Dogma Kills Pinot
I own an extra large T-shirt. People who know me will realize why it had to be extra large. I use it mainly in the winter, in lieu of pyjamas. On the front it proclaims Dogma Kills Pinot. On the back there is one word: Terroiriste. Peter Wasserman designed this to give out to our guests at the Bouilland Symposia.
The beauty of Burgundy is that there are No Rules. Just consider. Permutate the following. Do you vinify with all the stems, a little, or none at all? Do you cold soak beforehand? At what temperature do you vinify? 28°? 30°? 32°? Are you content if the temperature rises further? How much pigeage and remontage do you do? How much new oak do you employ? And, finally, how long does the wine stay in cask before you bottle it?
In many other wine regions all the wines are made to the same recipe, and, moreover, using the same clones and yeasts. Inevitably there is a similarity to the wines. In Burgundy this is, thank God, not so. Every wine is considered differently. You would not dream - or I fervently hope you would not - of imposing 100 percent new oak on your Passetoutgrains, or macerating your Bourgogne Rouge for a month. Nor would you vinify your Chambertin for such a brief period that it came out all weak, wimpy and ephemeral. Each plot of vines imposes its own method of producing the optimum result. And, moreover, every vintage is different, and has to be nuanced accordingly. While each domaine has its own general formula, every year brings its own adjustments. In 2003, for instance, it was eccessively hot. The small crop was very concentrated and the fruit was over-ripe, lacking acidity. Did you acidify? Did you shorten the maceration in order to avoid wines which were too chunky for their own good? In a year such as 2007 the wines had no great structure, and some, but by no means all, opined that this was a vintage where you should do less pigeage, more remontage. Additionally, many, but again by no means all, decided to bottle a month or two earlier than usual, in order to preserve freshness. As I say every vintage is different, and the best estates modify their procedures to suit. In fact there are really only three constants, and they occur earlier. Cut the crop down to a minimum. Plough the vineyards to aerate the soil and encourage micro-floral and micro-biological activity. And sort out the healthy, ripe fruit from the rest before vinification. Oh, and generally intervene, all the way from vine-bud to bottle, as little as possible.
Yet, and this is crucial, every permutation of the elements above can result in great wine.
It is this variety which makes Burgundy so fascinating. Plus, of course, the increasing quality in the established domaines, and the continuing emergence of new estates worthy of attention. What is also remarkable is the absence of jealousy. No one goes round swanking that their method is superior to their neighbour. Naturally a follower of the late Henri Jayer will be adamant about the necessity of removing all the stems before vinification. Equally Aubert de Villaine of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti remains utterly convinced, for the Domaine's vineyards and wines at least, that the use of the stems adds a significant plus. But there is an intellectual accomodation, a real friendship among the growers, irrespective of the fact they they are competitors, as well as a wide and genuine appreciation of other's efforts, however different. Dogma does not rule in Burgundy.