This area is dedicated to wine professionals including sommeliers, restaurateurs, wine store owners importers and trainers. Welcome to your very own BIVB website where you can find all the tips and tools you need. You will find documentation, photography, training tools and all kinds of other useful information here to facilitate your search. You can also browse our events and training calendar and you are welcome to attend any that appeal. If you require any further information then don’t hesitate to contact us!
Wine Paris: Two exceptional masterclasses on Bourgogne wines
Following on from an extremely successful first edition, this year’s Wine Paris trade show will once again be welcoming market influencers from around the world, including importers, winestore owners, and sommeliers, from 10-12 February.
Wine Paris is exclusively reserved for wine industry professionals and will be packed full of tastings, including a huge free tasting area, along with conferences and masterclasses. The Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) will be offering two 60-minute masterclasses hosted by Bourgogne Wine Ambassador Thierry Givone:
- Monday at 2pm – A first step towards terroir in the Bourgogne winegrowing region: Exploring a little-known side to Bourgogne Wines
- Tuesday at 2:30pm – A first step towards terroir in the Bourgogne winegrowing region: Mâcon and much more
A full list of exhibitors presenting their wines at the show is now available, including around 2,000 estates, wine houses, and cooperative cellars. These include some 142 representatives from the Bourgogne winegrowing region, with 90 more businesses in attendance than in 2019.
Attendance figures like these demonstrate the growing attraction of this international trade show, which now runs in partnership with Vinexpo Paris. The space dedicated to non-French wine regions will be shared by the two events, and registrations at Wine Paris will also be valid for entry to Vinexpo Paris. Next year, the two events will merge fully into a single show.
Mid-way between Beaune and Paris, the Chablis winegrowing area covers around 20 villages. The vines plunge their roots deep into limestone soil that gives the wines of Chablis their characteristic mineral aromas. Here, the Chardonnay grape enjoys pride of place as the only varietal used for all the appellation’s wines.
Petit Chablis:
Either side of the Serein valley, the Petit Chablis AOCis dotted across the entire Chablis area. Exclusively produced from Chablis grapes, there is nothing small about Petit Chablis! With its light, bright golden color, sometimes topped off with green reflections, this white wine produces aromas of white blossom and citrus over a mineral background. Occasionally, it offers touches of peach and white-fleshed fruit. In the mouth, it is lively and light with balanced acidity. This enthusiastic attack continues with a delightful roundness. These wines can be enjoyed young but are better after two years.
The terroirs of Petit Chablis are located towards the top of the slope where the Portlandian plateau sits. They comprises brown and hard limestone, sometimes with silty and sandy soil, in general at between 230-280 meters above sea level, with different aspects.
Chablis:
With its light, pale gold or greenish color, this wine has a very fresh, lively, and mineral nose. It offers notes of flint, green apple, lemon and more floral notes such as lime or acacia blossom. Ageing makes it a little more golden and a touch spicier. In the mouth, its aromas keep their freshness and purity for a long time. A dry wine with perfect sophistication, Chablis has a unique and easily identifiable personality. And the reason for this is its terroir, because no other French winegrowing region is quite so characterized by its geology. The main bedrock comes from the Jurassic period, and more precisely the Kimmeridgian, some 150 million years ago. There are tiny oyster fossils in the rock that remind one that a warm, shallow sea once covered this territory. These comma-shaped oysters are called Exogyra virgula.
Jean-Philippe Archambaud discusses the importance of terroir in Chablis in this video:
Chablis Premier Cru:
There are 40 Climats that can include the Chablis Premier Cru classification on their labels, including 17 flagship Climats. These various Climats bring their own unique character, depending on the soil and the exposure. From the most mineral wines that are relatively closed in their youth to the most floral that go on to develop sophisticated and subtle aromas, the Climats of Chablis Premier Cru enchant the palate. They have a pale gold color and a nose that does not immediately express its full potential: A little aeration is necessary. As for Chablis, the main bedrock is Jurassic, from the Kimmeridgian. But the Chablis Premier Cru Climats are different in that they are divided between the right and left banks of the Serein, a tributary of the Yonne which crosses the wine-producing area from south to north. But the area’s most prestigious Climats are located on the right bank and produce Chablis Grand Cru wines.
Chablis Grand Cru:
The Chablis Grand Cru appellation comprises seven Climats, through which it expresses all its nuances. Initially a pure greenish gold, their color evolves towards pale yellow with age. The nose brings intense flinty mineral aromas which then give way to lime blossom, nuts, or even a hint of honey. In the mouth, there is a perfect balance between freshness and fattiness that offers all the charm of an inimitable and authentic wine. The Chablis Grand Cru appellation is located on the right bank of the Serein, north-east of the town of Chablis. Benefiting from excellent exposure to the sun, it is unique; divided into seven Climats that may be noted on the label. Each one has an assertive personality, demonstrating the wonderful variations in the expression of the Chardonnay grape: Blanchot, Bougros, Les Clos, Grenouilles, Preuses, Valmur and Vaudésir.
Discover the Climats of Chablis seen from the sky:
On 25 March, make a rendezvous with “Mâcon plus” wines
The next edition of “Rendez-vous avec les vins de Bourgogne”, the international show created by the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB), will be exploring Mâcon wines with an additional geographical denomination.
The interactive “Rendez-vous avec les vins de Bourgogne” show from the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) brings together hundreds of industry professionals, journalists, and market influencers from the world over to explore one or more Bourgogne appellations.
The next episode, which screens on 25 March, will be devoted to Mâcon wines with an additional geographical denomination. This is the perfect opportunity to discover the diversity of the Mâconnais terroir through wines like Mâcon-Pierreclos, Mâcon-Lugny, and Mâcon-Verzé. These wines mark the first step towards an interpretation of terroir, an essential notion with regard to Bourgogne wines.
The show lasts for one hour with the following format:
- The first 20 minutes are devoted to a presentation of the theme, with reports and interviews with winegrowers.
- The second part features a live commented tasting of several wines. Participants at sessions hosted around the world experience this simultaneously with Jean-Pierre Renard, educator at the École des Vins de Bourgogne.
- At the end of the program, Jean-Pierre Renard hosts a live Q&A, answering queries from participants via Twitter, using the hashtag #BIVBRDV.
The broadcast is transmitted by satellite to 10 countries, in English at 9am, 11am, 6pm, and 10pm, and in French at 4pm. All times are CET.
If you wish to register, please check with the Official Trainers in your country whether they will be hosting a broadcast of the show. A list of Official Trainers is available here.
The Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) invites you to take part in a series of masterclasses especially designed for industry professionals including importers, wholesalers, and e-commerce buyers. Running in Boston, Washington DC, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, and New York between February and December 2020, they will highlight those Bourgogne appellations that are still relatively little-known across these markets. This is an ideal opportunity to discover some real gems!
Widen out your network thanks to the Speaker Corner
This new section of the www.bourgogne-wines.com website is a forum where all fans of Bourgogne wines can share their opinions.
The Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) invites you to take part in a series of masterclasses especially designed for industry professionals including importers, wholesalers, and e-commerce buyers. Running in Boston, Washington DC, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, and New York between February and December 2020, they will highlight those Bourgogne appellations that are still relatively little-known across these markets. This is an ideal opportunity to discover some real gems!
Bourgogne vs. Burgundy: to re-affirm their identity, the region and the producers are reverting back to the original French iteration of the name, Bourgogne.
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