Burgundy Wine: Pinot Noir, Aligoté and a Wine Tasting That Changed My Mind

Burgundy is famous for its wine. But walking into a restaurant in Beaune and being handed a book-sized wine list would challenge any wine lover.In this episode I visit Burgundy's wine country as an enthusiastic amateur rather than an expert, and come back with a much better understanding of what makes Burgundy wine so particular, and so expensive. We start with a cellar walk at Patriarche et Fils in Beaune, one of the oldest négociants in the region, where 5km of underground cellars hold wine at every stage from barrel to bottle. From there we cover the difference between Pinot Noir and the bigger Bordeaux-style reds, why Burgundy Chardonnay behaves differently from the Chardonnay you find everywhere else, and the aligoté grape that most people overlook and I have always quietly loved.We also visit the Clos du Moulin aux Moines, a small grower whose Chardonnay genuinely changed my mind, and finish with a €60 red at Bistro de Beaune chosen by the sommelier, who turned out to know exactly what he was doing.