Côte de Beaune reds: Panel tasting results

With terroir at their heart, Burgundy’s southern Côte d’Or regions offer wonderful stylistic diversity, even from the less celebrated villages, reports Andy Howard MW. Here's the full write-up as it appears in the December 2017 issue of Decanter magazine.

Burgundy is renowned for the importance of terroir. Here the relationship between geology, climatic conditions and the influence of man is at its most profound – the location of individual vineyards is vital.

While revered village names such as Chassagne-Montrachet, Pommard and Volnay do not feature in this tasting, some of their lesser-known neighbouring villages can provide Burgundy lovers with quality alternatives at lower cost.

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View all 87 Côte de Beaune reds from this Panel Tasting

Although the tasting considered village-level wines only, the majority of appellations have premier-cru climats often emphasising these differences – with significant extra cost per bottle. However, village-level wines from good producers give a valuable insight into the stylistic character of each place, at attractive prices.

Scroll down to see the wines

Exciting alternatives

Running north to south, the Côte regions considered here can be roughly divided into four sections. Ladoix, Pernand-Vergelesses and Aloxe-Corton lie in the north, all surrounding the famous hill of Corton. Pernand is renowned for quality of both reds and whites, with more than 50% of production being premier cru. Aloxe-Corton shows a distinctive style – more rustic and earthy – yet can produce wines which age well. Ladoix deserves a wider audience, producing fuller-bodied Pinot.

The second group is dominated by Savigny-lès-Beaune, whoese wines show dark red and black fruits with pronounced tannins and ample weight. Chorey-lès-Beaune has no premier cru and generally offers lighter styles more suitable for early drinking.

Located south of Beaune, the third group is the most intriguing from a quality viewpoint, lying adjacent to illustrious neighbours such as Volnay, Meursault and Puligny. Monthélie, a handsome village on steep slopes, is often described as a more feminine wine in a similar style to Volnay. Auxey-Duresses and St-Romain follow the road leaving the Côte de Beaune heading up the valley towards the Hautes-Côtes: the extra height encourages reds that can be astringent in their youth, becoming mellow over time. St-Aubin is highly regarded with numerous elegant village-level reds that age well.

Maranges and Santenay lie at the southern limit of the Côte de Beaune. Maranges is fleshy, peppery and can be enjoyed young. Santenay is a large appellation, more important in the past though quality is rising rapidly. Undoubtedly, there are many interesting and exciting alternatives to the more famous villages to be found within the Côte de Beaune – Pinot lovers can feel confident in exploring the rich diversity of this region.

Côte de Beaune reds: the facts

Ladoix Mostly red, 75ha (21% 1er cru)

Aloxe-Corton Almost only red, 116ha (33% 1er cru)

Pernand-Vergelesses Evenly split white and red, 80ha red (54% 1er cru)

Savigny-lès-Beaune 301ha red (43% 1er cru)

Chorey-lès-Beaune Mostly red, 124ha (no 1er cru)

Monthélie Predominantly red, 109ha (32% 1er cru)

Auxey-Duresses 93ha red (29% 1er cru), 40ha white

St-Aubin 113ha red 
(74% 1er cru)

St-Romain 37ha red

Santenay 281ha red 
(39% 1er cru)

Maranges 157ha red 
(50% 1er cru)

Vintage Overview

2016 Spring frosts devastated yields. Good quality where nature allowed. Keep.

2015 Great red wine vintage. Thick-skinned, healthy grapes led to dense, ripe, supremely elegant wines. Keep.

2014 Good, although overshadowed by 2015 for reds. Charming, fragrant. Drink/keep.

2013 Challenging year: cold, wet growing season, saved by September. Light wines, earlier drinking. Drink.

2012 Small yields. A cool, damp summer but high quality: pure fruit, elegance. Drink/keep.

2011 Cooler vintage with rot a challenge. Good producers made lighter, attractive, fruit-
driven wines. Drink.

2010 High quality, classic and long-lasting. Concentrated wines with purity, acidity and verve. Drink/keep.

2009 Hot, with healthy grapes. Good quality in forward style, mellow tannins. Drink.

The scores

87 wines tasted

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit latest release Côte de Beaune village-level reds, no 
1er cru wines, and not including wines from Chassagne-Montrachet, Pommard or Volnay.

Exceptional

Outstanding

3

Highly Recommended

34

Recommended

44

Commended

4

Fair

2

Poor

Faulty

The results

Much to like in an impressive range of approachable red Burgundies, mostly from 2015, that reveal the individuality of their village origins, reports Christelle Guibert below.

View all 87 Côte de Beaune reds from the Panel Tasting

This is the first time we have assessed many different Burgundy villages in the same line-up and the results show that, even in Burgundy, one can find stunning quality at a fair price.

Although Burgundy often makes headlines these days for exorbitant prices, beyond the famous names the wines can be difficult to sell. Jasper Morris MW explained: ‘So much has been concentrated into the famous names. For these lesser appellations, when in the range of a top grower, of course they will sell. If they don’t have the name of a famous grower behind them, however, as delicious as the wines may be, they can be hard work to sell.’

While they are not on the radar of many serious Burgundy collectors, Jason Haynes felt these wines have an important role to play for those just starting out. ‘There is no point filling your cellar with wines that take at least 15 years to come around. So this is a really good place to start for new Burgundy collectors – you want wines that you can drink after two to four years. They also work very well by the glass in restaurants.’

Our experts felt the overall standard was very high, with very few poor wines. As Haynes pointed out: ‘There is a school of thought that a great vintage will act to bring up the lesser appellations, and this tasting was a good example of that.’ Morris added: ‘Sometimes with a great vintage like 2015 you can get overwhelmed with tannins, weight of fruit and alcohol, but there was no feeling of that. It was a series of lovely wines in different styles. One thing that kept the tasting really interesting was that each flight was a different village, and it was fascinating to see how they all stood up together.’

Andy Howard MW also found solid performances across the board: ‘There were some real gems, but it wasn’t just one or two wines. The freshness of the Pinot Noir really came through. These wines had a really nice balance, acidity and concentration, with lots of fruit and good structure. While ageworthy, they are also quite approachable now, so they tick lots of boxes.’

Despite the appellations not being far from each other, the panel were fascinated to find clear differences between the wines. Of the 11 different villages in the line-up, the relatively unknown Ladoix seems to have been a revelation. Our experts found its wines to be refined and elegant, and therefore more approachable, with Haynes describing them as ‘mini Côte de Nuits’.

Auxey-Duresses, Maranges and St-Romain also impressed our judges with their minerality, stoniness and ripe flavours. For Morris, Santenay proved to be more consistent than Savigny-lès-Beaune, although ‘where the Savigny were good, they had grip and a long-term muscle that were very impressive’.

By contrast Aloxe-Corton – often perceived as a senior village, along with Monthélie – were underperformers here. Morris noted: ‘Monthélie is in some ways a baby Volnay, though a little more rustic, but it didn’t quite seem to have the grip of the other villages.’

Summing up, Howard noted with approval that: ‘There’s still no comparison, I think, between these Pinot Noirs and Pinots from elsewhere. They are, fortunately, very distinctive and very Burgundian.’

The panel were unanimous in finding the wines safe buys, and Haynes concluded: ‘It’s a no-brainer: go out and buy them and you will be rewarded with a delicious glass of wine and even some exceptional examples.’

Top 15 Outstanding & Highly Recommended wines from the tasting:

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