5 Great Value BURGUNDY Wines You MUST Try (While They Are Still Affordable)

Hi everybody, this is Agnes from No Sediment and today let's look for value in Burgundy. No, no, no, hear me out before you all laugh at me. I love Burgundy and its wines. Some of my greatest wine experiences have been with the wine from Burgundy, which makes it even sadder that I cannot afford it. It is just simply too expensive. According to Livex, you can buy a case of Burgundy Village Wine for the same price as a case of Bordeaux Second Growth, which makes looking for value in Burgundy that much harder. But I wanted to dig a bit deeper and take a look at Burgundy wines beyond the greatest names that we all love and adore so much and maybe find something that we regular people can afford. Therefore, this might not be surprising to you that I will not be including any of the Grand Cru wines because price-wise they are in a totally different league. I will also be excluding Chablis, though it is Burgundy and still delivers great value, especially if compared to the rest of the Burgundy. I would even want to say that it over delivers. Therefore, Chablis deserves a video on its own. But before we continue, I want to mention that Yes, Burgundy is where Chardonnay and Pinot Noir shine. They are the stars and any other technically allowed grape variety in this area will forever be viewed as inferior. Which is why we can rely on Aligote grape in Burgundy to provide a certain value. You can find it under the labels Bourgogne This grape is famous for its high, piercing acidity and, by the way, the original blending partner in the Kyr cocktail, where its acidity was countered with the sweetness of Creme de Cassis. But here's the thing, with global climate change, Aligote has become more interesting for the winemakers. It ripens fully, creating a more appealing character flavor-wise, while still retaining lively acidity. And more importantly, there is better understanding of the Aligote clones now. Therefore, some producers are focusing on Aligote Doré, which ripens fully more reliably, it tends to produce lower yields than Aligote Vert, and shows more pronounced fruit flavors. Because of its acidity, this grape variety certainly offers aging potential, showing preserved lemon notes and slightly nutty flavors. Aligote used to be more widely planted in Burgundy, and what is interesting is that some producers have expressed their desire to see it allowed in some of the Grands Crus. With Fissane, we are in Côte d'Or area, more precisely in Côte de Nuit. It shares some similarities with Gevry-Chambertin, though the soils are more alluvial. And yet, it has always been regarded as the lesser wine from the Burgundy. For me, it offers great value, not only at their premier crew level, but especially at village-level wines. These wines offer bright fruit, a fresh palate, and a quite dense structure. I don't find them rustic anymore, as some books may describe. In fact, I have noticed that these wines are becoming better with almost every next vintage. Almost all Fissane wines you will find in the market are red, hence it's Pinot Noir, but there are some Fissane Blanc made as well. Today's sponsor is Vinesia. For wine aficionados, fine wine isn't just a drink, it's an investment, like fine art growing in value over time. With market fluctuations, savvy investors have turned to wine as a resilient asset. And now, Vinesia offers an exclusive pre-sale of premium collections sourced directly from winemakers ahead of its official launch in November. Vinesia promises transparency in investment. Experience true peace of mind, verifying your collection and storage conditions anytime. Join Vinesia today and enjoy 0% service fees in your first year. Dive into a transparent wine investment, where you will be able to see and trace each bottle you own. The link to the pre-sale collection is in the description below. Thank you, Vinesia, and cheers to a transparent investment. All right, with Saint-Denis, we have entered Cote de Beaune area. Even though it is just neighboring Chassagne, I have always preferred the red wines from Saint-Denis. That is not to say that Saint-Denis wines are not offering quality and value, they certainly are. In fact, many wines will offer a better price for the same quality when compared to the neighboring Chassagne Montrachet. But it turns out that Saint-Denis actually shares similarities in soils with Cote de Neuilly, as these soils have been washed down from the hills through erosion. According to Jasper Morris, master of wine, Saint-Denis used to be regarded more highly than the vineyards of Beaune-Romanie, including the La-Romanie-Conti vineyard. And indeed, you will find more Pinot Noir here than Chardonnay in terms of plantings. Unfortunately, I have noticed a significant increase in price for Saint-Denis wines, but I still think it offers great value. The red wines can be quite elegant, bright red fruit-driven, with velvety tenons and lively acidity. It is an area where wines tend to show off more of their fruit rather than strength. Aux Cotes de Beaune is another appellation that has been viewed as an underdog over the years. The thing is, these vineyards are located higher up in the hillsides, between 300 and 500 meters above sea level, thus experiencing cooler climate. In the past, it meant that grapes could not always reach full maturity, therefore this area was often associated with plain wines with limited concentration and body. However, now this is where you reach for freshness and crisp acidity, which they deliver even in the hottest vintages. With warm growing seasons becoming more common, this area is benefiting because reaching full maturity is not an issue anymore. Wines from Aux Cotes de Beaune will usually be at the same price as regional Burgundy, but this gives you opportunity to explore wines from more prominent producers. With Saint-Veron, we are entering the Mâconais area, located in the southern part of Burgundy, between Cotes de Chalonnais and Beaujolais. And I honestly think that Mâconais has so much more to offer than just Puy-Fausse and its Premier Cru, which have already skyrocketed in price. Interestingly, some wine writers and critics note that few of the Saint-Veron communes were and still actually are worthy of Puy-Fausse name. Indeed, this appellation is actually separated into two parts with Puy-Fausse vineyards between them. Here, similarly as in Puy-Fausse, Chardonnay is the main grape variety and I truly believe that the best examples of Saint-Veron can challenge some of the Puy-Fausse wines and for sure offer better value. Before we move on, I would like to offer one last tip. I believe that the value in Burgundy lies within winemakers and producers. If you are not new to my channel, you might already know some of the stories. Trust your winemakers. Chances are great that they will transfer their values onto other lesser or lesser-known terroirs. But the quality will be higher than that from a great terroir from a lesser estate. Trust me, I have experienced that a great deal. And if you want to learn how wine's price correlates with its quality, make sure to watch this video.