Complex Numbers

Burgundy

For "Journalistic Intentions"  [18+]...

Burgundy

Not all red is burgundy, and not all burgundy is red.

Burgundy (the region in France) apparently has a long history of influence in Europe. I've heard that, for a while, it was Burgundy (Bourgogne in French) that was the cultural center, not Paris. All things rise and fall, though, and now the region is mostly just famous for wine.

And mustard. Yes, mustard; the capital of the region was once also the capital of mustard-making. The capital's name is Dijon.

But while mustard's a fine condiment, I'd rather talk about wine.

As with most wine-producing regions, they grow a wide variety of grapes there. Many of them produce red wine. Many others produce whites.

Last November, I did an entry about one of my favorite French wines: "Beaujolais Nouveau Day" . Now, the Beaujolais region is just south of, and adjacent to, Burgundy. Incidentally, these blog entries are inadvertently helping me plan a trip to France. Anyway, point is, Beaujolais grapes grow in Burgundy, too.

But Burgundy is responsible for what I consider to be the light beer of the wine world: Chardonnay.

Unlike light beer, though, Chardonnay doesn't suck. It's just... everywhere. It's often the entry port into the land of Oenophilia. Those grapes can apparently grow just about anywhere, which means most of the wineries I've visited have some variation of Chardonnay. Now, I'm not ragging on peoples' tastes; if you like it, you like it, and that's fine. But there are so many other whites, including many from Burgundy, just waiting to be tasted. Like Pinot Blanc, also Burgundian, though better examples can be found elsewhere.

And yet, the region is most known for its red wine, to the point where an official name for a certain shade of red, possibly reminiscent of the ruby color of a red wine, is called burgundy.

Burgundy (the color) is quite similar to bordeaux (the color), though Bordeaux is an entirely separate wine-growing region, located on the Atlantic (west) coast of France. Unlike Burgundy, Bordeaux is better known as a wine region than as a color, to the point where I've taken to calling all boxed wine "cardbordeaux."

I'll have to remember not to use that word when I'm in France. I've heard the people there can be... a bit touchy about certain things.

So, to reiterate: not all red is burgundy, and not all burgundy is red.