Crémant de Bourgogne: Burgundy’s hidden sparkling gems

At almost any official function in Burgundy one will be served a glass of Crémant de Bourgogne, the region’s sparkling wine produced using the same method as Champagne but with Burgundy’s varieties – mostly Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Aligoté and Gamay. Yet despite it being the region’s third largest appellation, or 11% of production, it remains under the radar with many drinkers and collectors seeking out Burgundy’s more illustrious (and more expensive) reds and whites.

Its growth as a category has boomed over the last 40 years with an incredible 7,600% increase in production since the creation of its AOC in 1975. Over 23 million bottles are sold annually, a drop in the ocean of Champagne’s 322 million but nonetheless, for a region that produces only 3% of France’s wines, it’s an impressive figure.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 25 top Crémant de Bourgogne wines to try

Crémant de Bourgogne AOC, originally known as Vin Mousseux de Bourgogne, kicked off in the early 19th century. It gained such a following that it was featured on many of the area’s most prestigious wine lists and was even included in a gift basket given to Napoléon III when he visited in 1860, alongside 1834 Montrachet and Romanée-Conti.

Its popularity also created incredible wealth. Even today, wandering in picturesque Rully, one of the original ‘mousseux villages’, there are a number of glorious villas indicative of the era.

After World War II, tastes changed and interest in its bubbles fizzled out, forcing Burgundy’s vin mousseux to settle quietly into the backdrop behind its still wines.

Three decades later, some of the region’s better producers started to push for more quality control and regulatory oversight. The original appellation of Bourgogne Mousseux, that was created in 1943, comprised all colours, including sparkling red, and was considered not strict enough. In 1975, a new designation was granted focusing solely on white and rosé sparkling wines with rigorous production guidelines. Producers have looked forward ever since.

Identity crisis

One of its identity issues is that Crémant de Bourgogne remains ‘only’ a generic appellation, produced from around 3,000 hectares of Burgundy’s regional quality vineyards, rather than the more prestigious village, premier cru or grand cru vineyards that are much more pinpointed in origin and naturally recognised for quality.

Instead, all sub-regions of Burgundy can grow grapes destined for Crémant, this includes; the Yonne, the most northern area where Chablis is produced; the Côte d’Or, the home of the most expensive and sought after bottles; the Saône-et-Loire, which encompasses both the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais; and finally the Rhône whose Beaujolais vineyards also provide grapes.

According to Pierre du Couëdic, the dynamic president of UPECB (Union des Producteurs et Elaborateurs de Crémant de Bourgogne), the syndicate which regulates and promotes the appellation, a remarkable 40% of Crémant grapes come from Beaujolais. ‘It is the largest supplier, though only a small portion is Gamay. The rest is mostly Chardonnay, which can be notably qualitative.’

Frédéric Brand, winemaker and oenologist for Louis Bouillot, the third largest producer of Crémant de Bourgogne, furthers confirms. ‘We get a good amount of our Chardonnay grapes from Beaujolais. There are some wonderful limestone soils in the southern portion of the region, so very different from the granite soils to the north. These can produce excellent Chardonnay.’

Geographic diversity

With such diversity in origins, Crémant de Bourgogne can understandably be fairly different. From the more salty and chiselled versions produced via the Yonne’s Kimmeridgian soils, to the more powerful and ample styles from the clay-limestone soils further south as well as those in between. Climate is also a factor with the more northerly areas being cooler and producing wines with lively acidity.

The Châtillonnais, a small sub-region at the furthest point of the Côte d’Or just a few kilometres south of Champagne’s Aube region produces some of the freshest styles. Paul Bouhélier of Domaine Sylvain Bouhélier says: ‘The weather here is noticeably cooler than the main vineyard area of the Côte d’Or two hours south, and so we usually pick a little later. One of the reasons we have 75% Pinot Noir planted is because it is latter budding and the vine can protect itself against potentially devastating spring frosts.”

Over 70% of Crémant is produced by its three largest producers – Veuve Ambal in Beaune; Bailly-Lapierre, a co-op in Saint-Bris-le-Vineux, a town in the Yonne known for its zesty Sauvignon Blanc; and Louis Bouillot, a winery owned by Boisset located in the core of Nuits- Saint-Georges. Despite their specific winery locations, their grapes can actually come from anywhere in the region.

Crémants from small domaines are generally more localised as producers tend to use their own vineyards or buy grapes from neighbours.

Outside of the ‘big three’, there are 500-600 domaines that offer at least one Crémant, though there are only 138 ‘elaborators’ – those that actually do the ‘prise de mousse’ or the second fermentation in bottle. The know-how needed to produce sparkling wine is markedly different from producing still wines, so a good number of still wine producers leave it to the specialists to produce their Crémants for them.

Needless to say there are various styles of Crémant, though most tend to be Brut and fruit focused. ‘It is just what our customers like. Though the drier Extra Brut style is very popular in Champagne, demand for it is small, so we only produce one Extra Brut and also one Brut Nature with no dosage,’ states Sandie Deboissy, director of development for Vitteaut- Alberti in Rully.

However, other producers have good demand for Extra Brut. ‘Virtually all our Crémants are Extra Brut,’ says Philippe Chautard, owner of Louis Picamelot also in Rully, one of the region’s leading Crémant’s specialists. ‘With climate change today, we have good natural fruit ripeness and also prefer a more taut style, so this works for us.’

Little-by-little, more styles are surfacing, including wines that have been fermented or aged in French oak, some from amphora and others that have a gently oxidative feel, having part of the blend taken from a solera barrel, reminiscent of certain Champagnes from producers like Egly-Ouriet, Sélosse and Agnès Corbon.

New quality categories

Also contributing to an increase in style variation and quality, are the two newer hierarchy quality categories – ‘Eminent’ and ‘Grand Eminent’. Introduced in 2014 for Eminent and 2018 for Grand Eminent, these two labels were created to help highlight the category’s emerging higher quality.

Wines looking to feature one of the quality logos must be submitted, tasted and approved, but Grand Eminent is much more restrictive requiring a minimum of 36 months ‘sur lattes’ rather than the minimum 24 months for Eminent. Plus, only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are allowed as varieties and only the first press, otherwise known as the ‘cuvée’ can be used for Grand Eminent.

At the moment, less than 1% of Crémants are labelled as Grand Eminent though a higher number of wines are produced with similar parameters but just not indicated. Some producers feel the newer categories might confuse their customers so are not (yet) including them on their bottles.

Despite the steady increase in quality, prices for these wines still remain very reasonable.

‘Top quality Crémants are often aged between 5-10 years and cost only €15 or €20,’ Pierre du Couëdic adds. ‘Can you find a Meursault 2014 even, still? And if so, for how much?’

All fair points indeed. With the extra care in winemaking and increasing lees ageing, many Crémants are easily rising above their regional quality classification. Though a number of export markets focus on their entry-level wines, it is the single-vineyard, vintaged and special cuvée wines which are really guiding the category to a bright and bubbly future.

25 to try: Robin Kick MW’s pick of Crémant de Bourgogne

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