Wine Country

Wine Country

Some prefer Bordeaux, others insist that Burgundy is an oenophile's nirvana, to be accorded religious reverence.

Indeed, this used to be literally the case, for the region's wine husbandry was perfected in large part by the great monasteries of the region, including Cluny and Cîteaux; the Cistercians founded the Clos de Vougeot, a great favorite of the 17th-century writer and gourmand Rabelais.

The first evidence of vineyards in Cluny dates from 330 BC. Centuries later, during the Holy Roman Empire, nobility often gave vineyards to the church.

The monks tasted and analyzed the wines and recorded the nuances of the different plots of land.

Detailed maps were drawn, indicating the temperatures and miniclimates of the plots.

The term clos (an ancient word for climate) comes from the names given these climates by the monks.

Each part of Burgundy produces wine of distinctive quality: Chablis (steely white wine), Côte de Nuits (rich and full-flavored red wine), Côte de Beaune (delicately flavored red and white wines), Côte Chalonnaise (whites and full-flavored reds), Irancy (earthy reds), St-Bris (flinty whites), Pouilly-Fuissé (fruity whites).

The famous vineyards south of Dijon -- the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune -- are among the world's most distinguished and picturesque.

Don't expect to unearth many bargains in the vineyards themselves, however. The best place to sample a goodly selection is in the Marché aux Vins in Beaune, a scenic old town dominated by the patterned-tile roofs of its medieval Hôtel-Dieu (hospital).

Sometimes God and Nature conspire to dose just the proper quantities of temperature, sunshine, and rain at just the proper season -- and a great French wine is born.

The great variation in the quality of the grapes from year to year is, after all, the result of differences in the weather during the growing season.

For red Burgundies, everything came together for the celebrated 1999 vintage of Côte de Beaune, a superripe elixir in for the long haul.