If the recent US$1,000 price for a 2005 Chateau Lafite, a favourite among Chinese collectors, makes your eyes bulge, just take a look at top Burgundy prices. The coveted Grand Crus from the best Burgundy producers are above Lafite’s prices with the hallowed wines of Domaine de Romanee Conti (DRC) commanding in excess of US$10,000 per bottle for the 2005 vintage! One explanation is supply and demand: Lafite produces 200,000 bottles of their grand vin while DRC produces just 5,000 bottles of the Romanee Conti. Another could be that whilst there are numerous well-made Cabernet Sauvignon blends from around the world, there are still very few convincing Pinot Noirs that are en par with the best from Burgundy.

A recent trip to Burgundy, hopping from one domaine to another, just reaffirmed the qualities that make this region so fascinating: Endless variation, inimitable quality, a cast of intriguing owners and vignerons and the wine’s connection to the land. This is all from just two key grape varieties – Pinot Noir for reds and Chardonnay for whites. 

It isn’t just the complexity of Burgundy and its wines that are challenging, but even the sheer act of visiting the properties can be tricky. Very few of the domaine addresses are on the GPS system. So one is left to following vague directions like: “Once you pass the town, pass the church on the right and the restaurant, then turn left at junction; drive 100 yards and it is the house with the garden.” Unlike Bordeaux where the spirals of the chateaux gleam from a distance, less than half of the twenty top domaines I visited had any signage. One could easily assume passing by the properties of Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey or Emmanuel Rouget that it is simply their home rather than a highly-regarded wine property that sells wine around the world at well over US$100 per bottle. 

The styles and expressions of the Pinot Noir grape from this region are extraordinary. There are the ruby-tinted ethereal beauties from Roumier and Vogue. There are the densely coloured concentrated styles from Dugat-Py and Ponsot. Then of course there is the unique Domaine de Romanee Conti, embedding their own signature polish, charm and personality into every wine they produce, from the single Premier Cru to the entire range of Grand Crus. How can one not be beguiled by their power combined with feminine charm? 

Burgundy does not receive as much attention as Bordeaux, especially in Asia. But in its own quiet down-to-earth manner, Burgundy has attracted a strong following, almost a cult following given the prices they command. Just take a look at the latest Hong Kong wine auction results and it isn’t just Lafite and Petrus that are breaking auction records, it is also DRC and its Burgundian cohorts achieving similar success. At the recent Hospice de Beaune auction held in November 2009, which provides an indication of Burgundy wine prices for the 2009 vintage, prices were up over 30 percent for the red wines despite the worldwide economic uncertainties. For the love of Burgundy, for some there is no limit.