The École des Vins de Bourgogne announce “New Immersive Tasting Workshops”

The École des Vins de Bourgogne is now offering four new workshops at the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie et du Vin in Dijon.

These four innovative workshops will offer a visual, audio, and a gustatory experience.

Price ranges: €20-€29

Time: 40 minutes to one hour

Maximum number of participants: 18

All courses are open to people with mobility issues

 

  • An Introduction to wine tasting: Decode the techniques and vocabulary of wine tasting and learn how to describe a wine in terms of how it looks, smells, and tastes.

Three wines, €20 per person

  • The Impact of vintage: This workshop explores the bearing a vintage might have on a wine, and explores single varietal cultivation, typical in Bourgogne, how a wine changes over time, and aging potential.

Three wines, €20 per person

  • Bourgogne Terroir Wines: Learn about the notion of terroir in Bourgogne through grape varietals, winegrower expertise, the hierarchy of the 84 appellations, and the Climats.

Four wines, €20 per person

  • Food and Wine pairings: Explore the diversity of Bourgogne wines by pairing them with local gastronomy. Tasting of five wines with five regional specialties.

Five wines, €29 per person

For more information and to register, visit the École des Vins de Bourgogne website at https://www.bourgogne-wines.com/

If you are currently traveling through France, drop by……bookings are now open!

#VinsBourgogne #Bourgogne #Vin #Bourgognewines #Bourgogne #wine #winelovers #frenchwine #wineeducation #BourgogneTerroir #foodandwine #winetasting #gastronomy #vin #winecollectors #wineinvestors #wineknowledge

What’s in a name? The Bourgogne family explains…

In 2012, on the request of its elected representatives, the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) decided to stop translating the word “Bourgogne”, whatever the country. The aim is to help consumers find their way by ensuring coherence between our wine labels and the name of the region where the wines were created.

Bourgogne wines enjoy a strong global reputation with half of all Bourgogne wines produced being sold at export to around 170 territories. However, the farther the consumer lives from France, the more they struggle to understand our appellation system. They can get their bearings thanks to the wine’s origins, which is the name of this winegrowing region. It is therefore essential to use only one powerful name, a synonym for excellence and the respect for origins: Bourgogne.

Historically, Bourgogne is the only wine-producing region in France whose name is translated into different languages: “Burgundy” for English speakers, “Burgund” for Germans, “Borgogna” in Italian, to name but a few. This dates back to ancient times when the region was established as a crossroads for trade between the north and south and the east and west of Europe, as it still is today.

As such, Bourgogne wine producers and fans find themselves caught up in something of a paradox. The 200 million bottles of Bourgogne wine sold every year have the word “Bourgogne” on their label, either due to their appellation, which might be Bourgogne, Crémant de Bourgogne, Bourgogne Aligoté, and so on, or because they are a “Vin de Bourgogne” or a “Grand Vin de Bourgogne”. But consumers can find them amongst a range referred to Burgundy, Burgund, or Borgogna… Confusing, to say the least.

 

“We felt it necessary to return to our original name, Bourgogne, in order to affirm our true identity, in a unified and collective way,” explains François Labet, President of the BIVB. “I’d say that our appellations are like our forenames, which makes Bourgogne our family name. A name that unites us all with our shared values embracing all the diversity of our wines. You don’t translate a family name!”

 

#BourgogneWines #frenchwine #instawine

#Beaune #Burgundy #BurgundyLovers #Wine #Vin #Bourgogne #France

Details of Cité des vins et des Climats in Beaune are Revealed

The building permit for the Cité des Vins & des Climats de Bourgogne in Beaune was issued on November 24 at the City of Beaune.

This new step is a great satisfaction for the project teams who have been working for several months to design and build this emblematic building which will notably host the next Center for the Interpretation of Climates in the Burgundy Vineyard.

Located at the Portes de Beaune, and designed by Emmanuelle Andreani, architect (SIZ’-IX agency).  The architectural design will symbolize by its curves the tendril of the vine, which winds firmly around the trellis wire.  The “tendril” will be anchored to the ground by a dry-stone wall then will rise towards the panoramic belvedere terrace 24 meters high to appreciate a 360 ° landscape.

The Cité des vins et des Climats de Bourgogne in Beaune will be located in the heart of the city’s new Biodivercity®-labeled urban and landscaping district, just a stone’s throw from the Palais des Congrès. Modern, ecological, and distinctly human, it will feature an upscale hotel, restaurants, a luxury wine-focused shopping mall, an events hall, and a large landscaped park.

The ground floor of the Cité, covering 1,100m2, will be solely dedicated to the discovery of the wines and Climats of Bourgogne.

Visitors will be able to explore exhibits organized according to three major themes, with an estimated visitor time of 90 minutes:

– The Bourgogne region’s history, soil, territories, etc.

– The plots and Climats; this unique model for terroir viticulture

– The grapes and the wine; single varietals, vinification, barrel making, aromas, and tasting

The Cité in Beaune will help promote the Climats of the Bourgogne region, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As such, it will be the center for discovering the Climats of Bourgogne, which will have a dedicated space within the visitor trail. The uniqueness of the exhibition lies in establishing the right balance between scenography, museography, and a pleasing visitor experience.

The preparatory work will begin at the end of 2020, with an official start at the end of January 2021.

 

Pouilly-Fuissé gets 22 premier cru vineyards

The French National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO) has officially recognized 22 premier cru ‘climats’ within the Pouilly-Fuissé appellation.

The AOP Pouilly-Fuissé will become the first appellation within Burgundy’s Mâconnais sub-region to benefit from premier cru vineyards.

The 22 new premier crus account for a total of 194ha of land planted to vine, corresponding to circa 24% of Pouilly-Fuissé’s total vineyard area (800ha), spread over the four communes of the appellation: Chaintré, Fuissé, Solutré-Pouilly and Vergisson.

A proposal for the recognition of these climats as premier crus was first submitted to the INAO 10 years ago. Since then, the INAO has been working in partnership with the Organization for the Defense and Management (ODG) of the Pouilly-Fuissé appellation to assess the worthiness of these ‘terroirs’.

The 22 new premier crus, commune by commune

Chaintré:

  • Le Clos de Monsieur Noly
  • Les Chevrières
  • Aux Quarts
  • Le Clos Reyssier

Fuissé:

  • Le Clos
  • Les Brulés
  • Les Ménétrières
  • Les Reisses
  • Les Vignes Blanches
  • Les Perrières
  • Vers Cras

Solutré-Pouilly:

  • La Frérie
  • Le Clos de Solutré
  • Au Vignerais
  • En Servy
  • Aux Bouthières
  • Aux Chailloux
  • Pouilly
  • Vers Cras

Vergisson:

  • Les Crays
  • La Maréchaude
  • Sur la Roche
  • En France

#wine #bourgogne #burgundy #pouillyfuisse #Mâconnais

The Bourgogne Wine Sector Stands Ready — New Working Practices on Estates to Face the Health Crisis

Since France has ground to a near-halt under Covid-19 confinement measures, growers and négociants in Bourgogne have continued to work, introducing some ingenuity. This is essential because the vines continue to grow; there is work to be done in the cellar, and because one also has to think about when normal business resumes. In Bourgogne, growers and négociants are adhering to strict safe distancing measures both in the vines and the winery.

Activity accelerating in the vines

The hashtag #LaVigneContinue exists for a good reason: Nature cannot be confined! Especially in the springtime, when the sap rises, and the buds emerge from their downy cocoons. In each plot, there is work to be done. The cuttings must be cleared after pruning, trellising must be repaired, the canes need tying up, the ground needs plowing. After budburst, the excess buds and suckers will need to be removed.

Growers and négociants in Bourgogne are continuing to work as far as possible and adapting to the situation. Nicolas Rossignol, in Gevrey-Chambertin, has reorganized his team: “I have asked everyone to use their personal vehicle to get around. In the vines, it is one to a plot, or else we leave two or three rows between us (2 to 3m) if we have to work in the same place. In addition to tying up and fixing trellising, we are also starting to plow. I have two tractors, so each driver has their own.”

And for a touch of local ingenuity, he reveals that instead of using commercial hand-sanitizer, he dug out some of the “head” distillation liquid from a batch of marc de Bourgogne. “It’s around 80% alcohol, so it’s ideal for disinfecting hands and equipment. In the same vein, we no longer eat together. Since we’ve had fine weather, everyone has lunch outside. You just have to go one at a time into the kitchen to reheat your dish.”

There are some unexpected obstacles to manage, such as hiring a seasonal worker to make up for the absence of an employee who has to stay at home to look after children while the schools are closed.

In wineries that have larger teams of staff, managers have also had to adapt. With 10 or more employees, flexibility is the order of the day. Working times are staggered to avoid encountering coworkers, and those who are partially occupied looking after children come into work when they can, including on weekends. Nicolas Rossignol concludes: “The growth cycle has begun, although the cold which came at the start of last week slowed it a little. But overall, we are working at the same pace as usual.”

Complex adaptation for shipments

During this season, activity in the cellar is calmer. The wines are in the middle of aging, and the main task is topping up barrels. This only usually requires one person. Other lower-priority tasks can wait.

The area of bottling, labeling, and shipping poses another set of challenges. Some companies are carrying on, anticipating that others will resume activity a fortnight from now. But whatever the task, managers are attentive to maintaining safe distances between employees, and respecting all the recommendations from the Ministry of Health. The essential thing is looking after the health of staff.

On the commercial front, there are fewer orders than usual. Some transporters continue to make deliveries, while certain international orders have been put on one side, ready to go as soon as international transport resumes.

“We know the current situation is only temporary, and we are ready to respond to increased demand as soon as it comes,” said Louis-Fabrice Latour, President of the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) and CEO of the Louis Latour wine house. “Managers of wineries and estates are keeping a close eye on when normal production activity can resume, whilst ensuring the health and safety of all concerned.”

On behalf of the whole wine sector, he added: “We are aware of all the efforts being made, on all levels, for France to emerge from this health crisis as quickly and in the best shape possible. We will contribute to this return to normal. We are also greatly appreciative of all of those who are taking care of us and our families.”