A "Where-ness" of Wine: Burgundy

by Mark Middlebrook

Burgundy, as you probably know, is part of France - but it could've turned out there other way around. During the Middle Ages, Burgundy (or "Bourgogne" in French) was a separate kingdom, and the Dukes of Burgundy held sway over a rich and powerful state that extended from the Netherlands almost to southern France. Only at the end of the 15th century did the French kings defeat the Burgundian forces and absorb the kingdom into France.

I recite this little piece of history because it's still discernable in some senses - certainly in the senses of smell and taste. Despite the political disappearance of Burgundy as a separate state, it lives on as the kingdom of superlative wine and food. In a country chock full of great regional cuisine and wines, Burgundy for many of us continues to reign supreme. It simply defines what luscious, noble, geographically-specific wine is all about.

Burgundy means red wines made from 100% Pinot Noir and white wines from 100% Chardonnay. The Burgundians grow a few other grape varieties on less-favored sites, but the wines made therefrom are obscurities, especially outside of France. When people talk about "red Burgundy" (or "Bourgogne rouge"), they mean Pinot Noir, and when they say "white Burgundy" ("Bourgogne blanc"), they mean Chardonnay.

Roast turkey goes well with lots of red and white wines. It's the traditional accompaniments that make Thanksgiving Day wine matching a job fraught with peril. Most Thanksgiving meals include dishes with a wide range of sweetness, bitterness, and acidity. Cranberry sauce in particular is a wine minefield. Popular varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon fight with many of the flavors in a traditional Thanksgiving meal. In general, you want to avoid wines that are especially dry or especially tannic.

Our favorite all-purpose Thanksgiving wines are white wines from Alsace and Pinot Noir from Burgundy.

Alsatian Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, and other varieties have enough richness and weight to stand up to that riot of flavors on your plate. The spicy notes in these wines complement turkey and other slightly gamy, woodsy flavors. Alsatian wines aren't bone-dry, but they don't come across as sweet, either - most have just a touch of residual sugar to balance their lively acidity. The result is a wine that doesn't taste completely flat next to dishes with some sweetness and that remains bracing and fresh on the palate.

Pinot Noir is a great Thanksgiving wine because its lighter body complements fowl and its moderate tannins minimize conflict with other parts of the meal. While many producers in Oregon, California, New Zealand, and Australia now make delicious Pinot Noirs, red Burgundy remains the Pinot Noir benchmark, especially as a food wine. (That's in part because the wine-with-food tradition is centuries older in France.) The earthy, "mushroom-and-forest-floor" qualities of red Burgundy highlight those woodsy food flavors. Maybe if those original pilgrims had come from Burgundy instead of England, they would have brought their wine with them.

Without further ado, here's a selection of all-purpose Thanksgiving wines.

Alsatian Whites:

2000 Albert Boxler Edelzwicker Réserve ($13.99): "Edelz-what?!", you ask? Well, the name means "noble blend", but in Alsace it refers to an everyday wine made from blended grapes. In the hands of a good producer like Boxler, Edelzwicker becomes a delicious quaffer. Honey, chalk, and spice aromas anticipate capacious fruity-spicy-minerally flavors and a nice, zingy finish. It works great as an aperitif, as well as with all that stuff on your Turkey Day plate. As a bonus, the bottle has one of those "drawing of a quaint Alsatian village and impossibly scroll-y script" labels that will look cool on your Thanksgiving table.

2000 Dirler Gewürztraminer ($20.00): If you like that rich, exotic, almost unctuous quality of Gewürtztraminer, then this is your wine. "Gewürtz" means "spice" in German, and there's nothing shy about this spice-meister. All of those exotic fruit and wildflower aromas fairly fly out of the glass (allergy sufferers, consider yourself forewarned). The palate is equally dense, yet the wine remains balanced and demonstrates real breed. If this wine doesn't stand up to your menu, then nothing will.

Red Burgundies:

2000 Manciat-Poncet Mâcon Rouge ($12.99): Paul C. likes to call it "the red wine that you can drink with foods that go with white wine". Turkey swings both ways, so you're covered in any case. Mâcon Rouge is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay grapes. Think Burgundy earthiness and Beaujolais brightness, all rolled into one beautiful, balanced bottle of wine. Here's something to pour when the fruity luster of Beaujolais Nouveau begins to pale. Mâcon Rouge is equally fun, but it's serious wine, too.

2000 Chevalier Bourgogne ($17.00): The moment we first smelled this wine, all of us had the same reaction: "Wow, this is good!" Ordinary Bourgogne rouge is often serviceable but lacking in character. This one, on the other hand, exhibits some real personality. There's dark fruit, some characteristically Burgundian earthiness, and just enough smokiness to lend depth (but not enough to get in the way of the fruit). On the palate, it's supple and suave - friendly enough for fruity Pinot lovers and elegant enough for those who want a little more.

2000 Fery-Meunier Savigny-lès-Beaune ($25.00): Savigny-lès-Beaune sits just north of the city of Beaune in the Côte de Beaune and produces elegant, lighter red Burgundies. Fery-Meunier's version is fleshy and generous. It's easy to like, but more than just skin-deep.

1999 Charlopin-Poruzots Fixin ($28.00): A beguiling, densely fruity nose hints at the exuberant, full-bodied charm of this wine from the Fixin village in the northern end of the Côte de Nuit. And if you serve several bottles on Thanksgiving, you can have turkey with all the Fixins....

1999 Nicolas Potel Beaune 1er Cru 'Les Epenotes' ($35.00): The Beaune appellation lies just west of the city of the same name. Like Savigny-lès-Beaune to the north, Beaune generally produces lively but gentle wines that speak of red fruits and a hint of earth. Les Epenotes vineyard, however, sits next door to the Pommard appellation, which produces heftier wines. The result is a wine that's powerful but elegant, with enough tannin to play off any meat on your holiday table.

2000 Albert Morot Beaune-Teurons 1er Cru ($38.00): Morot is a great Beaune producer, and this premier cru from Les Teurons vineyard is one of his best wines. Lovely perfume, delicacy, weight, elegance, breed, length - this wine is the complete package.

It's beginning to look a lot like the holidays, which means that even though the days are getting shorter there is more to get done. It's the time of year when the best things to have around are the things that are simple, easy, and comforting. You want something to drink with pizza after a long day at work. You need a glass of wine to take the edge off shopping. You've spent too much time and money already futzing over the big meal, and you don't want to think about what goes with your aunt's green bean casserole. You just want something that tastes good and that's easy to drink. You're in luck; at PMW we have a selection of wines from Beaujolais that are as easy and fun as they are satisfying and delicious.

Beaujolais is in eastern France. Technically it resides in the Rhône departement, but spiritually and stylistically, it has more to do with its nearest neighbor to the north - Burgundy. Beaujolais proper lies north of Lyon (the traditional gastronomical center of France) near the convergence of the Rhone and Saône rivers. The rolling green hills are home to one of the largest land areas devoted almost entirely to a single grape variety: Gamay. Through hundreds of years of experimentation, Beaujolais winegrowers discovered that the Gamay grape is ideally suited to the area's sandy clay soil. In the right hands, Gamay produces fresh, vibrant, fruity wines that are as easy to match with food as they are to drink

The top of the region, both geographically and qualitatively, are the Crus. There are ten villages, with names like Morgon, Chiroubles, and Moulin-à-Vent, whose vineyards have distinguished themselves over time for making the most distinctive wines. These ten Crus (literally "growths") all reside in the northern part of the region, some of them only kilometers from the farthest southern vineyards of Burgundy's Mâconnais. At their best, Cru Beaujolais balance drinkability with rewarding complexity.

There is of course another important wine produced in Beaujolais: Nouveau. The idea is that nouveau is the first wine of the new vintage, celebrating the harvest and the fruit of everyone's labors. It's also conveniently a way for winemakers to sell a bunch of wine quickly without any of the cellaring and ageing of their regular production wines. The wines are made using a technique (carbonic maceration) that allows a significant portion of the juice to ferment inside the skins of the fruit. The resulting wine is very fresh and grapey, with light color and mild tannins. The wines are released every year, by law, on the third Thursday of November.

All wines from Beaujolais have a few things in common: light to medium body, low tannin, and pleasing acidity. They also tend to be very good wines with food. Cru wines like the 2000 Dominique Piron Morgon ($15.00), and the 2001 Jean-Marc Burgaud Régnié ($12.99) show off the individual characters of their crus - the Morgon with its firm meatiness and the Régnié with its clean, stony notes. Both are great wines to serve with medium-bodied flavors like pork and tomato based dishes (nothing too spicy though). Trénel is consistently one of our favorite producers, and his 2001 Beaujolais Villages ($9.99) is an excellent all-purpose wine; its bright strawberry and red cherry notes make it fun for parties but also the ideal match for salmon and chicken. Nouveau's release a week before Thanksgiving is a happy coincidence for us here in the States. The fruity, low-alcohol wines are a no-brainer on the table with your turkey and stuffing, and they won't scare off your non-wine-drinking relatives. Dominique Piron and Trénel both make nouveaus that are true to the style, yet still taste like wine.

Whichever you choose, these wines are eager to please. During these busy times, it's nice to have something that satisfies without taxing your already weary mind. Save the introspective wines for special meals with your closest friends and let the simple charms of these great Beaujolais keep your spirits up for the holidays to come.

This year's Thanksgiving will probably be quite different from last year's, but will have many of the same components - namely my grandmother's sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows, a few bottles of Burgundy, a few bottles of German Riesling, and a turkey large enough to have a name.

I don't think of myself as a wine and food guy per se, and by this I mean that I am not obsessed with the perfect match of each dish with each wine. I do, however, love the synergy when a particular wine meshes seamlessly with a particular dish. Who wouldn't?

So this year, as is true every year, the crowd will be slightly different, and the dishes will vary somewhat from last year's. The idea, however, will most certainly be the same: A group of family, friends, and acquaintances gathered around a table (or two) sharing the same foods, the same wines, and telling stories that most likely implicate or incriminate those seated within earshot.

This year my wife, Susanne, and I will host the meal (which is not always the case) and likely serve most of the wine (which is usually the case). We will start with some non-vintage Champagne, something crisp and bright to waken the palate, say a bottle of Agrapart ($25.00) followed by a bottle of Pierre Peters ($34.00). These are both Blanc de Blancs, meaning they are made exclusively with Chardonnay grapes. Beautiful. Try these sparklers with a small piece of Explorateur or triple crème Brie. Wow! Even if you decide to skip the cheese interlude, these Champagnes are great conversation-enhancers as you're standing around waiting for the meal to begin.

Now you may have noticed that, so far, no red wines have been opened. Well to resolve this temporary predicament, we will open a red Burgundy not long after the white Burgundies (unless they are already gone?). We'll pour some into our glasses, swirl it a bit and Voilà - we now have a terrific dark meat wine, not to mention the perfect mushroom stuffing wine. Really.

So, What Red Burgundies, you ask? Well the first wines that come to mind are the bright, expressive 1999s, something from Charlopin-Parizot, say, his Vosne-Romanee ($40.00). What a wine - silky and rich while maintaining that Pinot Noir-defining elegance. For best results, let this bottle open up and relax in the glass for an hour or so before drinking it.

And finally to Germany and the Noble Rieslings therein. We'll start with a Trocken (dry) wine to re-tune and brighten our palates. A Spätlese Trocken would be perfect. Something from Muller-Catoir will be ideal - like the 2000 Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Kabinett ($33) or the 2000 Haardter Herrenletten Kabinett ($29). Either will be a revelation in wine. This wine has tremendous body with rich, complex flavors, and racing acidity, but it finishes dry as a drum.

The next (and possibly last) bottle will be a Spätlese from the 1999 or 2000 vintage, as they are both unctuous vintages for Riesling and will match well with the foods of Thanksgiving. There are many fine examples from an equally wide array of producers, so we will have our choice. Two current favorites are the 1999 Koehler-Ruprecht Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling Spätlese ($26.00) and 2000 Dönhoff Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese ($39.00). This style of wine also works well with pumpkin or apple pie.

A crisp, clean, simple Chablis is a nice starter and great with the bird. 2001 Domaine Le Verger Chablis Cuvée Vieilles Vignes is just the ticket at $13.99, with some of that limestony Chablis minerality and a kiss of oak to make things interesting. If you want something with real Chablis class, try the 2000 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis 1er Cru 'Côte de Jouan' ($22) - it's pure and clean and a great deal in a premier cru wine.

If you can't decide between white and red, why not think pink, such as the 2001 Château La Rouvière Bandol Rosé ($20.00). It's pink and it's good - what more need we say?

Nebbiolo, the noble grape of Piemonte's Barolo and Barbaresco, finds its way into simpler, lighter, and cheaper red wines that will cozy right up to your Thanksgiving repast. 2001 Mauro Molino Nebbiolo Langhe ($16.00) showcases the pretty, floral side of Nebbiolo. Its strawberry fruit and lovely aromatics make it a real crowd-pleaser. The 1998 Claudio Alario Nebbiolo d'Alba 'Cascinotto' ($18.00) is more muscular Nebbiolo. It's got a tad if that tar-and-violets Barolo intensity, but not so much that it will overwhelm the food.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is another red wine that suits well the semi-gamy flavors of roast turkey. 2000 Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($25.00) shows off the plush fruit and pure pleasure of young Châteauneuf. The 1999 Mas de Boislauzon Châteauneuf-du-Pape ($33.00) is spicy and elegant - a clean and delicious example of this most noble of southern Rhône wines.