Bordeaux Burgundy

Explores the history, culture, economics, rivalry, and wines of the Bordeaux and Burgandy regions of France.

Seeking to penetrate the mysteries of two great wine regions, Jean-Robert Pitte embarks upon an evocative and fascinating exploration of the land, people, and wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. His account is a rich tapestry of terroir, history, culture, and economics from Roman to modern times.

An intoxicating memoir of an American who discovers a passion for French wine and gambles everything to chase a dream of owning a vineyard in Burgundy Ray Walker had a secure career in finance until a wine-tasting vacation ignited a passion he couldn’t stifle. He quit his job and moved to France to start a winery—with little money, limited command of the French language, and no winemaking experience. He immersed himself in the extraordinary history of Burgundy’s vineyards and began honing his skills. Ray shares his journey to secure the region’s most coveted grapes. The Road to Burgundy is a glorious celebration of finding one’s true path in life and taking a chance—whatever the odds.

The Original Grands Crus of Burgundy is a translation from works describing the vineyards of the Cote d'Or written prior to the establishment of today's system of Appellation d'Origine Controlee in 1936 and a discussion of how they compare to the modern system. For centuries, a number of authors ranging from learned amateurs to experienced professionals weighed in with their thoughts, including Claude Arnoux, Dissertation sur la situation de la Bourgogne, sur les vins qu'elle produit (1728); Claude Courtepee and Edme Beguillet, Description historique et topographique du Duche de Bourgogne (1778); Andre Jullien, Topographie de Tous les Vignobles Connus (1816); Dr. Denis Morelot, Statistique de la Vigne dans le Departement de la Cote d'Or (1831) ; Dr. Jules Lavalle, Histoire et Statistique et des Grands Vins de la Cote d'Or (1855) ; Rene Danguy and Charles Aubertin, Les Grands Vins de Bourgogne (1892) ; and Camille Rodier, Le Vin de Bourgogne (1920). More than a dusty history lesson, The Original Grands Crus of Burgundy provides a roadmap for the discovery of forgotten gems, hidden in plain sight. Crucial reading for all who love Burgundy.

Burgundy is a fitting monument to the region that is capable of producing, in Parker’s words, “the world's most majestic, glorious, and hedonistic red and white wine.” With the publication of his classic volumes, Bordeaux and The Wines of the Rhône Valley and Provence, together with the several editions of his Wine Buyer’s Guide, Robert M. Parker, Jr., has emerged as America’s most influential and articulate authority on wine. Whether he writes of the fabled French châteaux or of lesser-known growers and producers from around the world, his books have proved invaluable reading for connoisseurs and neophytes alike, for they contain not only hard-headed, frank analysis but an undisguised and positively contagious enthusiasm for his subject. In this book, his most ambitious and comprehensive to date, Parker offers an extraordinary guide to the growers, appellations, and wines of Burgundy, the viticultural region in eastern France that produces the most exotic, sought-after, expensive, and frequently least understood wines in the world. Like its predecessors, Bordeaux and The Wines of the RhOne Valley and Provence, Parker’s Burgundy has all the makings of a classic. It is a beautifully produced book, and it boasts more than thirty specially made color maps, with those depicting the individual appellations drawn in such exquisite detail that each and every vineyard is visible. Burgundy is a fitting monument to the region that is capable of producing, in Parker”s words, “the world’s most majestic, glorious, and hedonistic red and white wine.”

Ten years after the publication of the highly acclaimed, award-winning Côte D'Or: A Celebration of the Great Wines of Burgundy, the "Bible of Burgundy," Clive Coates now offers this thoroughly revised and updated sequel. This long-awaited work details all the major vintages from 2006 back to 1959 and includes thousands of recent tasting notes of the top wines. All-new chapters on Chablis and Côte Chalonnaise replace the previous volume's domaine profiles. Coates, a Master of Wine who has spent much of the last thirty years in Burgundy, considers it to be the most exciting, complex, and intractable wine region in the world, and the one most likely to yield fine wines of elegance and finesse. This book is an indispensable guide for amateur and professional alike by one of the world's leading wine experts, writing with his habitual expertise, lucidity, and unequaled firsthand knowledge.

"My Favorite Burgundies is a more personal follow-up to--but not a comprehensive revision of--Coates' The Wines of Burgundy (California, 2008). The book is based on the author's many subsequent tastings and travels through the region since the publication of his last book five years ago. Chapter 1 includes descriptions of Burgundy's most renowned vineyards, including their particular history, geography, and soil conditions, as well as tasting notes of various producer's single-bottle offerings from these sites. Chapter 2 describes the region's most distinguished domaines, with Coates impressions of the proprietors, facilities, and wine-making philosophies, along with vertical tasting notes (in some cases, stretching back more than thirty years). Chapter 3 provides current vintage assessments of Chablis from 2008-2010, Coates' highly sought-after "Three Years On" and "Ten Years On" tastings, assessing wines from between 1990-2002. All tastings are accompanied by the author's personal notes, ratings, and suggested drinking dates. Interspersed throughout are a brief series of "observations" on a variety of hot-button issues in the wine world, from the utility of blind tasting and tasting notes to biodynamics and other philosophies of viticulture"--