Bourgogne Passetoutgrains: A taste of Burgundy as it once was and why it deserves its revival

It’s 2016. I’m waiting for a friend at a restaurant and start scanning the wine list.

Something catches my eye: a 2007 Bourgogne Passetoutgrains. It had almost 10 years on it.

But Bourgogne Passetoutgrains is a simple wine, I had been taught, the sort that didn’t age – it would be tired, surely?

Well, it wasn’t. That delicious bottle, from Domaine Michel Lafarge – one of Volnay’s leading names, has been lingering in my mind ever since.

Disloyal Gameez

Pinot Noir is the grape we associate with Burgundy today, but Gamay was once widely planted too.

It was famously banned in the region by Philip the Bold in the 14th century. The Duke issued a decree in 1395 ordering the ‘evil and disloyal plant’ to be torn from the ground.

But Gamay didn’t entirely disappear. While Pinot Noir would dominate the region’s vineyards, pockets of Gamay survived long beyond the 14th century – with a little over 2,000ha spread around the region today.

The Burgundians tend to look down their noses at Gamay – a grape they argue doesn’t have the finesse of Pinot Noir.

Gamay is the journeyman, Pinot Noir the champion fighter. When the INAO created Burgundy’s appellation system in 1937, they permitted Gamay to be used under just two appellations: Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire (replaced in 2011 by Coteaux Bourguignons, which can be a varietal Gamay or a blend) and Bourgogne Passetoutgrains.

Passetoutgrains (sometimes hyphenated as Passe-tout-grains, and sometimes spelt with a singular ‘grain’) translates roughly as ‘pass all grapes’ – a bung-it-all-in wine, traditionally from vineyards where different varieties were co-planted and harvested together.

At the bottom of the quality pyramid, with vines generally sitting on less desirable, lower-lying, clay-rich land, these were modest wines of little repute.

At a time when much Burgundy sits beyond the average wine-lover’s budget, however, Passetoutgrains deserves a re-appraisal.

Old wines reborn

Today, Passetoutgrains must legally contain a minimum of 30% Pinot Noir and 15% Gamay, although most wines are a 50-50 blend.

Older vineyards tend to be traditional field blends, with the Gamay and Pinot Noir interplanted, but modern plantings often separate the two varieties.

‘I am very keen on Passetoutgrains,’ says Guillaume d’Angerville – the aristocratic head of Domaine Marquis d’Angerville.

His father stopped producing the wine, but Guillaume re-introduced it and recently purchased an additional parcel to expand his holdings in the appellation.

This property may be best known for its monopole premier cru Clos des Ducs, but a glint in his eye appears when I ask him about its entry-level offering.

It is, he tells me, ‘unassuming’, ‘a wine for thirst’ – and one that he feels is important for the region. ‘Gamay brings the joy, the liveliness, to the seriousness of Pinot Noir,’ he says.

For Clothilde Lafarge (of Domaine Lafarge), the wine has a special place in her family’s history as the vineyard planted by her great-grandfather Henri Lafarge in 1928 and one of the first wines he bottled (alongside Clos des Chênes).

A traditional field blend, the vines are now approaching 100 years old – something Clothilde feels is key to the quality of their L’Exception bottling.

This vine age, alongside 18 months in barrel, lends more complexity and structure than you’d expect for such a simple appellation.

Similarly, for Jean-Louis Trapet, of Domaine Trapet, Passetoutgrains is an important part of their heritage: ‘It remains a living testimony of what Burgundy once was,’ he says.

A wine of the future?

With climate change, however, Gamay is not just part of Burgundy’s past – it could be key to its future.

It ripens more slowly and is more stable in the face of extreme conditions.

Romain Taupenot (of Domaine Taupenot-Merme) notes how lowly appellations have benefitted from global warming, now consistently ripening in a way that simply wasn’t the case 20-25 years ago.

‘I’m a big, big lover of Gamay,’ says Benoît Stehly, who is at the helm of Domaine Georges Lignier.

He explains how well-adapted the grape is to Burgundy’s modern climate – creating wines of freshness and energy.

Most importantly, he adds, Passetoutgrains offers ‘a friendly bottle at a friendly price’.

Beyond Burgundy

Producers beyond Burgundy are even echoing the style. In Hokkaido, Japan, cult winemaker Takahiko Soga (Domaine Takahiko) makes a Passetoutgrains that blends Pinot Noir and Zweigelt, while in Oregon and California, Sashi Moorman has experimented with Gamay for years.

For the entry-level Pinot Noir at Evening Land, he blends in around 10% Gamay – inspired in part by the tradition in Piedmont of blending a little Barbera with Nebbiolo.

It adds, he says, ‘a little playfulness,’ making the wine more charming – perfect for a style designed for everyday consumption.

Low yields are key, however, to producing high quality, he argues – especially in the naturally more generous Gamay.

I’m not here to tell you that Passetoutgrains can rival Echézeaux, Musigny or Chambertin: these wines will not offer the complexity of the grands crus.

But Passetoutgrains doesn’t come with that price tag, either. These are affordable, juicy wines – irresistible and moreish.

More than that, they offer a great introduction to a producer’s style – before you plump for something more special.

Don’t dismiss their deliciousness either, for when they’re made by a top producer – they’ve got a capacity to evolve that you might not expect.

Passetoutgrains

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