The Four Personalities of France- Part 1: Burgundy

At this stage I'm sure everyones sick of hearing about it, but when you talk about French wine... you're not really left with much option but to mention it. I am of course talking about the all important terroir! Now for me terroir is a bit like personality- Everyone's is different! So what personality would Burgundy have? Well Burgundy is a tricky one... because you've not only got some truly great Pinot Noir's, but you also have a brilliant white-Chablis! So one person isn't goin to cut this with regards to Burgundy- for this we need a Hollywood Couple... but who could it be? What couple could represent the smooth, self-indulgent personality of the Pinot Noir Grape, and also the voluptuous nature of Chablis???

Thinking...
Thinking...
Thinking.....

Ive got it!!!!

Yes he may be old, and she may be not a particularly good actor- but that does not mean they don't fit the bill perfectly when thinking about Burgundy. Michael Douglas in Wall Street- and intense, feisty, pitbull, wraped up in his comfortable Millionaire lifestyle... A bit like Pinot Noir which is difficult to cultivate and grow, but when its battled its way to the top, its the Pinot's elgeance and Finnesse which shines through! And as for the Chardonnay... I mean Chablis... (for anyone who doesn't know, and all those people who think they don't like Chardonnay but love Chablis... they're actually the same thing!) She may not be a good actress, and she may be way too hot for Michael Douglas- but its the fact that her and Michael Douglas are polar opposites that makes them the perfect choice for this! Think about it- the nice refined Pinot Noir reds, counter-balnced by the Big voluptuos Chablis!

Now a bit of general info on Burgundy- Reds use mostly Pinot Noir, but Fleurie, and Brouilly use Gamay which is a very very light Grape. So light in fact that it can even be chilled for about 20 minutes! The reds are like the anti-Bordeaux! The Pinot Noir is very expressive and full of flavour- but nowhere near as full-bodies as Bordeauxs! Now the whites are Chardonnay... sorry to break it to you... but they are! Now their one saving grace is the fact that about 99% of Whites from Chablis are unoaked! Which explains why they do not have that butteryness or vanilla notes that so often get associated with Chardonnay! So for future reference its not the Chardonnay ye hate- its the Oak!