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A tale of two Jacques
I still have the tie I was wearing when I was humbled about my wine knowledge.
It wasn’t a super busy night in the restaurant, but it was busy enough to keep us moving at a good pace. Armed with my corkscrew and sense of hospitality, I approached the table and asked if I could assist with the wine list.
“Estournelles-Saint-Jacques, please,” came the reply without the gentleman looking away from his guests.
“Of course, sir.”
I ran back to the cellar to find the wine in question. Specifically, the Domaine Louis Jadot, Domaine des Héritiers, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er cru Estournelles-Saint-Jacques.
Except I couldn’t find it. But I did find the Domaine Louis Jadot 1er cru Clos Saint-Jacques also from Gevrey-Chambertin, which seemed similar enough, and it was even cheaper. A deal, I thought. Maybe he’ll have two bottles.
I came back to present the bottle and explained the situation. That the Estournelles- Saint-Jacques he wanted was sold out but the Clos Saint-Jacques was also a premier cru and the vineyard right next door so worth considering due to its similarities. He was generous while listening to me, but I could tell he sensed my uncertainty.
“How very kind of you,” he said. “But this is not the wine I asked for. It is very different in many regards. I own Estournelles-Saint- Jacques and would prefer to drink my wine.”
That’s when I knew I was dealing with a select type of wine buyer. A specific kind of investor who doesn’t want to own the bottle, but rather the vineyard that produces it.
I was humbled, of course, and set out to learn more about the patchwork that is Burgundy.
Burgundy is a region in eastern France where the two principal grapes grown are chardonnay and pinot noir. There are a few others, but by and large, when one speaks of Burgundy, whether white or red, it is chardonnay and pinot noir.
What makes these wines so unique, and so hard to resist, is not only the limited amount produced from each vineyard, but also that no other grapes can taste quite like those grown on that specific site. Even vineyards side by side can produce dramatically different wines, which was the case with the two Saint-Jacques vineyards.
Burgundy is broken up into regions: from north to south Chablis, Côte d’Or, Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais. The Côte d’Or is itself divided into two parts: the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits.
The wines of Burgundy are divided into four tiers of quality. On the label you will see; Regional (e.g., Bourgogne AOC—the broadest)
Village, with names you might be familiar with such as Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet or Morey-St-Denis just to name a few.
Premier Cru (village + named vineyard)
Grand Cru (the vineyard stands alone—no village name needed)
Unlike many wines, the grape variety won’t appear on the label—the place is considered the most important information.
The Côte d’Or which is roughly 50 km long long and just 1–2 km wide commands most of the attention. It is here that the most celebrated grand cru wines are found and, as such, the pinnacle of both chardonnay and pinot noir.
From that evening on, I became obsessed with single-vineyard and single-variety wines from all corners of the world. Blends be damned. They had no space in my glass. I was dogged and narrowly focused on wines that I believed at the time to be far superior in every way.
It was my position that a single grape from a single vineyard can express itself with more purity than when it is blended with other grapes or with other vineyards.
A terrific example of this locally can be found at Closson Chase Vineyards. There you will find two separate vineyards, the South Clos and Churchside. Keith Tyers makes both chardonnay and pinot noir from these vineyards and bottles them separately.
Of course, over the years, I’ve since seen the error of my ways and can now appreciate both blends and single-vineyard wines.
However, there will always be a special place in my cellar for these wines. And I may even wear that tie the next time I reach for them.
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