WSET LEVEL 2 STUDY NOTES: BURGUNDY
A student recently emailed me asking how best to study for WSET Level 2, specifically on how she should be taking notes. There are many different techniques that are effective for note taking, but one way that I’ve found particularly helpful for memorization and retention, is changing up the order of materials.
For example, in the Level 2 textbook (Wines: Looking behind the label), the chapters are ordered around the grape. In this case, we’re going to take notes for a particular region, Burgundy, by synthesizing both the Pinot Noir chapter and the Chardonnay chapter. By processing the details by region, instead of by grape, we’ll be thinking differently about the topic and ideally retaining more of the information!
WSET LEVEL 2 - BURGUNDY
Burgundy is a region in France, that ranges from northern Chablis, through the Côte d’Or, and down to the Mâconnais in the south.
The climate ranges from cool in Chablis, moderate in the Côte d’Or, and becomes warmer in the Mâconnais.
The key grapes of Burgundy are Chardonnay for white wines, and Pinot Noir for red wines..
Characteristics of Chardonnay
White grape, adaptable to a range of climates, cool > moderate > warm. Wines will range on a spectrum from cool (apple, pear, lemon, wet stone, light to medium body, high acidity), to moderate (peach, melon, medium to full body, medium to high acidity), and warm (peach, pineapple, full body, medium acidity, acidification to balance). Winemaking techniques can include: malolactic conversion (butter, cream, softens acids), lees contact (bread, biscuit, adds body), and oak barrel fermentation/maturation or use of oak staves/chips (smoke, vanilla, adds body).
Characteristics of Pinot Noir
Black grape, thin skin (making it prone to rot/disease), likes a cool to moderate climate. Makes single varietal wines with pale to medium colour depth, low to medium tannins, high acidity, and flavours of strawberry, raspberry, and red cherry. Can be matured in oak, often old or large barrels. Ageworthy examples will develop tertiary flavours in the bottle of forest floor and mushroom. Forms part of the blend in Champagne wines.
Classifications
Burgundy has four tiers in a hierarchy, starting wit the broad regional appellation, Bourgogne AOC. This appellation covers all of Burgundy. Wines labelled using this AOC can come from anywhere in the region.
The next step up would be village wines, such as Gevrey-Chambertin, which can have more concentration and complexity of flavour with some bottles worthy of ageing.
Above this is Premier Cru, for quality vineyards within the villages. Premier Cru would appear on the wine label along with the name of the vineyard, and the name of the village (if all the fruit was sourced from the named vineyard).
At the top tier is Grand Cru, for the highest quality vineyards. A Grand Cru wine label would include the vineyard name and Grand Cru. In this case, because the vineyard itself is so famous, the village name is left off! These are very expensive wines, in great demand, that have long ageing potential. Examples include Le Chambertin, and La Tâche.
The top two tiers, PC and GC, come from prestigious vineyards that have prime vineyard real estate, facing South or S/E, with extra sunshine that gives more concentrated fruit.
Regions
From north to south:
Chablis - a village appellation for Chardonnay wines in the north of Burgundy; the best vineyards of Chablis are designated Premier Cru or Grand Cru.
Côte d’Or - divided into the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits. In the Côte de Beaune, two villages famous for Chardonnay that you should know are Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet. Pommard and Beaune are also in the Côte de Beaune, but are known for Pinot Noir wines. The most famous villages for Pinot Noir in the Côte de Nuits include Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges.
Mâconnais - Chardonnay wines from the south of Burgundy; wines are labelled as Mâcon AOC. The sub-region of Pouilly-Fuissé is known for higher quality examples.
The Wines
Bourgogne AOC
Chardonnay: simple, lemon and apple flavours, high acidity
Pinot Noir: light-medium body, red fruit flavours, low tannins, high acidity
Chablis AOC
Chardonnay wines, green apple, lemon and mineral/stone flavours, high acidity. PC and GC Chablis have more concentration and complexity. Most producers use inert vessels for fermentation.
Côte d’Or
Côte de Nuits (Gevrey-Chambertin AOC, Nuit-Saint-Georges AOC) - Pinot Noir wines with strawberry, red cherry, and oak (clove, smoke) flavours, PC and GC wines can develop forest floor and mushroom tertiary flavours with bottle age.
Côte de Beaune (Pommard AOC, Beaune AOC) - Pinot Noir wines.
Côte de Beaune (Meursault AOC, Puligny-Montrachet AOC) - Chardonnay wines with peach and melon flavours, fermentation and/or maturation in oak, lees contact, PC and GC wines can develop hazelnut and mushroom tertiary flavours with bottle age.
Mâconnais AOC
Chardonnay wines, lemon, peach and melon flavours, generally fruity and unoaked; in the warm slopes of sub-region Pouilly-Fuissé AOC, wines have stone and tropical fruit flavours, and can be fermented and/or matured in oak to add body and flavour.