Bourgogne Wines With Attractive Prices

Photo Courtesy: DuVine

Bourgogne (Burgundy) wines have a quality hierarchy. In descending order there’s Grand Cru (world-renowned, distinct climats, or vineyards plots), Premier Cru (or 1er Cru, precise climats within a village), Village (taking the name of the particular towns where they are grown, some of which are villages named after vineyards), and Régionales. (Chablis works a touch differently, but to avoid confusion we’ll leave it here.)

By the numbers, that’s seven Régionale, 44 Village, and 33 Grand Cru.

The category considered Régionales contains 14 Bourgogne and 27 Mâcon appellations that are distinguished by an additional level of definition: DGC, dénomination géographique complémentaire.

This little tidbit, like most indications in Bourgogne, has implication. This category can be a real sweet spot for discovering high-quality Bourgogne wines at entry-point prices.

The geographic designation breaks down Bourgogne and Mâcon by specific characteristics evident in pockets of these regions. In addition to being more precise in plot recognition, these designations are bound by restrictive production conditions and more stringent requirements than the ground-level Régionales sticker.

Here’s how to learn more about this category and a few wines to try, in my fresh article at Forbes.