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This article covers Dr. Jules Lavalle’s forgotten Grand Crus of the Côte de Nuits. For the Côte de Beaune villages, skip to Part 2
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Mention the year 1855 to any wine lover and you are likely to get the same reaction: an impassioned treatise on Bordeaux’s iconic classification that gave us First through Fifth Growths and set the stage for the commercial stratification in the region that still exists today. Never mind that professional sommeliers rank Chateau Palmer (a lowly third growth) higher than all five First Growths, or Pontet-Canet (a Fifth Growth, would you believe it) above Mouton and Lafite. No, the 1855 Classification is sacrosanct, and has remained largely unchanged in its now 170 years, save Mouton’s well-known rise to the level of First Growth in 1976.
But today we’re taking a look at a far less well-known 1855 Classification, one that laid the foundation for another of France’s iconic regions to embark on a codification of its own: Dr. Jules Lavalle’s Histoire et Statistique de la Vigne et des Grand Vins de la Côte d’Or. The title is a bit of a mouthful, no doubt, but Jules Lavalle (sometimes referred to as Jean Lavalle, his baptismal name) was a prominent scientific, geological, and botanical mind in Beaune in the middle of the 19th Century, and his work became the source text for much of the 1861 Beaune classification, which then influenced the official panel that enshrined the Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards in the Côte d’Or when the AOC legislation took effect in 1936.
A dive into Lavalle’s classification of vineyards affords two major insights, apart from the joy of reading his excellent prose. First, noticing the vineyards that are still on top after 170 years, and second (and most interestingly, from our perspective), highlighting vineyards that were considered top-tier in 1855 but have since fallen into relative obscurity. If the central assumption of Burgundy is true, that the quality of wine is directly related to the vineyard itself, then these forgotten giants might represent some of the best values in a region whose prices have gone mad. All of these terroirs achieved 1er Cru status in 1936, but many discerning tasters have suggested they should have been ranked among the Grand Crus. Bordeaux has its “Super Seconds”, but today we’re looking at Burgundy’s “Super Firsts”.
Dirt, not Directors
The most fundamental difference between Burgundy’s classification and Bordeaux’s is the supremacy of terroir. While Bordeaux elevated certain Châteaux, Burgundy classified vineyards rather than producers. Lavalle was the first to systematically rank the vineyards of the Côte d’Or in the modern era, and while he occasionally hedged his opinions (when extolling the hill of Corton or Romanée-Saint-Vivant in Vosne, for example, he noted that only une partie of the total hectarage was of top quality), he almost always placed an entire vineyard squarely in a quality tier. This definitive, vineyard-based approach became the highest law in the land in Burgundy following Lavalle’s work, and still defines the region today.
Same as It Ever Was
Lavalle approached vineyard classification in two passes, like passes through a vineyard to pick grapes. First he looked at specific communes (villages) and ranked the vineyards in each against each other. After reaching Santenay at the southern end of the Côte de Beaune, he then looked at the region as a whole, pronouncing the absolute best of the best. Some of his picks look familiar. Romanée-Conti, for instance, is proclaimed Tête de Cuvée in Vosne (the highest tier per commune) and Tête de Cuvée no. 1 overall (a category confusingly divided further into his top three picks, then six more “viennent ensuite”). For white wines, overall less-covered in Lavalle’s work, a single, predictable vineyard rises to the top: Montrachet.
Overall, the following vineyards have remained at the top of the heap (hors ligne, as Lavalle would say) since 1855:
Tête de Cuvée no. 1:
- Romanée Conti
- Clos de Vougeot (much more disputed today due to its variability, but at the time of Lavalle’s writing under sole stewardship of a M. Ouvrard, and reputedly of top quality)
- Chambertin and Clos-de-Bèze
“viennent ensuite”
- Clos de Tart
- Corton (but only “une partie”)
- Musigny
- Richebourg
- La Tâche
- Romanée-Saint-Vivant (again, only “une partie”)
Tête de Cuvée no. 2:
- The rest of Corton and Romanée-Saint-Vivant
- Echezeaux
Dethroned, but Not Forgotten
But what about the vineyards Lavalle thought were top class, but have since been overlooked or downright forgotten? If the legend of terroir is true, these should represent some of the best values in Burgundy, right? Let’s take a look a few highlights from Lavalle’s rankings that may come as a surprise, going village by village:
Fixin
Believe it or not, Lavalle put Fixin Perrière (now Fixin 1er Cru Clos de la Perrière) on the same level as Echezeaux. This walled vineyard has been prized by Cistercian monks since at least the 12th century, when they built the cellar now used by Domaine Joliet to produce fantastic Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Domaine Joliet Fixin 1er Cru Clos de la Perrière is typically a bargain, and can age beautifully, particularly in underrated vintages like 2013, which is currently available at around $80/750ml. With most Echezeaux bottlings running five to ten times that amount, it may be worth seeing if Lavalle was on to something.
Gevrey-Chambertin
What current 1er Cru is easily the equal of Mazy-Chambertin? Clos-Saint-Jacques, according to Lavalle. This one has more or less turned out to be accepted today, as there are Gevrey-based Domaines that show their Saint-Jacques after some of their Grand Crus in tasting lineups, and the prices of the most sought-after producers (Rousseau and Fourrier, in that order) go for Grand Cru prices. We recommend checking out the Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos-Saint-Jacques, from the half of the old Clair-Daü parcel that he was able to salvage when the family domaine imploded in 1985 (the other half went to Jadot, who still bottles it today).
Chambolle-Musigny
Here we expect our readers to be sure of themselves. Surely the great Les Amoureuses was noticed by Lavalle as an exceptional terroir, right? Well, yes. But that’s not the interesting part. Amoureuses was placed in the same tier as Bonnes Mares (only Musigny deserved the top classification in Chambolle, according to Lavalle), but three oft-overlooked vineyards were ranked above the legendary Amoureuses: Véroilles, Les Fuées, and Les Cras. We may be biased, being ourselves unabashed Chambolle-lovers, but when Les Amoureuses goes for well over $1000 per 750ml, bottles like Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées starts to look like a downright bargain.
Vosne-Romanée
Here readers may predict Henri Jayer’s legendary Malconsorts, and they would be right (ranked conspicuously above La Grande Rue, which was promoted to Grand Cru status in the 1991 vintage), but higher still is Les Gaudichots, an odd, gap-toothed vineyard on either side of La Tâche. It’s hard to call it a bargain except by comparison to its illustrious neighbors, but the organic Domaine Machard de Gramont produces a version that is still relatively under-sung.
Nuits-Saint-Georges
It is in humble Nuits that things really start to get interesting. Astute Burgundy lovers may have already puzzled at the fact that most of the famous villages of the Côte appended a Grand Cru vineyard to their name: Chambertin, Musigny, Echezeaux, Romanée, Montrachet. But not lowly Les Saints-Georges (spelled here in the plural as it is found in the French legal documents that govern the AOC, though Lavalle names it simply “Saint-Georges”, and its most famous producer still labels it “Les Saint Georges” – such are the vagaries of Burgundy). Most people don’t even clock that Saints-Georges is a vineyard at all! As the story goes, M. Henri Gouges of Nuits was a consummately humble gentleman, and also happened to be on the panel of leaders that determined the official classification in 1936. Considering it unfair, therefore, to submit any of his own vineyards for consideration, and perhaps also influenced by his neighbors (who didn’t relish the idea of paying the extra taxes associated with Grand Cru status), no Nuits vineyards were considered for inclusion in the Grand Crus. But working eighty-one years earlier, Lavalle placed Saints-Georges not only at the top of the Nuits commune ranking, but also in the rarified Tête de Cuvée no. 1 overall – right there alongside Richebourg, La Tâche, and Musigny. What’s more, he thought a heap of Nuits-Saint-Georges vineyards should be considered the equal to Echezeaux: Boudots (just to the south of Malconsorts in Vosne), Cailles, Cras, Murgers, Porrets (Poirets on most modern maps), Pruliers, Thorey (Torey on modern maps), and Vaucrains.
For the intrepid drinker, bargains abound! Focus on producer is important here. Obviously, Domaine Henri Gouges still makes incredible examples of many of the aforementioned vineyards, especially 1er Cru Les Saints Georges, but Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Vaucrain should not be missed. Many famous names from neighboring Vosne-Romanée also bottle top Nuits-Saint-Georges, offering either a welcome discount from their normal prices or an unfortunate inflation of Nuits affordability, depending on your perspective. Méo-Camuzet Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots and Liger-Belair Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Cras are fine examples.
Premeaux-Prissey
The 1er Cru vineyards of Premeaux-Prissey have long been bottled as Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru, but not so in Lavalle’s time. He reserves separate mention, therefore, for Corvées, Didiers, and Forets in Premeaux-Prissey. Clos Arlot and Clos de la Marechale (then known as Clos de Fourches), which are now quite well known among collectors, were placed a tier below at Première Cuvées. Domaine de l’Arlot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Clos des Forets and Hubert Lignier Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Didiers are excellent representations of these historic vineyards, which Lavalle placed right next to Echezeaux in his ranking of the top red wine vineyards in Burgundy.