Smart Burgundy Set - Raskov Selection

Smart Burgundy

This set was selected by Vasily Raskov, DipWSET, for his online course "Smart Burgundy: how to get pleasure without going bankrupt".

The Côte-d'Or has become gold in the truest sense of the word. It's time for millionaires to pawn their palaces and yachts to try Leroy and Rousseau. Selling a kidney will not help a mere mortal to load the liver with Roumier and Leflaive wines.

The stronger is our thirst for cool Burgundy wines at an affordable price. And they do exist! The new Burgundy is dynamic and emancipated, experimenting and returning to its roots. Climate change and the viticultural revolution are allowing some obscure appellations to shine and some talented winemakers to make a name for themselves. 

On the course you will find new and old names, rising stars in godforsaken villages and a few lost gems in the parade of famous labels made by legendary winemakers. The course covers the basics of Burgundy's climate, geology and appellations, algorithms for finding new hot spots, and lists of verified names and labels.

Aligote Dore Press Verticale 429 AOC 2022 Bio - Boris Champy

Boris Champy is the genius of the Hautes-Côtes, which have benefited from global warming. He is almost the only winemaker in Burgundy who names his wines by altitude. After a career with Dominus in California, Louis Latour and Clos de Lambrays, Champy had the good fortune to take over the domaine of the Burgundy's biodynamic pioneer, Didier Montchovet, who mentored Lalou Bize-Leroy and Aubert de Villaine (DRC) in those early days. Today Champy has 12 hectares of old vines, which have been biodynamically certified since 1984. This hyper-attentive winegrower manages to make absolutely purebred wines on the cooler terroirs of Haute-Côte-de-Beaune. Tense, mineral, vibrating, elastic aligote from a height of 429 meters is a definite success.

Marsannay Rouge Les Longeroies AOC 2020 - Charlopin Tissier

Yann Charlopin is a new rising star in the Northern part of Côte-d'Or. After his practice in several wine estates in Chablis, Sancerre and Australia he worked in his father's estate Domaine Philippe Charlopin-Parizot. With encouragements and advices from his mentor Jean-Marie Fourrier, Yann purchased some vineyards from Domaind David Clark and nowadays hold over 4 hectares of vineyards in Marsannay, Pernand-Vergelesses, Morey-St-Denis, Gevrey Chambertin and Vosne-Romanée. All farming is organic and after harvesting, all grapes are de-stemmed, undergo cold maceration and are fermented spontaneously. Longerois is one of the best cru of Marsannay claiming to be a premier cru. Jan Charlopin has 1.4 hectares here in the middle of the slope. The finest and fresh style of Burgundy from a bygone era.

Pouilly-Vinzelles Climat Les Longeays AOC 2020 Bio - La Soufrandière

The Bret Brothers are making some of the most exciting wines in Mâconnais and putting their home village of Vinzelles on the map. For a long time their family sold their grapes to the local Co-op, but it was not until 2000 that the brothers decided to make their own wines, focusing on rigorous viticulture. They converted their 12 hectares in Saint-Véran, Pouilly-Fuissé, Pouilly-Vinzelles and Mâcon-Vinzelles to organic and then biodynamic. Jean-Philippe studied oenology in Dijon and then worked at Comtes Lafon and Ridge Lytton Springs. Jean-Guillaume was educated in Avize, before going on to work at Maison Verget and Newton Vineyard in California. The third brother, Marc-Antoine, is in charge of marketing and sales at La Soufrendière. The domain's energetic, textured, multi-layered and mineral style is best represented by the Climats wines: Les Quarts and Les Longeays.