Duke Philip the Bold banished the "treacherous" Gamay grape from Burgundy and it fled south to Beaujolais, where soil and climate complement its flowery aromas. Philip's edict compelled the Burgundians to use the Pinot Noir grape, producing a tannic wine that must be kept for several years before it can open out in a display of exquisite aromas. At a stroke, Philip lifted the wines of Burgundy into the luxury market, and there they have remained ever since.
However, the Gamay crept back, and now forms one half of the Bourgogne Passetoutgrains appellation, the other half being the Pinot Noir. Properly tended, the Gamay grape adds a fleshy and aromatic quality to the somewhat reticent Pinot Noir, and the result is a full, warm Burgundy without a trace of tartness, which can, and usually should, be drunk young.
Corney & Barrow are offering a fine example from 2002, produced by the Trapet family using grapes from old vines in the Gevrey-Chambertin area. The Trapets are perfectionists, and this wine is as full and fragrant a Burgundy as you are likely to obtain at the price. My only regret is the postmodern label, which reads like a deconstructionist assault on the Burgundy concept, promising a bottle full of differences. But don't be put off: the signifier on the bottle floats away on the signified within (I will clarify that sentence at a conference and tasting on the theme of philosophy and wine at the University of London on 10 December, www.sas.ac.uk/Philosophy/Wine.htm).
Olivier Leflaive owes his reputation partly to the skills of his winemaker Franck Grux, whose name suggests a gnome-like familiar of the kind that Dr Faustus would have kept in a cupboard. The Leflaive white Burgundies are now widely accepted as paradigms: balanced, charming and early-maturing wines that linger in the mouth almost as long as they echo in the soul. This first-growth Montagny is an excellent example of the commune; grown on limestone soil, it has a clarity and freshness that recall the steely allure of Chablis, but with a delicate hint of sugar and a flowery aroma that are the mark of Montagny at its best. We drank it with the Brahms First Sextet, and it lightened those stodgy harmonies like yeast.
This month's offer also includes two bottles of unpretentious Bordeaux from Esme Johnstone of Chateau de Sours. If you are looking for an everyday claret with some bottle age, but enough backbone to stand up in the glass, then you could do worse than the Chateau de Richemont. It cut like a knife through our pig Singer's belly fat, and went snicker-snack through a Camembert as well. As for the white, this has the flavour and charm of a Graves, with a crisp citrus bite to it and a beautiful straw colour that would shine sunlight on the faces of your guests.
