Burgundy - Wine Business 1/2

The Burgundy wine trade is complex. Historically much of the trade went through large négociants who would buy grapes, must, or finished wine from other growers. Since the 1980s there has been a move towards more domaine bottling. 

However, there are still a number of very well-known and well-regarded négociants many of whom date back to the nineteenth century (including Albert Bichot, Joseph Drouhin, Faiveley, Louis Jadot and Bouchard Père etFils). 

The 2000s has also seen the rise of domaines who also act as négociants (Dujac) bottling wine made from their own vineyards (as Domaine Dujac) and wine from purchased fruit or bought in wine simply (as Dujac Fils et Père).

There are several different types of organisation: 

• growers

• domaines

• négociants

• micro-négociants

• co-operatives

• growers – businesses that have vineyard holdings and sell their grapes or unfinished wines to négociants. There are several thousand growers and typically their holdings are divided in parcels in different vineyards and villages.

• domaines – businesses that own vineyards and make wine from them, which they sell under their own domaine label

• négociants – typically large businesses that buy grapes and/or wines, finish them and bottle them for sale under their own name.

• micro-négociants – smaller businesses that buy grapes from very good to top quality vineyards, make the wines and sell them under their own name (for example, BenjaminLeroux).

• co-operatives – these businesses are less important in the Côte d’Or but have a more predominant role in Chablis (La Chablisienne), the Mâconnais (e.g. the Cave de Lugny), and, to a lesser extent, in the Côte Chalonnaise.

Even at the level of the domaine there is the complexity of multiple producers with very similar names. Detailed knowledge is needed to identify the source of a particular wine. This is at least in part a consequence of the inheritance laws in France where all children have the status of equal inheritors of an estate.

One factor that has led to a significant rise in quality is that there are now many young winemakers who are both better trained technically and who have often travelled and made wine more widely. These factors have led to a more adaptable and open-minded approach to winemaking. 

The route to market may thus be as simple as from a producer direct to an end consumer via cellar door sales or it could be via a négociant or a co-operative and thence on through the distribution chain until it reaches the end consumer. Direct to consumer sales are on the increase as are those direct from producers to final retailers.

Around 50 per cent of all Burgundy is sold in France, 25 per cent in the other EU states and 25 per cent outside the EU. The largest export markets by value are the USA, UK and Japan (as ended in April 2020).