A Year in Burgundy Page #6

Some have thin skins and more juice.

Some have thicker skins and less juice.

Theres a balance between solid and liquid.

Every vine is different.

What is really interesting is

to feel the difference yourself.

When you punch the grapes down personally,

you feel the resistance.

You feel whether the grapes

are more solid or more liquid.

Then you know instinctively

how to make this wine

so that it will express its character.

About three years ago,

I got much more relaxed

about the whole process.

I was more open.

There was a much deeper connection

between me and the grapes.

For three years Ive been making wine

with real feeling my own way...

...rather than following the rules

and doing what they tell you.

I feel like an artist now.

I paint what I like.

Nobody tells me what to do.

[narrator]

Just down the road from Perrot-Minot,

Lalou Bize-Leroy is reviewing

her harvest with Martine.

[speaking French]

Let me show you what we did yesterday.

This is a beautiful vat.

If you want to have a look...

We poured their juice back over them

two or three times.

Theyre La Roche,

harvested the day before yesterday.

Theyre like the grapes on the sorting table.

Theyre not de-stemmed or crushed,

so theres no juice on top.

De-stemming damages the grapes.

You must avoid disturbing the yeast

in the skins.

Heres health to us all and our work.

And health to the vintage...

Is it good?

Each vine has its own yeast.

Yeast gives a wine its identity

because it is part of the grape.

Its in the earth and the air too...

Its yeast thats the wine-maker - not us.

Its yeast that breaks down the grapes

and changes sugar into alcohol.

The alcohol kills off the yeast,

but its the yeast that gives birth to the wine.

Thats a good lesson to learn.

We have to realize that

were all part of the same universe,

and we need all its energies.

[narrator]

Down this sorting table come very special grapes.

From them, Lalou Bize-Leroy

makes some of the rarest,

most famous, most expensive

wines on Earth.

Each one created by its own

unique combination of yeasts.

The future value of what's in these vats

is hard to imagine.

And if you go downstairs,

you enter Aladdin's cave,

because here are Lalou's wines

in barrel,

and visitors get to try

whatever is offered.

What's offered is very good

indeed.

[speaking French]

Weve got more than 6 acres(2.62 Hectares)

of this one alone...

[narrator]

In the depths of winter,

the winemakers of Burgundy

go to ground.

Barrels add flavor, over time.

But every day, they lose a

little of their contents to

evaporation.

Too much air in the barrel

does no favors to red wine,

so they need to be topped up,

at least once a week.

The wine also likes

to be gently stirred.

[Thibault speaking French]

Batonnage consists of stirring the sediment

into the wine to give it more body.

If the wine is a bit too acidic,

well do this a couple of times a week.

This will fatten up the wine

and make up for whats missing.

I feel good down in the cellar

because its very calm.

Since they were constructed by the monks

back in the 16th century...

...theres a special

atmosphere down here.

I love it.

Often I put on some classical music

in the barrel room.

It does me good,

and I think it does the wine good too.

Wine is alive.

From the moment you pick the grapes

till the moment you drink it,

its alive.

Music calms it as it matures.

[narrator]

But is there room

in the modern world

for the winemaker-artist,

who creates unique wines

to suit his own personality?

[Dd speaking French]

Burgundy wines

ought to be all different.

But science now allows us to make wines

that are all the same.

Thats a pity.

They all used to have their own character,

like human beings.

But progress is pushing all of us

to make the same kind of wine.

[narrator]

How much will the standard tastes

of the international market

force Burgundy to change?

How will the winemakers survive

if they insist on allowing

each vintage

to be its own unique self?

4000 miles (6500 km) to the west of France,

lies one of Burgundy's

most important markets,

the United States.

This is Blackberry Farm,

a luxury resort in Tennessee.

Cheers!

A group of friends get together

to enjoy the best of Burgundy.

These are people who look for wines

that are unique.

Wonderful color. Wonderful. This is spectacular.

They are tasting Christophe Perrot-Minot's

2008 Chambertin.

[chatter]

Wonderful.

Now I'm going to introduce you

to my third winemaker

I brought specially,

He is the grandson of Marc Morey, famous winemaker.

And also, I have to tell you,

Thibault is a great pianist also.

This wine is very delicate,

and it needs maybe

8 or 10 years to open.

But we'll try to taste it now.

And I...

[narrator]

The future of Burgundy

depends on the taste

of connoisseurs like these.

This is a Premier Cru, very famous in Burgundy.

[narrator]

Later, there'll be a dinner,

with a Burgundy to match each course.

to Blackberry Farms.

And to good friends.

Good friends.

[narrator]

As the year turns,

the wine-making families go out

in ones and twos,

to prune their vines.

This will make the root stalk stronger

for the next harvest.

They burn the dead wood

right here in the field.

The ashes fall to the ground,

making good natural fertilizer.

This is something they've done

for hundreds of years.

But then,

there's a lot of things

they do in Burgundy,

that they've been doing for

hundreds of years.

In a couple of months,

exactly when, who knows,

the first signs of spring

will come again,

and then, it'll be another

year in Burgundy.

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