Bargain red Burgundy. Yes, bargain red Burgundy!

I’ve discovered the Holy Grail for wine lovers, good affordable red Burgundy. And I'm sharing it with you...

Wine is on the whole much more expensive that it once was and that goes double, triple or more for Burgundy. Unlike Bordeaux which I covered last week, Burgundy doesn’t produce a lot of wine and the demand is high. And also unlike Bordeaux, Burgundy isn’t exactly famed for the reliability of its wines especially at the bottom end of the scale.

I remember the first time I tried red Burgundy while working for Oddbins in the late 1990s. One evening, the manager took me into the back office and with a gesture that implied I was being initiated into an arcane order, opened a bottle of Mercurey which cost about £10 - a lot of money in those days when you could get something very drinkable for £5. He poured me a glass and we both took a sniff. It smelt good. Then I had a sip – nothing. It tasted of nothing whatsoever. When I commented on this, the manager smiled and said, ‘that’s Burgundy!’ From then on Burgundy seemed to be some sort of cosmic joke played on the gullible.

But reliable cheap(ish) Burgundy does exist if you go a bit off the beaten track. My latest column in The Critic looks at the Auxerrois in the north of the region. Here’s a little extract:

“According to Patrick Matthews this area around the towns of Tonnerre and Épineuil used to supply Paris via the river Yonne, a tributary of the Seine, until the coming of the railways brought cheap southern wines to the capital. This was followed by phylloxera, the vine eating louse, at the end of the nineteenth century and Northern Burgundy, Chablis aside, became a vinous backwater.

Matthews is a former wine writer, author of one of my favourite books on the subject The Wild Bunch, who now runs a chain of falafel stands and cafes in London called Hoxton Beach. In the last few years he’s begun importing wine for his venues focusing on this neglected part of Burgundy while also selling to a few private clients.”

I’ve highlighted four wines below which Patrick is selling as part of various red Burgundy cases (the ‘Phenomenal Pinot Noir’¹ selection looks particularly good for £95) or you might be able persuade him to just sell you a case of just one wine. Prices below are approximate. Please email him at hoxtonhome@gmail.com for more details.

Coulanges-la-Vineuse, Pierre Herouart, 2022 (£15)

While cheap wines from the Côtes de Nuits often taste thin and green, this was juicy and opulently fruity. Matthews had no idea how a wine so ripe was created that far north.

Irancy Palotte Benour Cantin, 2019 (£25)

Some serious Burgundy here. Think wild strawberries and leather with bit of grip to it. In America, this will set you back $50 from Kermit Lynch. Perfect Christmas day wine with your turkey and ham.

Bourgogne Destrier Domaine Celine Cote 2019 (£18.50)

Beautifully fragrant nose, strawberries and something floral like essence of pinot noir. The palate is supple and juicy with warming fruit and spicy, soft tannins. Almost a touch of grenache about this one. Huge fun.

Passe-tout-grains, Benour Cantin 2019 (£65 for 6 bottles ie £10.83 each)

This is a is made from a blend of gamay and pinot noir. It’s exactly the sort of bistro wine you can imagine Parisians knocking back before the coming of the railways.

Matthews isn’t the only man in the bargain Burgundy game.