Welcome to the final instalment of ‘these are all the Burgundies I’ve tasted recently’, a collection of tasting highlights from my visit to the Grand Jours de Bourgogne 2026 (a week-long wine fair in this famed French wine region in early March). We’ve gone from endless Chablis through Vosne mega-wines, explored the value joys of Outer Burgundy, remembered why I love Volnay and Pommard, Meursault megastars and much more.

For this post, I’m headed to the icon tier of the Burgundian wine cabinet with a collection of high-flying village and 1er Cru wines plus some ridiculous superstar Grand Cru heroes, interspersed with a few jaw-dropping disappointments.

The centrepiece dinner for the Grand Jours was a little grand. Not black-tie fancy, but with some emphasis on the optics. The calibre of the wines was certainly up there – strictly Grand Cru, typically amazing, and mostly poured by winemakers/producers themselves, served to a room heavy with Burgundian names (and the odd local politician). The setting was salubriously held in the depths of the redone Château de Saint-Aubin (the polished cellars are in the pic below), which had a noticeable sheen thanks to the money spent on it since the Piffaut family took over in 2015.

As a tie-less Aussie with token schoolboy French, I felt comfortably out of place here. Of course, that’s not a new feeling – when I first started in wine, some of the older Aussie wine critics called me ‘Junior’ because I was so much younger than the rest of the room. More than two decades later, when I’m thrust back into those ‘who the fuck is that guy’ situations, I like to tap into that vibe and catch people off guard with real chats.

Thankfully, Erwan Faiveley played along. We’re only two years apart, and although I don’t run one of the more important domaines in Burgundy, we talked about family, why he likes Australia, Erwan’s somewhat murky attitude to organic grape growing and my favourite question – what’s in your fridge.

Besides beer (it’s nearly always beer or tonic for gin), what Erwan let slip is that most of the wines he likes to drink each year are not Grand Cru at all. That’s blindingly obvious to anyone who actually drinks the stuff, but it was nice to hear. Erwan’s favourite parcels change most years too, and Faiveley has 120 hectares of vineyards and makes more than 50 wines, so there’s a bit of choice. But the sentiment is real – the old Burgundian boundaries between Grand Cru, Village, and Premier Cru plots make sense in many ways, but they’re not automatic guarantees of quality (or indeed the wines you want to drink).

Erwan’s comment dovetails nicely with the first tranche of also-not-Grand-Cru wines below, which are drawn largely from an event hosted by the Femmes et Vins de Bourgogne association to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Heavy with some of the prominent Burgundian wine women, the selection was marked by each winemaker asked to bring their favourite cuvée. Almost universally, the wines they brought were very bloody good indeed.

By contrast, in the second part of the reviews below, we’re going deep into a collection of Grand Cru megastars (with the mega price tags to match) from a walk-around tasting at said marquee dinner. Just don’t Google the prices.

Finally, the third part of this tasting note collection is from the tasting of Grand Jours, the wines of Corton. Held in the bucolic surroundings of the Château Corton-Grancy, it promised so much, especially with Bonneau du Martray (one of my OG favourite Burgundy producers) on the producer list. Yet when I rocked up to an empty table and a lonely Bonneau sign, it set the tone for what was a wildly frustrating tasting.

Corton feels special – it’s this big (150ha+), imposing, vineyard-decked, Grand Cru-only hill that you can see from all around Burgundy. You stand in Beaune and stare up at this prominent, round hill with its multi-directional aspect that just seems to scream ‘this is where the big-time wines are at’. Yet for all the power, there was an occasional clumsiness (especially in the reds) of ripeness and oak that is only apparent when you try a whole lineup of similar wines under one roof. A sentiment that felt less Grand Cru Burgundy and more like aspirational Californian Pinot Noir (as an example). Admittedly, the ’23 vintage wines are heavyweights, so that’s just part of the vibe, but to see such blunt oak, simple flavours and inelegance in wines that are treated as the pinnacle of the region is both annoying and expensive.

Finally, thanks for joining me once again on this Burgundian journey; it was fun. This is a region where it’s hard enough to get appointments at the top estates unless you know who to ask, let alone have actual vignerons pour their wine (rather than some anonymous reps, as at the usual trade show). The cheese was bloody good too.

Now, let’s look at some tip-top wines!

10 Mega Burgundies I loved:

Domaine Cécile Tremblay Chambolle-Musigny Les Feusselottes 1er Cru 2023

Domaine Clos de la Chapelle Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru 2023

Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis Grenouilles Grand Cru 2023

Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche Grand Cru 2023

Domaine Julien Gros Corton-Charlemagne Cuvée de l’emprere Grand Cru 2023

Louis Jadot Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2023

Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2023

Domaine Michel Noellat Vosne Romanee Les Suchots 1er Cru 2023

Domaine Parent Pommard Les Argilières 1er Cru 2023

Maison Simmonet-Febvre Chablis Préuses Grand Cru 2023

A few super 1er and village-level wines