Book review: The Great Domaines of Burgundy

The Great Domaines of Burgundy
By Remington Norman and Charles Taylor, photo Jon Wyand (mainly)
Publisher: Kyle Cathie Ltd

The key to finding good Burgundy wines is to find the right producer. There are few wine regions where it is so important to know exactly who it is who has made the wine, rather than knowing from what appellation it comes (or where it is so easy to make a mistake and be disappointed if one makes a bad choice). In many cases you have to pay great attention also to the first name of the grower since in a single village there may be a dozen producers with the same family name. In this book you will find those that are worth looking for. Perhaps not quite all of them but many (most) of the best Burgundy producers are there. Each producer is given one or two pages with details on the vineyards, the winemaking and the wines. There’s even a tabular listing of everyone’s vineyard holdings! A treasure trove of information about the best growers in Burgundy. The book also contains some more general information about the region: Each commune is presented, including a detail map af the vineyards. There are a few chapters at the beginning and at the end that explains the recent developments in Burgundy, talks about organic wine farming, about the grapes, oak aging, the climate, the appellation rules etc. It is a large format book with very good photo illustrations mainly by the excellent burgundy specialist Jon Wyand. In summary: an invaluable book for those who want to find the best producers, or find new producers that you might not have known before in Burgundy; also with plenty of new information so worth while even for those who have read a previous edition.

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