Aligoté has been getting increasingly more attention in the last 10 years or so in Bourgogne by producers and drinkers alike due to a combination of factors, including climate change and massale selections.
This webinar will focus on Bourgogne’s ‘Second White Grape’ by delving into its history, attributes, viticulture, winemaking, appellations and producers before looking at Aligoté’s larger global presence and potential.
Originally from the Chicago area, Robin is a Master of Wine who is presently based in Lugano, Switzerland, where she works as an independent wine consultant, wine judge, journalist and educator.
Following studies in French and English literature, she changed career paths in 1998 when she left her teaching position at the Université de Nice to study wine at the BIVB (Bureau Interprofessionel des Vins de Bourgogne) in Beaune, France and the Université du Vin in Suze-la-Rousse in France’s Rhône Valley.
In the 20+ years of working in the wine business, she has held a number of different positions including wine auction specialist for Christie’s in Beverly Hills, California and fine wine buyer for a pre-eminent London-based wine merchant with an award-winning Burgundy list.
In 2014, after many years of study and a successful dissertation on whole cluster fermentation in Pinot Noir from the Côte d’Or, she became a Master of Wine.
Her main wine passions are Burgundy, Champagne, northern Italy, particularly Piedmont, Switzerland and Jerez.
Crémant de Bourgogne is the 3rd largest AOC in volume in Bourgogne after Chablis and Mâcon AOCs, comprising around 11% of the region’s wines.
While it is generally considered a ‘modest appellation’, it was not always as such. Bourgogne’s ‘mousseux’ wines were amongst the most prized and sought-after in the region in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. This webinar will explore its illustrious past, its decline as well as its promising future in addition to how it works as an appellation, its viticulture, winemaking and styles.
Originally from the Chicago area, Robin is a Master of Wine who is presently based in Lugano, Switzerland, where she works as an independent wine consultant, wine judge, journalist and educator.
Following studies in French and English literature, she changed career paths in 1998 when she left her teaching position at the Université de Nice to study wine at the BIVB (Bureau Interprofessionel des Vins de Bourgogne) in Beaune, France and the Université du Vin in Suze-la-Rousse in France’s Rhône Valley.
In the 20+ years of working in the wine business, she has held a number of different positions including wine auction specialist for Christie’s in Beverly Hills, California and fine wine buyer for a pre-eminent London-based wine merchant with an award-winning Burgundy list.
In 2014, after many years of study and a successful dissertation on whole cluster fermentation in Pinot Noir from the Côte d’Or, she became a Master of Wine.
Her main wine passions are Burgundy, Champagne, northern Italy, particularly Piedmont, Switzerland and Jerez.
The wines and terroirs from Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet are some of Bourgognes most legendary.
But what are their similarities and differences? This WSG Live will explore some of the nuances between Bourgognes most renowned Chardonnay villages to help students better navigate between the three in terms of personality, wine style and terroir.
Originally from the Chicago area, Robin is a Master of Wine who is presently based in Lugano, Switzerland, where she works as an independent wine consultant, wine judge, journalist and educator.
Following studies in French and English literature, she changed career paths in 1998 when she left her teaching position at the Universite de Nice to study wine at the BIVB (Bureau Interprofessionel des Vins de Bourgogne) in Beaune, France and the Universite du Vin in Suze-la-Rousse in Frances Rhone Valley.
In the 20+ years of working in the wine business, she has held a number of different positions including wine auction specialist for Christies in Beverly Hills, California and fine wine buyer for a pre-eminent London-based wine merchant with an award-winning Burgundy list.
In 2014, after many years of study and a successful dissertation on whole cluster fermentation in Pinot Noir from the Cote dOr, she became a Master of Wine.
Her main wine passions are Burgundy, Champagne, northern Italy, particularly Piedmont, Switzerland and Jerez.
In Burgundy, the word "terroir" is frequently used to designate the subsoil which is thought to be responsible for the classification of the appellations from "regionales" to "grand cru. "
This same subsoil is also thought to delineate the puzzling mosaic of "climats" which sculpt the hillside vineyards and influence the wines of the Cote de Nuits' characteristics. This WSG Live will explore the nature of this rock and see if it corresponds perfectly to the specific vineyard plots which produce the very high quality and diverse nature of the wines... from Marsannay to Corgoloin.
As told by Francoise:
After studying both at university and the French Insitute of Petroleum (IFP, -Ecole Nationale Superieure du Petrole et des Moteurs-), I worked for an oil company until 2000, when my family moved to Burgundy. In this renowned wine country, I decided to transfer my geological skills to the study of terroir. I successfully completed a one-year diploma in Wine-tasting and Terroir at the University of Burgundy, (Dijon, France), and I now work as a consultant. My new career as a consultant began in 2003, and since March 2015, with Adama, a little company dedicated to vineyard terroirs. Since 2019, I also work for Terroir Invest, a society dedicated to the sale of vineyard estates.
I performed numerous studies in both the Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune, for the renewing vineyard of Dijon, and for Marsannay, Fixin, Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-Saint-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Pommard, Santenay, Les Maranges, further south for Lugny (Maconais), or for Coulanges-la-Vineuse to the North (Yonne), but also elsewhere in France, especially with a starting project in the Val de Loire (Sancerre). I have also produced several preliminary technical reports to reclassify certain plots at a higher appellation level (communal for Lugny, 14 premiers crus for Marsannay, and a grand cru for Les Saint-Georges and other AOP). I also work for foreign estates (Chile, Japan, USA -California-, Italy... ) in order to characterize the soil and the subsoil, and for terroir expertise.
I have contributed to the geological chapters in Remington Normans (UK) book Grand Cru, to several articles in Le Rouge & le Blanc, La Revue des Vins de France, le Maagzine of Ficofi; I am now in-house expert for terroir geology in Bourgogne Aujourdhui. I drew the cross-sections of geological maps in The wines of Burgundy by Sylvain Pitiot and Jean-Charles Servant, and I have done some posters for the Saint-Vincent in Saint-Aubin (January, 2014). Most of my works are available through the educative website http: //monocepage. com. I provide information for CDs or websites for numerous estates, highlighting the characteristics of the terroir, and booklets for some appellations of both Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune. I was the subject of a four-page interview paper in the January 2014 issue of Decanter magazine.
The history of Bourgogne wines is the story of a very specific collaboration, which defines the concept of Terroir.
Join wine historian and Official Bourgogne Ambassador, Tanya Morning Star Darling to explore the Bourgogne region from the ancient, and dramatic geological events which created the soils, and Côtes, to the Romans, the Church, the Dukes, Napoleon, to the thousands of growers and producers that make up the diverse mosaic of wines that is Bourgogne.
Tanya Morning Star Darling is a full-time wine educator, and writer with nearly 3 decades of industry experience. Her school, Cellar Muse is the approved program provider for Wine Scholar Certifications (French, Italian, and Spanish) in the Seattle area. She is also a Certified Wine Educator, an approved WSET instructor for L1-L4 curriculums, an official Ambassador of Bourgogne Wines, the Official Educational Ambassador of Orvieto Wines, the Educational Chair on the board of the Alliance of Women in Washington Wine, and she is very proud to have recently become a VIA Italian Wine Ambassador!
Tanya is deeply interested in the why and how of wine. Through her undergraduate studies at the Sorbonne and New York University, coupled with her love of travel, Tanya became interested in history and cultural identity, which guides her work, and research.
One of the most significant trends happening in Bourgogne today, is a movement towards sustainable, organic and biodynamic viticulture. Due to the warming of temperatures, increase in sunlight and shift in rainy season, there has been less vineyard mildew pressure, drier soil and earlier harvests. This change in climate, combined with the desire for a more ecologically sustainable growing model by Bourgogne producers, has led to the recent trend towards Green Farming.
The Mâconnais is the most southerly area of Bourgogne before one reaches Beaujolais and the Rhône Valley. The area produces some of the greatest value Chardonnay wines in the world but has long been overlooked with much more attention being lavished on its more prestigious northern neighbours in the Côte d’Or. With increasing prices and demand for the best white wines of the Côte d’Or and the elevation of 22 climats within Pouilly-Fuissé to 1er Cru status, there has never been a more opportune time to discover this dynamic region and find out the outstanding values it has to offer.
An Australian national residing in Switzerland, Timothy has been teaching wine courses for nearly a decade. Timothy spends a week nearly every month in the Bourgogne wine region and has accumulated a true expertise about what is happening in Bourgogne today and which domaines are the stars of tomorrow.
Timothy founded his own company Magnus Vinum several years ago with the specific aim to offer high-end Bourgogne wine education. Additionally, he imports a range of small, quality Bourgogne domaines into Switzerland. Timothy has been teaching about Bourgogne internationally for almost 10 years.
He possesses a deep understanding of the region, its economy, producers and terroirs and is a leading authority on Bourgogne
Every wine appellation in France has a cahier des charges, a set of regulations that delineates the production zone and specifies viticultural practices and production standards.
In many instances, a single cahier des charges references one zone of production and multiple wine styles within it (e.g. Lirac red, white, and rosé; Rasteau dry red, plus red, white and rosé Vins Doux Naturels). Some single cahiers also incorporate complementary geographic denominations or dénominations géographiques complémentaires (DGCs) such as Languedoc Montpeyroux or Bourgogne Hautes Côte de Nuits. Other times, very different wines can be grouped under one single cahier as is the case for Beaujolais, Beaujolais Supérieur, Beaujolais + Named Commune, and Beaujolais-Villages.
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