Affordable Burgundy: top 30 buys
Prices for the alluring, hypnotic wines of the Côte d’Or continue to rocket. So, what are the options for lovers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from this region, who wish to keep their spending below £25 a bottle?
A look on wine-searcher.com reveals that the starting point for village-level Puligny-Montrachet in the UK is in the order of £35 retail. Specify premier cru and, for the most recent vintages, you will normally be looking at between £50-£80 per bottle.
Fortunately, quality is also on a roll, supported by winery investment along with the arrival of a new generation of enthusiastic young winemakers and some excellent vintages. Sadly, in the case of the latter, this applies more to quality than quantity as the region continues to be beset by frost, hail and uneven flowering. Although 2018 was a year to put a smile back on the faces of Bourgogne vignerons with its bountiful crop, 2016, 2017 and 2019 saw many climatic challenges, reducing volumes and adding further pressure on prices.
So, what can lovers of good Burgundy do? There is little prospect of prices falling for the best-known villages, or for top grand/premier cru climats and leading estates. The answer seems to lie in searching out wines from less fashionable appellations or identifying producers who are now delivering quality comparable to more famous names. In addition, the warming climate appears to be benefiting APs such as the Hautes-Côtes, Côte Chalonnaise and generic Bourgogne wines through reduced yields and riper, healthier fruit.
This summary excludes Chablis (and
