Reading on Wikipedia on Echezeaux: “The AOC regulations also allow up to 15 per cent total of Chardonnay, Pinot blanc and Pinot gris as accessory grapes, but this is practically never used for any Burgundy Grand Cru vineyard.”
Does anyone know of anybody who actually puts chard into their red Burgs? Is this an historical artefact?
Not in red but I know Ponsot has some Aligote in his Corton-Charlemagne.
There are some white grapes in Drouhin Clos des Mouches. I don’t think chardonnay though.
Lots of ‘red’ vineyards have a smattering of chardonnay and pinot gris (beurot) in them - and provided it’s ripe, it all goes in the same pot - you’re unlikely to find more than 2-3% white though…
Do people replant these varietals when the vines need replacing? In other words, do they think they add something, or do these simply date from another era when people weren’t fixated on the idea of pure pinot?
It seems to be common everywhere to a few unintensional oddball vines in a vineyard. Sometimes nursery error, sometimes mutation. When it comes to a few white grapes going into a red, most winemakers don’t seem the least bit concerned.
I recall a few board members here disputing this, but the Pinot family is supposedly more prone to mutation than other varieties. And remember, these are somatic mutations. So, you can have red and white (or grey) grapes on the same vine. Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc are color mutations of Pinot Noir. In other words, there are Pinot Noir clones much less genetically similar to each other than a Pinot Gris vine is to the Pinot Noir clone it mutated from. So, genetically they aren’t different varieties.
Anyway, I’ve heard about 2-3% was a historical norm. Don’t know what is currently normal. I’d guess the allowance is either “no harm, no foul” or acknowledgement of a benefit (ie. fixing color, adding aromatics).
And in older vineyards at least, any number of red grapes other than pinot noir, of course in small amounts.
We’ve seen in one particular vineyard quite a decent amount of field blend. There are two red other than typical (for today’s standard) pinot noir. These actually look more burgundy in color, more clay-brown if you will. These are eaten or tossed while in the vineyard or at the sorting table. They don’t appeal to me for eating more than a few. None of these make it into the tank.
There is also a white that we have in one instance kept apart from the red throughout elevage.
I heard that about Clos de Lambrays