🥂 7 Tips for Finding Your Perfect Burgundy Wine

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The Art of Choosing: Burgundy Tips from a Wine Lover for Wine Lovers – My Personal Guide

🔍 First determine your style preference – elegant/powerful red or creamy/fresh white
⚖️ Pay attention to acidity and alcohol integration – tension without sharp edges
🪵 Oak should support the wine – no dominant oak bomb
💶 Look for value for money – village & regional wines can surprise
🍇 Taste different vintages – discover your own taste
⛏️ Minerality as the backbone – especially in oak-aged Chardonnay
🌿 Choose small, sustainable producers – HVE, BIO, DEMETER

🍷 Burgundy Wine: Why It Became a Lifelong Passion for Me

For me, Burgundy wine is pure magic – an experience for all your senses.
I live by the credo “Drink less, but better”, and nowhere does that apply better than in Burgundy.

I can still get goosebumps from a glass of oak-aged Chardonnay where lively mineral acidity creates tension, freshness, and energy, while the wine’s soft curves deliver pure drinking pleasure. The limestone-rich soil here can even lift a simple wine to a higher level – and that’s exactly what I fall for.

1. Know Your Style

Before buying a bottle, ask yourself: What are you looking for in a wine? That is the starting point of every good wine choice.

Do you want a silky Pinot Noir full of red cherry and raspberry, perhaps with some floral tones? Then you will quickly end up in villages such as Chambolle-Musigny or Volnay. But also further south, in the Côte Chalonnaise, you’ll find wonderful alternatives like Givry – often a bit more accessible in price, without compromising finesse.

Do you prefer more powerful, earthy Pinot Noir with depth, structure, and a touch of wildness? Then think of names such as Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges, or the robust Pommard. For power and structure, you often need to look to the north of Burgundy.

Are you a fan of fresh, mineral Chardonnay with tension and energy? Then I recommend Chablis (northwest) or Saint-Aubin (central) – or, further south, Chardonnay from the Mâconnais, especially from the 2021 vintage, which is characterised by liveliness and purity.
In fact, the 2021 vintage throughout Burgundy was marked by more freshness due to relatively few hours of sunshine. This vintage is therefore known as a troubled one, but it also offered new possibilities by resisting the effects of global warming – secretly a welcome surprise!

For those who love a creamy, full Chardonnay with notes of butter, vanilla, and hazelnut, Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet are classics. But southern appellations such as Pouilly-Fuissé, Saint-Véran, or Viré-Clessé from the Mâconnais now produce impressive Chardonnays with rich texture and mineral tension. The further south, the more richness – but that often comes with more tropical fruit tones, whereas most wine lovers lean more towards crisper, drier fruit. The south can still deliver this by harvesting earlier. This is exactly the modern trend that has put the Mâconnais back on the map since 2021. Now let’s see if they can maintain this style and attract an even wider audience.

But let’s be honest: Burgundy is not a wine region you just dive into. Apart from the often higher price, it’s difficult for beginning wine lovers to assess the wines’ true value. And then there’s the generally higher acidity – an element that not everyone immediately embraces. Especially with red Burgundy, it can take some getting used to. But know that this acidity also makes it possible to drink red wine when it’s, say, 35°C outside. Without this fruity acidity, you’d feel full and tired after just one sip. That’s a shame – and remember that acidity reactivates other flavours and leaves a clean mouthfeel, which invites another sip.

I always say: once you’re used to it, you’re lost for life. Because after that, bombastic wines – overloaded with oak, residual sugar, or excessive extraction – often taste heavy, flat, and tiring. Wines without acidity, without tension, rarely invite a second sip. They fill, but they don’t move you. And that’s exactly why I’m so in love with Burgundy.

My advice? Build up slowly.
Don’t start straight away with the most expensive names on the label, thinking: it’s costly so it must be good.
It rarely works like that. Your taste, your palate, must develop. It has to adjust and grow. Taste, compare, and especially discover what extra flavours appear when you spend, say, €10 to €20 more. How much longer does the wine linger in your mouth? What does that do to the structure, the layers, the refinement?

That journey – from simple, fresh Burgundies to complex, layered bottles – is what makes the experience so special. You get to know the region, but most importantly, you get to know your own taste.

In short: know your preferences, develop your palate, and be curious. Burgundy rewards those who take the time.

2. Acidity & Alcohol: The Silent Foundation

A good Burgundy stands or falls with the balance between acidity, alcohol, and flavour concentration. They may not be the most obvious elements in a wine, but they form the silent force on which everything rests.

Acidity gives tension, freshness, and digestibility. It accentuates the fruit, makes the wine lively, and ensures that even a full, oak-aged Chardonnay never becomes heavy. And importantly: acidity doesn’t have to mean sharp edges. Minerality is the most beautiful form of freshness – subtle, chalky, sometimes almost salty. It gives the wine energy without making you pucker.

And then there’s alcohol – an element I’m always critical of. Without alcohol, wine would taste flat and hollow. Take, for example, alcohol-free wine: there’s nothing wrong with it per se, and the techniques for removing alcohol have greatly improved. But even with these modern methods, it often still feels a bit lifeless – it lacks the natural tension, layering, and structure that alcohol brings.

That doesn’t mean I go for powerful, high-alcohol wines. On the contrary. Alcohol is not my best friend, and I consciously seek wines that are generally lower in alcohol. But there is a sweet spot.
For me, it lies somewhere around – and sometimes just under – 13% alcohol. That’s where a fragile, elegant tension is created, giving the wine direction and precision without being dominant.

The art of winemaking is to make a wine so flavourful, layered, and refined that it almost drinks like lemonade – without becoming simplistic. That requires finesse, terroir, and above all, time.

Sometimes it’s more time in barrel that softens the sharp edges. Sometimes it’s rest in the bottle that allows the wine to come into its own – where acidity, fruit, oak, and alcohol merge into one seamless story.

And sometimes… it’s just a matter of a little oxygen. A wine that’s just too young can come across as closed or angular. But give it some air – a few hours in the glass, or better yet, in a decanter – and it will open up, layer by layer. Funnily enough, I often find it with the last glass from the bottle: “Now it’s really good!” After three hours of oxygen, the fruit is softer, the oak better integrated, and everything comes together. You no longer taste separate elements, but a complete experience.

So yes: time helps. Sometimes in the cellar, sometimes in barrel, sometimes in the bottle – and sometimes just… in your glass.

Smell your glass carefully: is there an alcoholic vapour hovering above the fruit? Then there’s a lack of integration. The best wines have an invisible strength – you don’t taste it directly, but you feel it carries everything.

So I’ll say it again: patience is key. Good Burgundy doesn’t shout, it whispers. And it’s precisely there that its beauty lies.

3. Oak: The Art of Dosage

Oak can make or break a wine. I love a subtle hint of vanilla or a buttery note in the finish, but only if it supports the wine and doesn’t dominate. Overdone oak use makes a wine tiring and unbalanced over time.

Still, many people deliberately choose wines with strong oak ageing. “The more flavour, the better”, we think – so lots of new oak must be good, right? Unfortunately, that’s a misconception. Especially in the Netherlands, we often drink wine far too young, when the oak hasn’t yet integrated, giving the wine a loose and angular character. Instead of merging with the fruit and acidity, the oak lies like a heavy blanket on top of the wine.

That’s why I recommend:

Give powerful, oak-aged wines time. At least 3 years of bottle ageing works wonders for balance.
Or consciously choose a wine with less oak, especially if you want to drink it young.

A good winemaker uses oak not to impress, but to give the wine structure, depth, and support – like a soundboard under a beautiful piece of music. The art lies in the dosage. And the patience.

4. Price-Quality: Don’t Be Blinded by Grand Cru

In my opinion, Burgundy’s sweet spot lies between €15 and €35 per bottle.
In that segment, you can still make real discoveries: artisanal wines from small producers, with a fair price and surprisingly much substance. No big names, no expensive marketing, but bottles that surprise you with their purity, balance, and drinkability.

Yet this price point today seems almost locked. Did you know that the average Dutch person spends only €5 to €7 per bottle of wine? Studies show that at that price you mainly pay for the bottle, the label, and logistics – and maybe 10% for the actual wine. That’s wine purely for consumption, without a story, without emotion, without connection.

At the other end of the spectrum is the absolute top, where sometimes even the best is no longer good enough. There, it’s often more about labels, scores, and status than about pure drinking pleasure.

That’s why I believe so strongly in that €15 to €35 range. For me, that’s where the greatest value lies – not just in Burgundy, but beyond. Wines with character, craftsmanship, terroir, and a story. Wines that move you, but that you also dare to open on a weekday evening.

It’s sometimes a lonely mission – but we persevere. And with every tasting we organise, with every moment when someone says: “Wow… this is really different”, we take a small step towards a new awareness of price-quality in (Burgundy) wine.

I often enjoy a good village or regional Burgundy just as much – and sometimes even more – than a Grand Cru, especially when that wine comes from a dedicated winemaker who puts love, craftsmanship, and terroir feeling into his entry-level wines.

My advice: start at the base.
Choose the entry-level Burgundy from a house first. Because if that’s already exciting, lively, and balanced, then you know: there’s potential here.
In France, “house wine” often still means what it should: an outstanding price-quality ratio. In the Netherlands, unfortunately, this is not always the case – here, “house wine” is too often the bottle with the best margin.

For me, that entry-level wine should give a perfect impression of what a winemaker is capable of. If you find it already delicious from the first sip, if the balance is there, the fruit is clear, and the whole works – then you know: this producer can do much more.

Also know that the experience per extra euro can increase exponentially after that. But if the base already doesn’t feel right – if the wine is thin, boring, or unbalanced – then ask yourself: do I really want to pay top dollar for something that’s “a bit better” but still doesn’t convince?

I get a real kick when I let someone taste a generic Burgundy and they say: “Is this Premier Cru?” And I can reply: “No, this is just the entry-level from a small estate.”
That’s the charm of Burgundy for me: discovering wines that behave as if they were higher classified, purely because they were made with care – even if there’s no prestigious village on the label.

An example? The Mâcon La Roche Vineuse Vieilles Vignes Domaine Normand from old vines. This wine has so much concentration, tension, and drinkability that I can easily put it alongside a much more expensive Meursault.

In short: don’t be blinded by the label or the status. Look for the hand of the maker, and you’ll find Burgundies that truly move you – even without the Grand Cru price tag.

Wine Should Hurt a Little in the Wallet

Because then you automatically treat it more carefully. A bottle that’s just above your normal budget isn’t opened carelessly on a Tuesday night without thought. You cherish it, choose the right moment, and make sure the circumstances are perfect.
It also helps to buy multiple bottles of the same wine – not to drink them all in one weekend, but to see how it develops over the years. We all know we often drink wine too young – a shame, because many Burgundies gain huge balance and complexity after a few years of rest.

And yes, sometimes curiosity gets the better of you and you open one too early. But the beauty is: if you have six, you still have five more chances to find that ideal drinking moment.

5. Taste Different Vintages and Producers

In my search, I always taste several vintages and producers side by side. This way, you discover not only what a warm or cool year does to the taste, but also how strong the winemaker’s signature is. Sometimes that makes more difference than the terroir itself.

6. Minerality: The Soul of a Burgundy Chardonnay

For me, minerality is the most beautiful form of freshness. It makes a buttery wine lively and gives it a long, exciting finish.
That contrast between roundness and tightness is what keeps pulling me back to this region.

7. Choose Small, Sustainable Producers

I buy directly from small, artisanal wineries. They often work HVE, organic, or biodynamic. Their wines have more liveliness, more expression, and above all, more soul.
And importantly: I look for wines that are immediately drinkable – not bottles you have to cellar for years before they come into their own.

Look for wines that are in balance – where acidity, alcohol, oak, fruit, and minerality don’t get in each other’s way but actually strengthen one another. That’s when magic happens.
Don’t take the easy path of just lots of flavour or an impressive label.

It has to be right in the glass – not just on paper. Challenge yourself. Open not one, but two bottles that are just slightly different – and taste them side by side. Name what you experience. What is the fruit doing? How does the structure feel? Where is the tension?

Let yourself be inspired by sommeliers in good restaurants. Ask what they find exciting, which estates they think will be the next big names – but still without the hefty price tag. That’s often where the most beautiful gems are hidden.

And above all: take the time to discover. Every bottle is a chapter in the great story of Burgundy. Honestly, I can’t say how many bottles I’ve tasted so far – but I still let myself be surprised. By something unexpected in the finish. By a wine that suddenly grows much bigger in the glass than you expected.

That’s the beauty of wine, and especially of Burgundy: the more you learn, the more you realise you’ve only just begun.

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