Making the Case for Crémant de Bourgogne

When it comes to sparkling wine, Champagne has done all the heavy lifting of establishing the image of bubbles as one of celebration, class, and sophistication.

With Champagne commanding an average bottle price of €20 in France and $58 in the US, it’s no wonder that sparkling producers esteem the category. Because Champagne prices far exceed the average bottle prices in any market, there are always consumers looking for a less expensive, Champagne-like wine.

When seeking sparkling alternatives, if staying within the bounds of France, it is most obvious to consider the eight Crémant appellations spread across the country. These, however, vary wildly: Crémant de Bordeaux leans heavily on the red Cabernet and white Sauvignon grapes; Crémant de Die, in the Rhône, is dominated by Clairette and Aligoté; and Crémant d’Alsace includes Riesling, unique but unsurprising considering the region.

The Crémant best suited for quenching one’s Champagne desires is Crémant de Bourgogne. While the category plays second fiddle to the exceptionally famous and expensive still wines of the region, it has much to offer. For wine professionals and consumers alike, it’s worth taking a deeper look at Crémant de Bourgogne. Does it offer value for the money? Does it have a typicity? Is it just one more name in a sea of bubbles, or does the category stand above the rest?

What Bubbles Up

It’s not surprising when people say they haven’t had much Crémant de Bourgogne. In terms of production, it’s second to Crémant d’Alsace, which accounts for half of all Crémant production. And, of the roughly 24 to 25 million bottles produced each year, two-thirds never leave the country, with the French happy to consume these wines domestically.

In Spain, I rarely find Crémant de Bourgogne in any retail environment, though this isn’t a shock given the dominance and extremely low prices of Cava. Back in 2017, however, a bit of news circulated as to how an own-brand Crémant de Bourgogne priced at £8 (€9),from the supermarket chain Lidl, had won top honors at the International Wine & Spirit Competition, held in the UK, beating out Champagnes that were much more expensive. The wine had actually won a silver prize, with 87 points, which is at the lower end of bronze in most competitions. Even so, everyone I knew in Spain, as well as many in the UK, was talking about this wine. I tried it, and, while not stunning, it was a decent sparkling wine that piqued my curiosity to see if there was more to Crémant de Bourgogne than just being a less expensive offer of northern French sparkling wine.

A Lengthy Land

There are 29,500 hectares (73,000 acres) of vineyards in Burgundy, with 25,000 hectares (61,500 acres) classified as AOC vineyards. Of this, 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) are delimited for Crémant de Bourgogne, with just over 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) planted—far from the 34,000 planted hectares (84,000 acres) of Champagne.

But beyond the actual size in terms of hectares, what is notable is that the delimitations for Crémant de Bourgogne are allowed from chilly Chablis all the way down to much warmer Beaujolais, spanning roughly 200 kilometers (125 miles). Most wines are blended from across this massive area, and as a result it is exceedingly hard to pinpoint a typicity for Crémant de Bourgogne, or even to identify all the producers of the category. The number often tossed around is 150, but, according to Manon Rémy, the winemaker at Paul Chollet, who is involved in Crémant de Bourgogne promotion, there are only 40 production wineries. Outside the larger producers, there’s a grouping around Rully (Vitteaut-Alberti and André Delorme) and Chablis (Gagnepain, Marronniers, Pascal Henry, and, if stretching geographic borders, Bruno Dangin).

There used to be far more. In fact, almost every winery in Burgundy once produced a sparkling wine. An estimated one million bottles of Bourgogne Mousseux (red Crémant de Bourgogne) were made in 1827. In 1830, the poet Alfred de Musset applauded the wines to no end in his work “Les secrètes pensées de Raphaël.” Then, in 1850, Napoleon III had sparkling versions of Clos de Vougeot and Romanée-Conti at a dinner in Dijon. Thankfully, this was thoroughly documented, given how fantastical it sounds today to have sparkling grand cru Pinot Noir from some of the region’s top vineyards.

From this heyday, Crémant de Bourgogne fell out of fashion as the still wines grew in fame, and because Crémant quality could be inconsistent, which led to the establishment in 1975 of Crémant de Bourgogne AOC. Notably, this didn’t include the historic Bourgogne Mousseux sparkling reds made from Pinot Noir and Gamay, as they’d been granted an appellation in 1943.

Defining Crémant de Bourgogne

While the establishment of the appellation significantly helped cement a name for the sparkling wines of Burgundy, certain peculiarities were carried over from their earlier days.

The maximum yields allowed can vary considerably from year to year and depend on the overall vintage in Burgundy. In general, the maximum yield is around 75 to 78 hectoliters per hectare. As in Champagne, producers can also make reserve wine, with an additional 12 hectoliters per hectare permitted. In the more bountiful 2022 and 2023 vintages, however, the reserve wine right was revoked and added to the totals allowed because of the massive yield of 90 hectoliters per hectare.

The déclaration préalable d’affectation parcellaire states that parcels destined for the production of Crémant de Bourgogne must be identified as such prior to March 31 of the year of harvest, to coincide with pruning. There is also, however, the déclaration d’intention de production, which allows any grapes to be used for Crémant de Bourgogne if declared a mere 72 hours before harvesting. While this provides an outlet for excess grapes in a big vintage, it’s hardly a way to guarantee a quality wine.

Additionally, other stipulations are similar to those of Champagne. The two-thirds rule applies, allowing 100 liters of juice for 150 kilograms of grapes. Minimum aging on the lees differs from that of Champagne, at 9 months rather than 15, though some producers choose to age longer.

The wines must include at least 30% Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and/or Pinot Noir. Gamay is allowed at a maximum of 30%, a quantity raised in 2022 (from 20%) because of the scarcity of the other grapes. At a cost of less than €1 per kilogram, Gamay is an incredible bargain compared with Pinot Noir, which is, at minimum, €4 per kilogram for still wines and €2.5 per kilogram for Crémant. Aligoté, Melon de Bourgogne, and Sacy can also be used.

Not Just Plan B

Anyone who has had Crémant de Bourgogne has likely encountered one made by Veuve Ambal, which makes a third of the bottles produced annually. That total, roughly eight million, is only what the brand produces under its own label, as there’s also a massive trade in producing sparkling wine for other wineries. The next largest producer of Crémant de Bourgogne, Bailly Lapierre, makes three million bottles annually.

When I visited Parigot & Richard, the owner and winemaker Grégory Georger explained to me, “It used to be that almost everyone in Bourgogne would produce a small amount of sparkling in their own winery. Sometimes in the bad years, it was more than small, as the Crémant wines were always a plan B.”

Parigot & Richard is not a hulking, multimillion-bottle producer. It occupies a large, classic building in the village of Savigny-lès-Beaune. The tanks sit on one side, and there’s a modest cellar on the other side, where wines are aged on their sides, sur latte. It may not be the endless cellars hewn into chalk that are found in Champagne, but it has a charming, craft ambience typical of the small wineries in Burgundy. The annual production in a good year is 200,000 bottles. Just 40 years ago, Parigot & Richard was considered a medium-sized producer of Crémant, but, because of consolidation in the sector, it’s now viewed as a small one.

Georger said, “Sure, you’re able to source grapes from all over Bourgogne, even down to Beaujolais, so the sense of terroir is rather lost. For us, we only source grapes from within 20 kilometers [12 miles] of the cellar, and 75% of those are within 10 kilometers [6 miles].”

In addition to working in a more sharply defined region of grape production, Parigot & Richard ages its wines for three years—far beyond the nine-month minimum. The wines I tasted had wonderful poise. Prophète Crémant de Bourgogne, an extra brut made from 60-year-old vines, is a rarity. Les Lumes, also an extra brut, is an exquisite wine made solely from a single vineyard—practically unheard of in Crémant de Bourgogne. Priced at just €18 in France, it marks the top of the winery’s line. While these aren’t Prosecco or Cava prices, the wines are a great value; a comparable wine at this quality level from Champagne would easily cost 10 times as much.

Quartier Libre, a traditional method sparkling wine made of 100% Aligoté, must be labeled with the generic, France-wide Vin Mousseux de Qualité designation, as the quantity of Aligoté included exceeds what is allowed. Georger explained, “We’ve always used the Aligoté in other wines to balance out the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as it has a great deal of acidity. There is, however, a revival of the grape in the region, and it’s become quite popular. What we’re doing now with Aligoté simply wasn’t possible 10 years ago. What you saw in the 1980s from this variety is unrecognizable [compared with] the wines it can produce. This is at least one positive aspect of climate change.”

Georger highlighted the transition Crémant de Bourgogne is undergoing. In the 1980s, production totals were high, and Crémant de Bourgogne was readily available as a fallback. Now, cheap Crémant is disappearing because of a shortage of grapes and inflationary costs.

A Niche Market

Farther down the road, also in Savigny-lès-Beaune, I visited Manon Rémy, the winemaker at Paul Chollet. Her family bought the winery in 2003. She bought out her uncle’s share in 2018 and has been the director ever since.

Rémy had helpful insights into the machinations of Crémant de Bourgogne, filling me in on the constantly evolving yield math and the role of sparkling wine in Burgundy. Given that Crémant is often made with whatever is left over from still wine production, and that the overall prices for the still wines are astronomical, why even bother with sparkling?

Rémy said, “There are many aspects to this. The first is that people know the wines, and they fill in an upper-midrange part of the market that few other sparkling wines can fit into in terms of quality and price. Then there’s the demand that keeps rising—and thankfully, prices keep going up. Lastly, winemakers bring us the grapes to produce the sparkling wines for them as their importers are asking for it.”

Growing demand is always a good problem. The issue is that even with the more permissive regulations, increasing Crémant production is proving difficult. Rémy explained, “It may be hard to imagine, but the price of basic, still Burgundy and Crémant was at one point the same. Now the Bourgogne Rouge is double the Crémant, and thus the grapes go where the money goes.”

To this end, in 2013, the classification levels of Eminent and Grand Eminent were established as an upper tier for the category, with the first wines on the market in 2016. Eminent requires 24 months of aging and Grand Eminent requires 36 months. Only Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are allowed for the white wines, and Gamay is allowed up to 30% for the rosé wines. The wines must be brut in style (up to 15 grams of residual sugar per liter).

While these labels were intended to provide a higher rung for the category, they seem to receive the most attention through a large tasting held every two years during the Grands Jours de Bourgogne. There is also a separate website to promote the classification. It’s hard to identify whether the classification is accomplishing more than the producers who are making a general push for quality in the category.

Changes on the Horizon

As with any other wine in the world, there are growing pains for Crémant de Bourgogne. Most significant is the challenge of keeping pace in a wine region with astronomical and rising prices for still wines, mixed with the challenges of climate change.

As Georger summarized very well in comparing Crémant de Bourgogne with Champagne, “If we’re using the same grapes in a similar climate, with the same method, but doing it [for] at least half the price, at some point the math fails you.”

While the silver medal Lidl Crémant de Bourgogne might no longer reflect the category, perhaps that isn’t a bad thing. It may be hard to determine exactly how these wines “should” taste, but it’s clear that high-quality wines are possible. And because of the recent variable vintages in Burgundy, there may even be an upswing in the production of quality Crémant de Bourgogne, given that making a “budget” wine in any form from Burgundy isn’t possible anymore.

So keep an eye out for these wines and taste them whenever you can—that is, while they’re still outside the Champagne-o-sphere in terms of price.