Feb. 17--Back when I was a lad, selling wine as a merchant, the most popular white Burgundy was the unpronounceable Pouilly-Fuisse. I most often heard requests for "Polly Foosay." Why a wine was so sought after whose name was difficult to say remains odd to me. (By the way, it's close to "pwee-fwee-say.")
Nowadays, with Burgundies red and white, it's the unpronounceable names that are the least popular and consequently often a great buy because demand for them is so low.
That leads me to the topic for this column: "hidden Burgundy," wines from this most expensive of French winemaking regions that are extreme values because they're off the wine retail radar screen. Some have names difficult to say, but more are tucked away in appellations commonly overlooked for, well, reasons difficult to say.
Cote de Beaune
Among the tongue twisters is the lengthily named 2012 Louis Jadot Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Clos de la Croix de Pierre ($35-$40) from near the top of the famed Cote de Beaune. ("Pair-nahn-vair-juh-less" is close enough.) It's in the austere, high-toned Jadot style, which gives it plenty of delicious acidity and a good dollop of minerals as an offset to the rich pear aromas and flavors.
And there's the 2011 Benjamin Leroux Auxey-Duresses Blanc ($45) from a bit farther south on the same cote. Matt Kramer, in his book "Making Sense of Burgundy," calls Auxey-Duresses ("oh-say-doo-ress") "the most underrated commune in the Cote d'Or," that strip of gold in more than one way -- at the heart of Burgundy. Leroux's Auxey, for the price, is a terrifically dense version of nearly unoaked chardonnay, tangerine-y and minerally and long on the palate.
Other more easily pronounceable yet nonetheless commonly overlooked vineyard areas in the Cote de Beaune include St. Aubin, Chorey-les-Beaune and Santenay, this latter also highly regarded by Kramer. Here are some recommended wines from these three villages.
2012 Francois Carillon St. Aubin Blanc 1er Cru: Notable for its incisive acidity, hemmed in with minerals reminding of white chalk, and its white fruit flavors quietly unfolding on the tongue. $40-$45
2012 Vincent and Sophie Morey St. Aubin Blanc 1er Cru Les Charmois: White fruits and white flowers, white minerals and white wood, a real blanc all around, coming on to the tongue with some heft. $40-$45
2012 Joseph Drouhin Chorey-les-Beaune: A light-bodied but very pretty version of aromas and flavors of chocolate-covered cherries; supple, limpid, elegantly tannic; a real beauty in true Burgundian pinot noir for so little outlay. $25-$30
2010 Camille Giroud Santenay: Santenay turns out broad-shouldered, almost rustic versions of pinot noir. This is delicious for its tastes and aromas of candied fruit (like SweeTarts), with full-on wafts of dusty earth. (And note, the domaine is American owned!) $35
Cote Chalonnaise
Perhaps the most overlooked values in Burgundies made of both chardonnay and pinot noir are to be found coming from the region just to the south of the Cote de Beaune, the Cote Chalonnaise. In general, the wines are more rough-hewn than those made of the same grapes to the north, but from good producers and houses, they are truly amazing values. Here are more recommendations.
2012 Domaine Alain Roy Montagny 1er Cru: Montagny makes whites only. This is a beaut, for its scents and savors of white flowers, white peach and pear and intense minerality, edged in a lemon-y acidity. What a fine price for so much in a wine. $20-$25
2012 Domaine Faiveley Mercurey: Faiveley is well-known for its holdings here. This is all cherries and raspberries, on the way to being Beaujolais-y for its ebullient fruit. (Be sure to aerate it for at least four hours.) $25-$30
2012 Domaine Chofflet-Valdenaire Givry 1er Cru: Givry makes pinots on all fours: deep carmine-purple color, strong flavors of black currants and dried strawberry, chalky tannins and hints of minerals and earth. This domaine is a star of the region. Another unbelievable price. $25-$35
Cote de Nuits
I found a red wine from the tip-top of the Cote d'Or, from the village of Marsannay just outside Dijon at the beginning of the Cote de Nuits. It's part of hidden Burgundy too, and I think you'll like it.
2010 Regis Bouvier Marsannay Vieilles Vignes Les Longeroies: From 50-year-old vines; Dutch cocoa and wet black earth accent the meaty, deeply rendered black cherry fruit. Super straightforward, like a slap on the back from pinot noir as genial fellow. $40
A note on serving these wines: Do not chill the white wines too greatly; they're better -- more open, more richly textured -- when cool, not cold. And aerate the reds for a good four to five hours, really sloshing some air into them in a decanter, to bring out their subtleties in both aroma and flavor.
If your wine store does not carry these wines, ask for one similar in style and price.
Bill St. John has been writing and teaching about wine for more than 40 years.
bsjtrib@gmail.com
