How Do You Spell Trouble? Burgundy

Beauty is exacting. Sure, money helps, but money alone rarely does the trick. In no case is this more true than with Burgundy. It’s possible to get great wines for $20 or $200, but ironically, money won’t protect you. You are just as likely to get a lousy wine at the high end as the low. So it’s essential to look carefully.

I traveled to Burgundy this month to get a feel for the latest vintages. To put matters in perspective, I stopped at a well-known shipper or negociant and tasted dozens of ‘96s.

The wines were lackluster: thin, dilute and uninspiring. The labels promised greatness, but the wines failed to deliver. This, I might add, is absolutely the most common of all Burgundy experiences.

Thanks to the Napoleonic Code, which mandates that property be divided equally among all children, Burgundy has a boggling number of vineyard owners. The code has been in effect for nearly two centuries, so you can imagine how fractionalized vineyard ownership has become.

Because prices have gotten so high, growers are increasingly bottling their own wines and selling them directly to private customers or importers. Shippers who once grazed freely on Burgundy’s best resources now forage desperately for supplies.

Amazingly, they still can get some. Growers always have a need for quick cash, so they sell a barrel or two (25 or 50 cases) to a shipper to cover a cash-flow crunch. Or an aging winegrower is no longer up to caring for his wines, meeting clients and attending to the complicated paperwork that goes with estate bottling so he sells to a shipper.

The strongest shippers are those who control a large number of vineyards. The best shipper in Burgundy today is Louis Jadot. Purchased in 1985 by the American-owned Kobrand Corp., Louis Jadot is preeminent because in the last decade, it has purchased hundreds of acres of vineyards. And the three American sisters who own Kobrand have reinvested all of Louis Jadot’s profits back into Burgundy, says Pierre-Henry Gagey, the managing director of Louis Jadot.

Jadot’s ’96 Burgundies, especially the reds, are sensational. They may well be the shipper’s best wines since 1990. “It’s our kind of vintage,” confirmed Jacques Lardiere, the longtime head winemaker at Jadot. “The ’96 Pinot Noir fruit lent itself to the long, slow fermentations we like.”

Keep an eye peeled for Jadot’s 1996 Co^te de Nuits-Villages, Pernand-Vergelesses “Clos de Croix de la Pierre,” Corton “Pougets” and Nuits-Saint-Georges “Boudots,” among others. All are dark, deep, rich, striking wines. These are wines to order in advance when they finally are offered, which will be some months from now.

In Burgundy, vintages matter mightily. I arrived just as the growers were putting the ’97 vintage to bed. Were they happy? They were ecstatic. “It’s the greatest harvest I’ve ever had,” exclaimed Denis Mortet, a sought-after grower in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin.

Just why is revealed in one simple observation, made by Hubert de Montille, one of the best producers in Volnay. On Oct. 6 we were standing near an open door in his winery, tasting wines and spitting in the courtyard when suddenly a few drops of rain began to fall. De Montille looked up, amazed, and said, “You know, that’s the first time in five weeks we’ve seen a single drop of rain.”

No one really knows just how good the ‘97s will be. But whenever growers can pick their grapes unhurried by autumn rains--and it usually rains during harvests in Burgundy, which is mid-September--they’re happy. Perhaps the biggest problem this year was something usually found only in California: an almost limitless amount of time during which to choose when to pick. Growers were so dazzled by the lack of rain that some waited too long before picking, resulting in overripe grapes. In addition, acidity levels can be low and alkalinity levels high (not good because wines will lack staying power).

Also, some growers saw what are called runaway fermentations, where very ripe, sugar-rich grapes practically exploded into fermentation, raising the heat levels in vats excessively. That, in turn, can kill yeasts or reduce already low acidity levels.

Of course, we won’t know how good the ‘97s will be for a year, when the wines can be properly tasted. The odds are that it will be--brace yourself for trouble--a mixed bag of greatness and missed chances.

The 1996 vintage, though, is ready to be judged. Many of the ’96 whites are already bottled. The reds take longer. Most of the ’96 Pinot Noirs are still in barrel. They will be bottled over the next six months.

Of ‘96, one can taste and speak with confidence. In a nutshell, the ’96 red Burgundies will be knockouts: darkly colored, richly fruity, moderately tannic and deeply pleasurable. At all levels, from inexpensive, basic Bourgogne rouge to stratospherically priced grands crus, the ’96 reds performed brilliantly.

What’s more, the ‘96s will be priced reasonably (for Burgundy). In comparison, prices for the ‘97s are widely expected to increase by as much as 30% over the ‘96s. Burgundians saw how much the growers of Bordeaux--always more market-savvy than Burgundy--got for their ‘96s. So now the Burgundians are going to go for the gold with their ‘97s. We shall see.

One cautionary note with the ‘96s: Yields were on the high side, with the result that some wines--especially the whites--can be a little dilute.

That said, they have exceptional finesse. They’re not heavy or flabby wines. The ’96 white Burgundies are unusually tart or acidic (good because it makes the wine refreshing and long-lived). But the lesser versions are a little too thin, a little too acidic because there’s not enough fruit to buffer the high acidity. But the best wines are thrilling.

Among growers, a little-known yet superb producer is young Vincent Prunier in Auxey-Duresses. Many Burgundy villages see multiple estates sharing a common last name. Pruniers abound in Auxey, and at least half a dozen estates share the name. So first names count.

Vincent Prunier works in a small winery behind his modest home. His winemaking is ideal: fresh, pure, free of extraneous oakiness and concentrated. Supplies are limited, but because he’s largely unheralded, prices are reasonable. His red and white Auxey-Duresses sells in this country for no more than $20. The ’96 red Auxey-Duresses and red Saint-Aubin “Les Combes” were unusually big, a point Prunier readily conceded.

“It was a splendid vintage for us,” he said shyly. “I really like it. The grapes were much riper than in ‘95, which was itself a good year.”

At the opposite end of the modesty scale is Burgundy’s star grower, Domaine Leroy, which makes what many tasters consider Burgundy’s greatest wines. Partly this is attributable to Domaine Leroy’s radically low yields. The resulting quality comes at a (very high) price.

Not surprisingly, Domaine Leroy’s ’96 reds--which were all I tasted--were stunning. “I am very happy with ‘96,” said a beaming owner Lalou Bize-Leroy.

If spending $200 a bottle doesn’t daunt you, then by all means line up for Domaine Leroy’s ’96 Corton “Renardes” or Vosne-Romanee “Les Beaumonts” or Volnay “Santenots.” All of these, and at least a dozen others, are massive, intense, superbly concentrated red Burgundies.

A much more modestly priced producer is Domaine Delarche in Pernand-Vergelesses. Phillipe Delarche has willingly entered into a kind of winemaking accord with importer and retailer North Berkeley Wine in Berkeley (which also sells to several Los Angeles-area retailers). North Berkeley Wine asks Delarche to specially bottle his wines without filtering them and to select particular barrel lots. The results are magnificent.

Delarche’s ’96 red Pernand-Vergelesses “Les Boutieres” is easily the richest, lushest wine he has yet produced. Typically, red Pernand-Vergelesses is an austere wine, as well as a bit skimpy. Not at Delarche and certainly not in ’96.

The ’96 white Pernand-Vergelesses “Les Quartiers” is an exemplar of finesse. And when the unfiltered North Berkeley bottling was compared to the regular filtered version, the difference was dramatic. The unfiltered version was richer, rounder, more perfumed and just flat-out better. Happily, Delarche’s wines are bargain-priced; two wines mentioned sell for no more than $20 a bottle. Savvy buyers secure them before they arrive as--the inevitable Burgundy refrain--supplies are limited.

So how do you pursue the ‘96s? First, get on the mailing lists of some of California’s best Burgundy-minded retailers. Happily, this is the greatest place in the nation--even the world--to buy Burgundy. It’s better even than Burgundy itself.

Get on the mailing lists of Hi-Times Wine Cellars ([800] 331-3005), North Berkeley Wine ([800] 266-6585), Northridge Hills Liquor and Wine Warehouse ([800] 678-9463), Wine Club ([800] 966-5432), Wine Exchange ([800] 769-4639) and the Wine House ([800] 626-9463). All of these merchants are Burgundy-mad and well informed.

Also, it helps to get detailed information. Serious Burgundy buyers subscribe to private wine newsletters. The best Burgundy taster for me--which is to say that his palate agrees with mine--is Stephen Tanzer. His 40-page International Wine Cellar newsletter appears six times a year. Subscriptions cost $48 a year ([800] 946-3505).

Is all this a lot of trouble? You betcha. Is it worth it? I think so, especially with two exciting Burgundy vintages coming down the pike.