It's Wine Blogging Wednesday free-form style here at The Inquiring Vine. Normally one might post on Wednesday, but this month I think I'll adopt the Orson Wells spirit and say that I shall post no wine blog before it's time.
This month for Wine Blogging Wednesday Brooklyn Guy is having us sample and write about wines from the Cotes Chalonnaise and the Maconnais. I’ve tried Macon wines before, but only in tastings. Originally, I grabbed only a bottle of the Macon Chaintre, but later I wanted to see what else I could find. So I browsed through one of my favorite shops and found the Macon Charnay. Interestingly enough while looking around I found the only Sauvignon Blanc made somewhere in, or around, Chablis. I’ll have to follow up on that one later.
Both of these wines are made from Chardonnay, as most are most of the white wine in Burgundy. As is normal with Chardonnay, neither wine was all that aromatic, but what I did pick up was very nice, at least for one of the wines. Both wines also hail from the southern part of the Maconnais. Charnay is west of the town of Macon, and Chaintre is on the southern edge of Pouilly Fuisse.
The first wine, Domaine des Granges Macon Chaintre Chateau de Chaintre 2004, took me a little by surprise since it actually reminded me a bit of a Soave Classico. The palate had peach and some oak and toast, but it also has some minerality and honey. All it needed was that touch almond and I’d have wondered whether this was a bottle of Soave with a little barrel time. The nose also had some lingering impressions of peaches and cream, which I didn’t really pick up on at first. Overall, this was a really nice wine to just sit and drink by itself. I say that mainly because I had day-old chili for dinner, and though both the wine and the chili were mighty tasty, chili and chardonnay don’t exactly make great matches. Hmm, where’s that Riesling?
The second wine I tasted was Jean Manciat Macon Charnay Franclieu 2005. Unfortunately, my sinuses were playing games with me when I opened up the Macon Charnay, so I wasn't able to fully appreciate the wine. No worries though, since it looks like Sonadora over at Wannabe Wino tried the same wine, and quite possibly purchased from the same shop since I've seen her mention the Curious Grape on her blog. What I did get from the wine was apple and a little melon. Of note is that the Franclieu was made in stainless steel vats. It paired very nicely with the chicken Dijon and ravioli that I made for dinner. I’ll have to post a recipe for that later on.
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Burgundy wine
(French: Bourgogne or Vin de Bourgogne) is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France.[1] The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as Burgundies - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from Chardonnay grapes. Red and white wines are also made from other grape varieties, such as Gamay and Aligoté respectively. Small amounts of rosé and sparkling wine are also produced in the region. Chardonnay-dominated Chablis and Gamay-dominated Beaujolais are formally part of Burgundy wine region, but wines from those subregions are usually referred to by their own names rather than as "Burgundy wines".
Burgundy has a higher number of Appellation d'origine contrôlées (AOCs) than any other French region, and is often seen as the most terroir-conscious of the French wine regions. The various Burgundy AOCs are classified from carefully delineated Grand Cru vineyards down to more non-specific regional appellations. The practice of delineating vineyards by their terroir in Burgundy go back to Medieval times, when various monasteries played a key role in developing the Burgundy wine industry. The appellations of Burgundy (not including Chablis).
Overview in the middle, the southern part to the left, and the northern part to the right. The Burgundy region runs from Auxerre in the north down to Mâcon in the south, or down to Lyon if the Beaujolais area is included as part of Burgundy. Chablis, a white wine made from Chardonnay grapes, is produced in the area around Auxerre. Other smaller appellations near to Chablis include Irancy, which produces red wines and Saint-Bris, which produces white wines from Sauvignon Blanc. Some way south of Chablis is the Côte d'Or, where Burgundy's most famous and most expensive wines originate, and where all Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy (except for Chablis Grand Cru) are situated. The Côte d'Or itself is split into two parts: the Côte de Nuits which starts just south of Dijon and runs till Corgoloin, a few kilometers south of the town of Nuits-Saint-Georges, and the Côte de Beaune which starts at Ladoix and ends at Dezize-les-Maranges. The wine-growing part of this area in the heart of Burgundy is just 40 kilometres (25 mi) long, and in most places less than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) wide. The area is made up of tiny villages surrounded by a combination of flat and sloped vineyards on the eastern side of a hilly region, providing some rain and weather shelter from the prevailing westerly winds. T
he best wines - from "Grand Cru" vineyards - of this region are usually grown from the middle and higher part of the slopes, where the vineyards have the most exposure to sunshine and the best drainage, while the "Premier Cru" come from a little less favourably exposed slopes. The relatively ordinary "Village" wines are produced from the flat territory nearer the villages. The Côte de Nuits contains 24 out of the 25 red Grand Cru appellations in Burgundy, while all of the region's white Grand Crus are located in the Côte de Beaune. This is explained by the presence of different soils, which favour Pinot Noir and Chardonnay respectively. Further south is the Côte Chalonnaise, where again a mix of mostly red and white wines are produced, although the appellations found here such as Mercurey, Rully and Givry are less well known than their counterparts in the Côte d'Or. Below the Côte Chalonnaise is the Mâconnais region, known for producing large quantities of easy-drinking and more affordable white wine. Further south again is the Beaujolais region, famous for fruity red wines made from Gamay. Burgundy experiences a continental climate characterized by very cold winters and hot summers. The weather is very unpredictable with rains, hail, and frost all possible around harvest time. Because of this climate, there is a lot of variation between vintages from Burgundy.
You can find more info at: http://www.burgundywinevarieties.com/
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