Burgundy

This is the Holy Land of wine, whence, centuries ago, came the Celts, whose contacts with Italy led to the import of the grape long before the birth of Christ. The evidence for this - a tombstone depicting what appears to be a Celtic God with a vine clutched in his right hand - can be found in the village church of Corgoloin in the Côte de Nuits.

After the Celts came the Romans and by the time the Roman Empire disintegrated, commercial viticulture in Burgundy was well established. After a period of barbarian rule the Church took to wine through the benefaction of vineyards by pious laymen and by the middle of the 13th century the Benedictines owned all the vineyards around Gevrey in the Côte de Nuits, some 100km north of their abbey at Cluny.

Acquiring vineyards was a good business move on the part of the monks, for they had ready-made cellars and store rooms ideal for maturing wine. They also had that other precious commodity - time - in which to keep detailed records and to instigate the systematic changes necessary to improve quality. However, it took a while longer for Burgundy's wine to really take off - about 700 years to be more precise - for it wasn't until the second half of the 20th century that the world finally discovered its almost infinite diversity.

Burgundy is a relatively small wine region, and although it is still possible to find good value wines, it's a lot harder now than it was when we first started looking nearly 20 years ago. Fortunately it is also a region where the search is as much fun as the discovery. A compact area of rugged escarpments and gentle hills, small villages and quiet roads, there is enough warm hospitality and good food to sustain you while you admire the vineyards and sample the wines.

Burgundy's official appellations are divided into four broad categories, in ascending order of quality - and we have vineyards producing wines in three of them:

Regional 'Bourgogne' appellations are wines that can be produced from the region as a whole, such as our exclusive Bourgogne rouge from Domaine Michel-Andreotti.

Communal or 'village' appellations are for wines produced in a single village which then gives its name to those wines, such as our Givry from Domaine Ragot and our exclusive Nuits-St-Georges from Domaine Dubois.

Premier Cru appellations are for wines produced on a specific named and delimited parcel of land - a climat - within a given village. On the label the name of the climat is added to that of the village, as in our exclusive Mercurey Premier Cru En Sazenay from Domaine Pillot and our Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume from Domaine Séguinot-Bordet. The Premiers Crus of Burgundy are an area of particular interest and we have several vineyards, especially in the Côte Chalonnaise south of Beaune, producing excellent quality and value for money in this category.

Grand Cru appellations are for the unique products of the most highly reputed climats. With these the name of the climat replaces the name of the village on the label.

Domaine Séguinot-Bordet

Our exclusive Chablis made by Jean-François Bordet at Domaine Séguinot-Bordet comes from vines planted in the 1930s. The combination of old vines and lees ageing results in a rich, complex wine with a delightful floral bouquet, a spicy palate and lots of ripe fruit, with a lovely creamy texture. It is complemented by his Premier Cru Chablis from the well-known Fourchaume vineyard.

Domaine Chalmeau

The Chalmeau family have been winemakers in the ancient village of Chitry-le-Fort for four generations, and their wines feature in all the top French wine guides and regularly win medals throughout France and at the International Wine Challenge in London. Our exclusive Chablis has all the mineral elegance for which the region is famed, and our Aligoté shows off the character that the region’s oldest variety can attain.

Domaine Désertaux-Ferrand

The Côte de Nuits is the northern half of the famous Côte d’Or - the heart of the Burgundy wine-producing region. The Désertaux-Ferrand family have been winemakers here for generations and this is evident by the quality of our exclusive red and white Côte de Nuits-Villages. The red has all the qualities of a perfect burgundy and the white is a delicious, and unusual, blend of Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay.

Domaine Dubois

The Dubois are a highly-skilled and charming family who are widely respected for the consistency and quality of their wines. Our exclusive cuvée is from the Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation, which produces a wine with a powerful bouquet of red fruits and a touch of spice and vanilla. It is paired with a Côte de Nuits-Villages, a wine with a slightly softer expression with flavours of blackcurrant and a hint of liquorice.

Domaine Jacob

Located in the picturesque little village of Échevronne, where the vineyards are interspersed by wildflower meadows beneath gentle crags, Domaine Jacob is becoming widely recognised as one of the “rising stars in the Burgundy firmament” and their constant award-winning wines are testimony to this.

Domaine Chevrot

Red geraniums flowing from old clay pots surround the 18th Century farmhouse of this beautiful domaine. The welcome Partners receive when visiting Domaine Chevrot is as first-rate as the wines - wonderful classic burgundies which over the years have won many medals at London’s International Wine Challenge.

Domaine Brelière

The appellation of Rully is in the Côte Chalonnaise south of Beaune in Burgundy. The wines here are amazing value, yet with all the elegance and sophistication of great burgundy. Rully produces slightly less red wine than white. Our red, Les Préaux, is a Premier Cru made from Pinot Noir grapes grown in a tiny vineyard behind Château Rully, and our white is a special cuvée made from Chardonnay grapes.

Domaine Pillot

Mercurey is the most important appellation in the Côte Chalonnaise. Our exclusive En Sazenay was the first-ever wine from the Côte Chalonnaise to win a Gold Medal at the International Wine Challenge. Clos des Montaigus was one of the five original Mercurey Premier Cru vineyards to be designated in 1923 - so we consider ourselves very fortunate to be able to offer Partners their own exclusive Premier Cru wine from this region.

Domaine Ragot

Located in the Côte Chalonnaise, the appellation of Givry surrounds the small town from which it takes its name. Our winemaker, Jean-Paul Ragot, has a deserved reputation for the consistency and quality of his wine. Red wine predominates this area, so the fact that Domaine Ragot offers both a red and a white is something of a rarity. Both wines have great finesse - a treat for burgundy-lovers.

Domaine Michel-Andreotti

Domaine Michel-Andreotti in the Côte Chalonnaise south of Beaune produces our exclusive white Montagny Premier Cru, made from 100% Chardonnay grapes and, unusually for a white burgundy, unoaked. It is the soil in the Les Resses vineyard - a mixture of clay and limestone - that adds depth and finesse to its good fruit characteristics. It comes with a red Bourgogne, made from 100% Pinot Noir, which shows a developed bouquet of red fruits and spice.

Domaine Drouin

Thierry Drouin's winemaking combines the best of traditional methods with contemporary expertise. Wines from the appellation of Pouilly-Fuissé are rich and sumptuous and our exclusive Pouilly-Fuissé is no exception. Thierry's wines regularly win awards and many wine experts have long advocated their merits.