[♪♪]
CHRISTOPHE BOUCHARD: [French speech]
MICHAEL FAGAN: Under the city of Beaune, France,
in the ancient cellars of Bouchard Pere & Fils,
there's a bottle that challenges
all I know to be true about white wine.
BOUCHARD: [French speech]
FAGAN: It's a bottle of 1846 Chardonnay,
a Meursault that Christophe Bouchard
tells me is in perfect condition.
BOUCHARD: [French speech]
FAGAN: Still fresh with excellent acidity,
its longevity is a testament to the quality
of these great wines from Burgundy.
[♪♪]
Here in the Côte-d'Or,
the heart of Burgundy's vineyards,
there's a white grape that has conquered the world.
It's a chameleon,
one that changes its character,
expressing the soil and weather from where it's grown.
It's a grape that, especially here,
can be overwhelmingly complex.
But knowing a few simple truths can make it accessible.
Chardonnay is the ultimate world traveller.
It's planted in every major
wine-growing region around the world,
adapting to a various range of soils and climate.
But the earliest reference, the earliest written reference,
to Chardonnay speaks to it grown right here
at Clos de Vougeot, in 1330.
The rolling limestone hills of Burgundy
provide the ideal cool climate conditions for Chardonnay.
The combination of soil, sight, climate,
and local traditions are called "terroir".
The Burgundians have their own word for this -
they call it "climat".
I talked with wine scholar Jean-Pierre Renard...
In each place, you have a different climatic condition,
a different type of soil and sub-soil,
different wineries.
Maybe we have a different history behind -
So, all that is a link between the place and the product.
FAGAN: This region was blessed by Mother Nature.
The growing region is focused on a limestone escarpment
running for 200 kilometers from Chablis, in the north,
down to Mâcon, near Lyon in the south.
At its heart is the Côte-d'Or,
with the largest concentration
of premier cru and grand cru vineyards,
revered for their quality the world over.
Regardless of style,
all white wines here are made from Chardonnay.
[French speech]
FABRICE LESNE: [French speech]
FAGAN: The style of Chardonnay here differs significantly
from those grown in warmer climates like California.
First planted in the Middle Ages,
there's no finer example worldwide
than the white wines of Montrachet.
LESNE: [French speech]
FAGAN: Oui.
LESNE: [French speech]
FAGAN: In Burgundy, I find it amazing that the soil
of one vineyard will differ significantly from another,
even when they're only a few meters apart.
Here in Montrachet, there's a grand cru vineyard
next to a premier cru vineyard.
There will be a significant price difference
between these two wines when they go to market.
Winemaker Fabrice Lesne explains the criteria
used to establish these boundaries.
[Fagan speaking in French]
[Lesne speaking in French]
FAGAN: Wherever you see a road or stone wall in Burgundy,
it has deeper meaning.
It's likely an ancient demarcation from centuries ago,
dividing one plot of land from another.
Burgundy's growing regions are
a patchwork of these small plots
codified by the monks of the Middle Ages.
The classification system of vineyard location is key
to understanding the quality in Burgundy.
On the flat land and at the bottom of the hill,
they grow grapes for regional and village wines.
The soil here is more fertile.
On the sloped lands near the bottom
and at the top of the hills,
they source the fruit for premier cru wines.
These are more focused in character.
The best locations, near the top of the hill,
is where they source grand cru wines.
This is the pinnacle,
the finest expression of Chardonnay in Burgundy.
While Chardonnay is made the world over,
these vineyards are home to some of the greatest,
most age-worthy white wines in the world.
We talk about the wines of Burgundy
being all about location...
This is one of the reasons why.
Here we have soil samples from various vineyards,
and you can see they vary dramatically.
So picture planting the same grape variety
in each of these vineyards.
You can only expect that the end result
is going to be quite different.
LESNE: [French speech]
FAGAN: 11th century...
It's a long time!
[Fagan speaks in French]
[Lesne speaks in French]
FAGAN: The soils of Montrachet produce
wines of power and longevity.
This is considered by many to be
the greatest white wine appellation in France...
and perhaps the world.
[♪♪]
Close by, in the quiet village of Meursault,
they stand ready for harvest.
This is a town with wine at its heart.
The weather here is unpredictable.
Let's go!
FAGAN: Mother Nature can have her own ideas.
The harvesters are called into action as the rain begins.
For the vignerons, it's essential that the grapes
are picked before water swells the fruit,
or rot sets in.
They're not prone to panic.
Generations of experience on this land
have taught them respect for tradition,
a life in harmony with the vines.
♪ [Vigneron singing in French] ♪
Here they celebrate cool-climate Chardonnay,
a benchmark style worldwide.
When we look at the range of wines available in Burgundy,
this is a great example.
We have all four levels of our pyramid.
We have the regional wines -
these are the most affordable.
Half of the wines produced in Burgundy are just
labelled as regional wines called "ablation Bourgogne".
In this case, they even say it's Chardonnay.
These wines are a great introduction
to what the rest of Burgundy has to offer.
As you move up the scale, we have the village wines.
In this case, it's a Meursault.
I love Meursault...
You get a nice, little hint of oak.
These are soft and a real great introduction
to what village wines can be all about.
As we move up a little farther,
we go to premier cru.
And this is where we start to get the expression of terroir.
These wines have a lot of character,
a little more complexity,
and there's such a wide range to discover...
As we move up to the top of the level,
we have grand cru.
Now, these wines are special.
There's not a lot made,
they come from very, very small parcels of land,
and what makes them unique
is the soil composition on these properties is special.
With these wines,
you can expect aromas and flavours of white tree fruit,
you're going to get some citrus character.
It's a backbone of minerality
and that really gives these wines ageability.
Now, they're expensive,
but they're certainly worth the experience.
[♪♪]
This is the town of Auxerre, on Burgundy's north edge.
They're famous here for a white wine
that took the world by storm.
Wine making here is rooted in the ancient church
and this 12th century press still operates as it once did.
These monks created a style of Chardonnay
that took its name from Burgundy's northern region -
Chablis.
In the 16th and 17th centuries,
Chablis had a virtual monopoly
on the lucrative Parisian market.
Around this time,
the English started to import substantial quantities.
River ways and canals were used
as an effective means of transportation
and this really allowed Chablis to become
one of the most extensively-planted
vineyards in the world.
Chablis is the most northerly growing region in Burgundy
and grows Chardonnay exclusively
with seven grand cru and 40 premier cru vineyards.
The secret to this region's style
lies in an ancient seabed of fossilized shells
called Kimmeridgian soil,
which infuses the minerality
of the limestone into the wine.
For me, the wines of Chablis are
the purest expression of the Chardonnay grape.
The use of stainless steel tanks
and limited oak influences
means that the wine retains its acidity,
minerality, and green apple notes.
When someone tells me they don't like Chardonnay,
I tell them they haven't tasted Chablis.
So, the vineyards of Chablis are pretty steep!
Yeah, very steep.
45 degrees.
Yeah.
Do you pick these vineyards by hand or by machine?
I can see why...
Gregory Viennois is a man
who climbed the ranks of France's wine industry
and is technical director at Domaine Laroche.
VIENNOIS: You can see the limestone.
It's a very white limestone here.
It's very important for our wine.
FAGAN: The rugged slopes of Chablis
are incredibly difficult to cultivate,
but the vines draw out the character of the rocks below.
What gives Chablis its unique expression to Chardonnay?
So, it's a very white limestone...
As you can see, we have a lot of fossilized oyster here.
Okay.
You can smell the minerality of Chablis.
Really?
Yeah!
There's almost a salty, mineral character.
It's a salinity, it's a minerality.
So, it's like a transfer
between the soil and the wine.
Because of the purity of the grapes,
of the wine, of the limestone,
we don't need to have too much oak.
It's why we always use a part in stainless steel.
We need to have stainless steel to preserve the purity.
It's important.
The minerality you get out of Chablis
is so specific, so different, so unique,
that you cannot confuse a Chablis
with any other wine in the world.
It's very difficult to define what minerality is.
But there's something that would
kind of keep the wine alive,
and very lively, and very fresh,
and a very long-lasting taste.
That's very specific to Chablis,
even though it's 100% Chardonnay.
[♪♪]
FAGAN: When it comes to wine, I'm always in search of value.
Now, Burgundy certainly makes some of
the most sought-after wines in the world -
with price tags to match -
but there's so much more...
Especially here in the Mâconnais.
The Mâconnais region is at Burgundy's southern end,
just north of Beaujolais.
Its best-known appellation is Pouilly-Fuissé.
This is Chardonnay country...
[♪♪]
Pouilly-Fuissé is the most
well-known appellation of the region,
and two thirds of its production
is shipped to North America.
The temperature here tends to be a little warmer,
which gives a different expression to the Chardonnay.
[♪♪]
Overlooking the valley of Pouilly-Fuissé is Solutré Rock,
with a human history dating back to the Stone Age.
This is the limit of Burgundy's limestone ridge.
The wines of Pouilly-Fuissé embody a unique terroir -
elegance imparted by the limestone soils
and a richness that comes from the warmer climate.
Many of the wines from this area
used to be made by large negociants,
blending grapes from numerous small producers.
Now there's a change underway in the Mâconnais...
When you see the young generation
going back to work in the vineyard,
it means that you have more and more people
who are aware of the quality
and want to really show they can make great wines.
The challenge is to make the next generations understand
how precious and important it is
what they have in their hands,
how fragile it is also,
and how essential it is
to find a way
to keep it the way it is.
FAGAN: Vigneron Christophe Cordier explains
the unique microclimate in this valley.
The difference with Cote de Beaune -
this is the exposition.
We have every exposition.
You have a Solutrean exposition,
east exposition.
We have vineyards everywhere.
It's almost like being in an amphitheatre.
Yes, yes!
In the summer, it's very, very hot here.
We have the warm temperature everywhere.
But it's very interesting,
because we have a lot of clay and limestone in the soil,
and we can remain very good acidity for all the wine.
Very often, we can compare the best Pouilly-Fuissé with -
Sometimes we have a grand cru of Côte-d'Or.
FAGAN: Surrounding the limestone-rich soils
of the Solutré Rock,
the vineyards of Pouilly-Fuissé
flourish on its alkaline soils,
giving this area such a great potential for the future...
[♪♪]
Whatever the magic is in these bottles,
wine drinkers the world over are raising a glass
to an unprecedented demand for bubbles.
I'd like to celebrate what I feel is
the best-kept secret in the sparkling wine world -
Crémant de Bourgogne.
"Crémant" is the term used to describe
French sparkling wines made outside
the boundaries of the Champagne region,
using the "methode traditionelle".
Much like Champagne, its cousin to the north,
these wines are blended from Chardonnay and Pinot noir...
But the comparison to champagne doesn't end there.
Yeast and sugar is added to the wine
to initiate a secondary fermentation in the bottle.
The wine ages on its yeast, or lees,
before it's finally disgorged and recorked.
What's the difference between
crémant from Burgundy and champagne?
Marcel Combes, from Louis Bouillot, explains...
The latitude is very fine and exceptional
for the quality of the acidity of the grapes.
Then, we have the two best grapes -
Chardonnay and Pinot noir.
But what is very, very interesting in Burgundy
is that we are a little bit more
sunny than the Champagne area.
So, in a Crémant de Bourgogne,
you must find the delicate
and the nice fruity of the grapes.
A Blanc de Blancs must taste
more Chardonnay than a classic Champagne,
or you must find the Pinot noir in the blend.
For me, this is authenticity of Crémant de Bourgogne.
[Crowded market voices]
The cuisine of Burgundy is built
on a foundation that is traditional,
substantial, and very flavourful.
There's a lot of local ingredients.
You have beef from Charolais cattle
that's perfect for beef bourguignon...
And then there's the chicken, poulet de bresse,
the only chicken with its own "appellation d'origine",
and considered the finest in the world...
And, of course,
these are all perfectly suited for the wines of Bourgogne.
[♪♪]
The acidity in the white wines of Burgundy
is something I look for.
It adds a sharpness to the flavours,
and it gives the wine a lift.
The acidity also helps cut through
the richness of traditional Burgundian cuisine.
What he's explaining to me is, with these wines,
the wines can have their own character.
But when you have them with the cheese,
the acids in the wine cut through it,
the tannins are softened,
and the little bit of saltiness that you get
just makes the fruit shine.
It brings it all to life.
It's an experience not to be missed.
For centuries now,
these white wines have graced the tables of Europe,
and their reputation has only grown.
Producers on every corner of the globe
measure their Chardonnay against the original.
The small vineyard plots
laid out by the monks of the Middle Ages
have a style all their own...
and it's one that should be experienced by every wine-lover.