Burgundy, Part 1a: Cote de Nuits (The King & Queen with their consort)

Lee Watson is sales manager at Saveurs International  and thought you might like some more information on some of the popular French regions. Here is the first part of three on Burgundy, Cote de Nuits. 


Cote de Nuits is such a small place and has some of the best pinot noir red wines produced in the world. Many will say the best in the world. Here is a brief outline on what to go for when it comes to choosing wines from the Cote de Nuits.

What’s the best commune? What’s the best wine? Well let’s stick with a few communes that you are likely to find in Hong Kong. We will start with the north to south of Cote de Nuits  in the first 3 blogs. Then we will move on to Cote de Beaune.

·         Gevrey-Chambertin:

There are 26 Premier Crus and 9 Grand Cru’s. The wines are sumptuous, full and sturdy, rich and masculine. They can even be more flamboyant than Vosne-Romanee and more substantial than Chambolle Musigny. Choose this wine if you want to have in my mind the King style of Cote de Nuits and even Cote d’ Or. Be careful when buying villages level as the commune to the north is called Brochon and has 50 hectares that can label their wine as Gevrey-Chambertin villages and these wines can be up and down in quality so you need to know the growers, same goes for the east of the main road (RN74 that runs the length of Cote d’Or) in Gevrey-Chambertin these wines can be lighter in style. Look out for the most west of the commune and into the Premier Crus up to the slope, one in particular is called Clos St Jacques which some critics have said it deserves Grand Cru status.

·         Morey-Saint-Denis:

There are 20 Premier Crus and 4 Grand Crus with a little of Chambolle’s Grand Cru to the south called Bonnes Mares. I could easily explain these wines as being a little bit of both the communes to the north and south, it’s generally not as sturdy as the wines from the north (Gevrey-Chambertin) and not as fragrant as the wines from the south (Chambolle-Musigny). The main Grand Cru here to look out for is Clos de Tart, described as full-bodied but feminine, good cherry fruit and robust tannins.

·         Chambolle-Musigny:

If Gevrey-Chambertin in the north is the King then Chambolle-Musigny is the Queen with its delicate wines. It has only 2 Grand Crus with Bonnes Mares having 1 ½ Hectares in Morey-Saint-Denis to the north. There are 24 Premier Crus. This is a large area so if you know where your favourite grower is you can have an idea about the wines. Premier Crus to the north are generally sturdier and to the south they become light and delicate. The best wine is the Grand Cru Musigny; this Grand Cru is in the premier league of the whole of Cote d’Or. Production is small as always is in Burgundy, so if you can afford it and you are lucky to get you hands on some then you can experience the delight of a top Pinot Noir.

Our recommendations:

Masculine:
  Antonin Rodet, Gevrey Chambertin,                2005     $365

  Jacques Prieur, Gevrey Chambertin, 1er Cru 2006     $645

  Jacques Prieur, Chambertin Grand Cru,         2004  $1,845

Feminine:   
  Antonin Rodet, Chambolle Musigny,                2004     $405

  Jacques Prieur, Musigny Grand Cru,               2006  $3,485