France’s Great Regions

Hand Picked Selections sells wines from France’s three greatest wine regions, but it is a minor part of our business. Make no mistake – these regions merit their fame. For centuries they have produced and continue to produce some of the world’s greatest wines. However, in part because of their ancient reputations, many of their wines do not offer good value. Each of them has climatic and other limitations that make it hard to produce fine wine. As a result each of these regions offers, along with glory, lots of mediocre wine at high prices. Hundreds of thousands of pages have been written in praise of these regions. Here are a few paragraphs outlining their limitations.

Bordeaux

The Médoc produces what still must be considered the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon based wines. Across the river, Pomerol and Saint Emilion produce arguably the world’s best Merlots. However it is neither easy nor cheap to produce these beauties and basic red Bordeaux is often neither good value nor even good wine.

Bordeaux lies near the North Atlantic, often cold and rainy. The top Chateaux spare no expense to make the finest wines. Yields are kept low. Then a strict selection is made in the cellar, with often only 50% going into the ‘Grand Vin’. Lavish use is made of new oak. Viticulture and winemaking are meticulous. In lesser years these expensive steps allow the production of good to very fine wine. Should the Clerk of the Weather smile, these can be the greatest wines of all.

Basic Bordeaux is cropped at substantially higher levels. Ageing is rarely entirely in oak and often completely in tank. If oak is employed at all, it is usually older barrels of lower quality, and not necessarily very well maintained. Little or no selection is made in the cellar. Due to lack of capital and sun, basic red Bordeaux ripens fully and produces really good wine only about 2 years in 10. There are a plethora of wines between Chateau Lafite and Chateau Ordinaire – sound Médocs, Graves, ‘satellite’ Saint-Emilions. Sometimes good values can be found here, however these wines usually require several years of bottle age, which few consumers are willing to give them. For a generation basic red Bordeaux has been losing market share to the dramatically improved wines of sunny Mediterranean France, and more recently to the wines of the New World.

Burgundy

This is the minefield. If in Bordeaux the great names produce fine or great wine on a consistent basis, Burgundy is a region where even money can’t buy you the security of reliably fine or great wine.

We’re talking two colors here. The great white Burgundies are Chardonnay and are far more reliable than the reds (although lately there are reports of wines ageing too quickly). The great names of Meursault, Chassagne and Puligny are expensive, but rarely will any but the cheapest bottles from lesser négociants fail to provide pleasure.

Red Burgundy is different. The grape is Pinot Noir, the world’s most fickle and finicky varietal. Thin-skinned and lacking in colorants, low yields are a necessity to make good wine. A warm, sunny growing season is also mandatory. Unlike in Bordeaux, the famous names are of vineyards (Chambertin), not producers (Chateau Lafite).

Famous vineyards can have many owners as well as widely varying soil and terroir. Chambertin can come from a great grower in the heart of the vineyard. In the best years this will be a powerhouse of infinite glory. It can also come from a poor négociant buying from a careless grower who owns a parcel on lesser terroir in a cold year. It is not at all hard to pay 3 digits or close for something thin and nasty.

There is no inexpensive red Burgundy, but moderately priced ones can be good if grown, made, cellared, and bought with care. Wise counsel suggests finding growers, négociants or importers you trust and buying their wines only in the better years. There is no insulation from possible disappointment but this is the best that anybody can do.

Champagne

The picture brightens in the world’s priciest wine region. There is no cheap Champagne, but there is also no bad Champagne.

The question in Champagne is one of character and individuality. Two hundred years ago all Bordeaux was négociant-bottled. Chateau Lafite came from any of a dozen or so merchants who bought the wine in bulk and aged and bottled it themselves. Today great Bordeaux is chateau bottled. Fifty years ago most fine Burgundy was also négociant-bottled. Today chic shops and restaurants tend to avoid even fine négociant wines in favor of estate bottled wines.

The same thing is happening in Champagne. The ‘Grand Marque’ négociants pride themselves on consistency, achieved in part by blending their standard Bruts from a wide range of districts within Champagne. There is consistency, quality, and for the better Marques a true house style. But where is the character of the terroir?