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?

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 30 top Burgundies at £25 or less

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 its neighbouring red wine appellations such as Epineuil or Irancy), where there are still many very high-quality wines available under £25. Chablis remains a happy hunting ground for bargain hunters and lovers of the cooler style found in the north of Bourgogne.

Village value

Within the Côte de Nuits, villages to look out for are Marsannay (still pushing for its top sites to be elevated to premier cru) and Fixin. Recent vintages seem to have brought out the best in lesser APs, with Côte de Nuits-Villages and the higher elevations of the Hautes-Côtes proving very successful in 2018 and 2019.

In the Côte de Beaune, Chardonnay rules – fans of Puligny/Chassagne or Meursault should focus on Pernand-Vergelesses (just under the £25 limit), the much-improved wines from Savigny-Lès-Beaune and the southerly outposts of Santenay and Maranges. The latter, in particular, had a reputation for very high quality in earlier centuries, and there are many delicious wines available today.

Moving south to the Côte Chalonnaise, in this region Bouzeron, Rully, Mercurey, Givry and Montagny are delivering wines often rivalling village-level wines from more fashionable Côte d’Or addresses. There has been a noticeable rise in quality here with the 2018 and 2019 vintages, so now is an ideal time to try out estates new to you.

In the Mâconnais there are great value opportunities, although the fuller and riper style is generally different to that found in the Côte d’Or. However, there are some very fine, racy St-Véran whites along with wines from named Mâcon villages (for example Chaintré, Uchizy, Vergisson), which offer many of the Côte d’Or’s characters.

Finally, have another look at Bourgogne wines. Generic blanc and rouge from good domaines are a revelation, with as much care invested

here as in producers’ top appellation wines. And the (relatively) new AP of Bourgogne Côte d’Or is starting to deliver fine wines comparable to many village-level Puligny and Meursault.

Burgundy under £25: Andy Howard MW’s top 30

Wines are listed in score order, white then red.

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