TIP 1: When should you drink Burgundy? As you browse through the Burgundy Online site, you may notice we are torn, at times, concerning when a wine should be drunk. If there were an easy question we would have easy answers for each wine. This is not the case.
Take our grand cru Charmes Chambertin 1997 from Moillard Grivot. Some people will say that any grand cru from Burgundy should not be drunk until it is at least 10 years old. And it is true that the vast majority have the stamina to age very well from 10 to 15 years and often much longer. But we love this particular wine now and don't feel like we are wasting anything by drinking it sooner rather than later. The most important aspect of wine collecting and drinking is to know your own personal taste. There are those who enjoy the fruit and freshness of a young wine while overlooking a certain level of tannins. Other wine lovers so dislike tannins that young wines are not to their taste. These wine lovers will much prefer a more evolved wine, as tannins blend into the wine over time. Then there is a third category of connoisseur who likes all types wines, young or old, depending on the occasion. (We tend to fall into this group!)
So please try to keep this in mind as you look through the page and when tasting wines. Judge for yourself what types of wines you prefer, for which occasion, and with what dish.
TIP 2: Tip from Laurent to the chefs among you – The advantage of having 3 bottles is the following. First you should taste a wine on its own – no food and no guests. While drinking it, try to analyze what you like in the wine, based on your own taste buds. Then think about what type of food you would like to eat with this wine. We often hear people on our tours who say ?This wine would go great with my XYZ dish!? for example. With your second bottle, prepare the dish (or dishes) and taste the food and wine together to see if your intuition was correct. Finally, with your last bottle, invite your guests over and you will be sure to have a great food and wine combination. By the way, Laurent really does this when planning a menu and explains that he has to taste the wines for the success of the dinner party. Its a tough job but somebody has to do it!
TIP 3 : How long should a bottle of Burgundy wine be opened before serving? The criteria we use to decide if a wine should be decanted or opened before serving is the age and appellation of the wine. If a wine is a 1er or grand cru and we are serving it before its time then it may become necessary to air it a bit. For example, wines from 1996 are generally young or green right now and will stay that way for quite some time. It is, therefore, helpful to open the wine 1 hour before serving. Decanting is a way of speeding up the breathing process. All of the wine is in contact with the air and will soften up much more quickly. You just need to decant and serve. Of course, the catch 22 with all of this is that you need to know the wine to know if it could use airing out or not. The best thing to do is test your own palate if you have more than one bottle of the wine. Open it and taste it right away. Leave the bottle open at room temperature and taste it again 20 minutes later. See if you notice any differences between the tastings. Continue doing this over a period of time (until the wine is gone is a good parameter!) Then try to judge for yourself if you preferred the wine just after opening or if after 30 minutes it was softer and more to your liking. Perhaps you loved it after 1 h 30. Let your taste be the judge. If you liked it more after a certain amount of time you know that you should let other bottles of the same wine breath before serving. If you like it right out of the bottle, try to re-cork it between servings. This will keep the youth and fruit in the bottle for a longer period of time
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