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The 50th edition of the Bourgogne Wines Cave de Prestige

01/07/2021

The 50th edition of the Bourgogne Wines Cave de Prestige
All the diversity and richness of Bourgogne in one collection!

The awards ceremony for the winners of the 2021 Bourgogne Wines Cave de Prestige selection ran on Wednesday 29 June in Beaune, in the presence of Frédéric Drouhin and François Labet, Presidents of the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB). They hailed the quality of the wines on offer, which improves every year, and reminded the winning winegrowers and négociants that they are now spokespersons for the region in the coming year, through the BIVB’s French and international activities.

Of the 1,580 samples submitted, up 3.4% on 2019, just 203 were selected, representing a sample of 12.85%. These figures illustrate the very high standards of this selection which involves six blind tasting sessions.

The Cave de Prestige selection is a reference for Bourgogne wines having been around for half a century. All the past winners are now being promoted on the bourgogne-wines.com website, which enjoys more than a million hits annually. You can peruse the list in the Cave de Prestige section of the website. The 2021 selection will be online in early September.

Each time the BIVB organizes training or events in France or abroad, hosts guests, arranges press trips or tasting events at the École des Vins de Bourgogne, runs industry training courses, or holds gastronomic soirées, it serves wines from the Cave de Prestige selection. These occasions are great opportunities to promote the wines, which are presented with their own label and with the selection badge.

“The Cave de Prestige is a veritable showcase for Bourgogne wines, bringing visibility to our expertise, and offering a great opportunity to remind people that Bourgogne offers a wide range of wines that is not limited to a few great iconic names. This event is our chance to congratulate those deserving producers who took part in this demanding selection and pay tribute to their expertise and the high quality of wines that hailed from 130 estates, wine houses, and cellars selected this year,” said Frédéric Drouhin, President of the BIVB.

Key figures for the 2021 selection

Among the 130 winning producers
► 66 estates, wine houses, or cellars that join the Cave de Prestige for the first time this year, i.e., a renewal rate of almost 51%
► 64 enterprises also had at least one wine selected in 2019

The 203 winning wines from the 2021 selection by appellation group
► Régionale AOCs: 55 wines (27.1%)
► Village AOCs: 84 wines (41.4%)
► Village Premier Cru AOCs: 57 wines (28.1%)
► Grand Cru AOCs: 7 wines (3.4%)

The Cave de Prestige in four questions

WHICH WINES CAN BE SUBMITTED?

Producers and winegrowers from Bourgogne are free to submit whichever appellations they wish, from Régionale to Grand Cru AOCs, from any vintage they have for sale.
As part of the “Bourgogne 2025” plan, the BIVB is particularly keen to promote entry-level wines namely Régionale appellations, including Bourgogne and Mâcon wines plus an additional geographical denomination. The Cave de Prestige reflects the diversity of Bourgogne because it includes almost all of its 84 appellations.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SELECTED WINES?

The BIVB buys the selected wines with their original labels. Then all the wines from the Cave de Prestige are used during promotional, training, and marketing events:
56% is used during masterclasses in France and abroad, and educational tastings organized by the BIVB’s.
4% is used by the École des Vins de Bourgogne within the framework of its training activities.
40% goes to PR events with partners such as the Cité des Vins et des Climats de Bourgogne and the Cité Internationale du Vin in Bordeaux, but also for press dinner’s or events organized by the BIVB’s press office.

HOW ARE THE WINES SELECTED?

To become a standard-bearer for Bourgogne for a period of one year, the quality of each wine must be irreproachable. The wines are selected through a blind tasting by a panel of experts including technicians, enologists, and industry professionals. They are divided up according to their expertise to sample a group of appellations, to which they attribute a score. Wines that obtain a minimum of 16/20 go through to the second round. These exceptional wines are then sampled by a “super jury” and the highest-rated are admitted to the Cave de Prestige.

HOW ARE THE SELECTED WINES IDENTIFIED?

The BIVB adds its own label, a symbol of excellence and recognition of expertise on the bottles it buys. But the estates, winegrowers, and cooperative cellars are welcome to use it in their own marketing tools (catalogues, websites, leaflets, etc.). As with any award, this selection is an additional and valuable sales tool.

Press contact:

Cécile Mathiaud – Head of Media Relations at the BIVB
Tel. + 33 (0)3 80 25 95 76 – Cell +33 (0)6 08 56 85 56 - cecile.mathiaud@bivb.com