Wine: Grape expectations

I STUCK MY NECK out a few weeks ago and offered an affordable red Burgundy tasting to a group of experienced tasters. Trying to find 12 lush, appealing pinot noirs under £20 from this notoriously inconsistent region proved to be a tough call. I had to wade through plenty of weak ones to find a passable dozen.

So why was it so hard? The most obvious answer is to blame the grape, the thin-skinned, fickle pinot noir. It develops rot and disease in a wet vintage all too quickly, but with better organic treatments has become more reliable nowadays. In the right hands with careful vineyard management and skilful picking at the right time, pinot can really shine. The key is knowing where to look.

It's actually quite a good time to buy red Burgundy right now. Not because of the credit crunch, but because there are still classic vintages of village-level wines on the market, such as 2000 and 2002 at reasonable prices. Those from 2003 will not last quite so long, as this hotter year had less acidity to balance fruit ripeness, but a few under £20 are still holding up well. Many merchants now stock the 2005 vintage, which was very good and will last longer, or 2006's, which have delicious ripe flavours for earlier drinking. At this level, if you can find a good vintage, they can offer better value than New World equivalents in New Zealand's Central Otago or in California.

This situation won't last for long. When these vintages sell out, merchants will move on to cooler 2007 and 2008 vintages. These were difficult years – with cool temperatures interspersed with harvest rains and muggy weather encouraging pinot to rot – so the key is knowing which growers to follow.

Generic

The basic appellation is offered by large negociants (eg, Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin) to small growers (eg, David Clark) – priced from £6.99 upwards. The best have freshness and forward fruits. Our star "generic" came from youthful Vincent Dureuil-Janthial, who uses late harvesting and organic techniques to get real ripeness.

BOURGOGNE ROUGE 2005 Vincent Dureuil-Janthial
(£10.50, Raeburn Fine Wines, Edinburgh, 0131-343 1159)

Surely the best Bourgogne Rouge on the market: fresh strawberry aromas, soft, smooth palate, delicious, rich, ripe fruit intensity, great complexity for the price. 17/20

BOURGOGNE ROUGE 2006 Domaine David Clark
(£12, Berry Bros & Rudd, www.bbr.com)

Rich raspberry, mouthfilling with good grippy tannins – from a talented Scotsman based in Morey St Denis. 15.5/20

Regional

Best value (in warmer years) is in less well-known Hautes-Côtes outlying vineyards, west of Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits, where talented growers such as Jean Meo Camuzet and Didier Delagrange are seeking out good terroir in cooler vineyards.

HAUTES-CÔTE DE BEAUNE 2007 Domaine Henri Delagrange
(£14, Friarwood Wines, Edinburgh, 0131-554 4159)

Ripe, ripe red fruit, vivid cherry notes, soft, light (as you would expect in 2007) a whisper of oak, smooth, easily quaffable. 15/20

CÔTE DE BEAUNE VILLAGES 2006 Louis Jadot
(£10.99, Waitrose)

If you can still find 2006, this is a good buy. A lush, forward, earthy pinot. 15/20

Village

Expect to pay £15 plus for more depth of fruit and complexity. There are a vast number of villages on offer from Mercurey and Givry in southerly Chalonnaise, to Marsannay in northerly Côte de Nuits.

Chalonnaise: GIVRY 2007 Louis Latour
(£12.99, Forth Wines, Milnathort, 01577 864810)

Very light, gentle, elegant. 14/20

Nuits: MARSANNAY 2003 Meo Camuzet
(£18.50, Raeburn Fine Wines)

Pretty pinot with rich, lush, generous forward fruits – the richest Marsannay I have tasted. 17/20

Beaune: MARANGUES 1ER CRU LA FUSSIERE 2005 Bruno Colin
(£18, The Wine Society, 01438 741177)

Redcurrant aromas, fleshy succulent palate and compost bin notes – serious wine from a modest appellation. 16/20

Beaune: SANTENAY ROUGE, BEAUREPAIRE 2000 Jean Marc Vincent
(£16.99, Raeburn Fine Wines)

Hard to beat for beautifully mature pinot; overt ripeness, farmyard undertones, velvet smooth. 17/20

Chalonnaise: MERCUREY 1er CRU MARCILLY 2003 Michel Briday
(£16.99, Raeburn Fine Wines)

Compost bin nose, gutsy, earthy, solid, unusual spicy, complex finish. 15/20


THE BEST DEALS THIS WEEKEND

Chile ANAKENA SINGLE VINEYARD VIOGNIER 2008

(£5.99 each for "buy two get one free", Wine Rack)

Star single-vineyard, violet-scented summer quaffer.

Italy COPERTINO

ELOQUENZIA 2004 Masseria Monaci

(£6.50, The Wine Society, 01438 741177)

Baked fruit, rich, ripe, big spicy mouth-filler from Puglia.

Argentina VINALTA MALBEC 2008

(£5.49, Marks & Spencer)

Exceptional value; a rich, damsony, chewy dense red from Fabre Montmayour.