wine from any red skinned grape depending upon the length of time the juice is in contact with the dark skin.


Steven
#5107 330 America 1964.
#2444 246GT 1973.
1959 Fiat Jolly.

 

Hello,
Ooops, I wasn't correct about my explanation that my friend, Kevin, posted.

I forgot that 'white' burgundy is made from the Chardonnay - not a Pinot Noir - grape. That shows how specific and detailed the French are about their grapes. You'd think that a white burgundy and a red burgundy would only differ by the amount of time that the juice has in contact with their skins - that's what differentiates a red from a white wine - but the French create their own rules for winemaking!

To try to make up for my mistake, I'll tell you a bit of fun trivia: All Chardonnay wines and all Pinot Noir wines are bottled in a specifically shaped bottle - a Burgundy Bottle - that has more rounded shoulders than the Bordeaux bottle. That is, if the wine manufacturer is 'playing by the rules'. All French bottlers do play by the rules, some in California and other countries do not. That is, if you have a slanted shouldered bottle (a Burgundy bottle), and the wine in this bottle is white, it MUST be a wine from the chardonnay grape. If that same bottle has red wine in it, it MUST have wine from a Pinot Noir grape.

Steven

 

It's your wedding, so you wear whatever the heck you want to! It's not like you get a grade, just do what makes the day special for you and your husband. Some people might give you some grief about not being traditional, but it's not their party, is it? I think black, burgundy and cream sounds classy.




Pardon That Vine

 

Corton Charlemagne with out a doubt... buttery rich just the best.

after that try a Montechet ( sp? ) le Montrecht very good as well... both are pricy

 

While Sideways was a great movie... Pinot Noir has always been a very subtle grape...and the one most wine guys like... White Burgandy is usually made predominately with Chardonnay grapes, some do get blended with Some others, but most of the great ones are all Chardonnay.

While Chardonnay has a bad rap here in the usa, French Chardonnay from burgany is usually less woody, much more toasty, and rich... some fruit as well. Montrachet and Corton Charlemagne are up there among the best, while Mersault and Pulingy Montrachet are also well regarded... all are light and crisp. Some also like Chablis as well which is from the very northern - western tip of the burgandy valley... unfortunately Burgandy wines do - did get a bad rep from jug wine made in California and NY in the 60s - 70's... it has ALWAYS been well regarded by wine enthusiast... and is much older than the Bordeaux chateaus... and reguarlly command higher prices too...