In the 1920s, Burgundy producer Henri Gouges distinguished himself and his domaine by becoming one of the first winemakers to bottle his own wine. His entrepreneurial and forward-thinking spirit would display itself again in his adventurous propagation of a rare strain of white Pinot Noir in the '30s. Following a dip in quality in the 1980s, it's safe to say that Domaine Henri Gouges is back. This time, however, it's Henri's grandsons, Pierre and Christian, who are at the helm.

Today's wines are once again at the top of their appellation: concentrated, solidly structured, and generally in need of patience. Grapes are harvested from the 14.5 hectare vineyard located in Nuit-Saint-Georges. Among seven Premier Crus, the most distinguished is the 3.5 hectare Clos-des-Porrets, where Henri discovered the white Pinot Noir years ago.

The finest red and white wines of Burgundy set the standard for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. At their best, Burgundy wines are the world's most aromatically complex, silky, and seductive wines, thanks to their ineffable combination of fruits, flowers, minerals, and earth, and their ability to project flavor authority without excess weight. But first-rate Burgundies are produced in limited quantities. Burgundy is a minefield for the casual wine lover, as there is still far too much mediocre and grossly overpriced wine. The problem in a nutshell is that a single, small premier cru vineyard may be carved up among a dozen or more owners, and the Burgundy wines produced, even though they sell for roughly the same price at the cellar door, can range from the sublime to the undrinkable, depending on the talent and commitment of the producer.

The Cote d'Or, or ""golden slope,"" is the heart of Burgundy, a 30-mile-long ribbon of vineyards stretching from just south of Dijon to Chagny. But the greater Burgundy region also encompasses Chablis in its extreme north, and the Cote Chalonnaise and Maconnais regions located to the south of the Cote d'Or. Beaujolais, at the extreme southern end of Burgundy, virtually reaches the outskirts of Lyon.

France is the fountainhead of the grape varieties most craved by North American wine drinkers: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. In fact, these grapes are widely referred to as "international" varieties because they have been planted and imitated all over the world. Of course, one of the most exciting developments in wine over the past generation has been the growth of intriguing local styles of these varieties, such as Pinot Noir in Oregon and New Zealand, or Syrah in Australia, South Africa, and California. But most cosmopolitan wine-lovers -- and even winemakers -- would agree that French wines are the archetypes.

France enjoys the perfect geographic position for the production of a wide range of fine wines. Its relatively northerly location ensures long hours of daylight during the summer months and an extended growing season, allowing for the slow and steady accumulation of flavor in the grapes. Although the country as a whole enjoys a temperate climate, conditions can vary significantly within a limited land mass: cool and Atlantic-influenced; continental, with very cold winters and hot summers; warm and Mediterranean, with wet winters and dry summers.

Wines of France

France began classifying its best French wine-producing sites more than 200 years ago. Its detailed appellation controlee system, designed in the 1930s, has served as the model for classification systems adopted by other countries in Europe and elsewhere. Appellation d'Origine Controlee (often abbreviated to AOC), means "controlled place name" and is the consumer's assurance of the origin and authenticity of any French wine whose label bears these words.

AOC laws, administered by France's INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine), establish the geographic limits of each appellation, permissable grape varieties and methods of production, minimum alcohol level, and maximum crop level (or yield) per hectare. Just beneath the highest category of appellation controlee is the comparatively tiny category of VDQS (Vins Delimites de Qualite Superieure), wines which may eventually be promoted to AC status and which are most commonly found in the Loire Valley and the Southwest. The third category is Vins de Pays, or "country wines". This latter category gives producers, including some of the more adventurous French wine growers, an escape route from the straitjacket of AC regulation in terms of higher permitted yields and less restrictive geography, a wider range of legal grape varieties, and fewer restrictions as to method of production and minimum age of vines. Finally, at the bottom of the pyramid, there are Vins de Table, or simple "table wines."

And yet, despite France's illustrious wine history and the fact that it is still the world's leading producer of wine, the country is struggling to compete in the international market. Today, France faces fierce competition from New World wine producers. U.S. imports of French wines actually declined, in number ofcases, between the end of 2002 and early 2006 -- this during a period when overall wine consumption in the U.S. grew by more than 50 percent.

Today, the French government is agonizing over how to help French wine producers, who are also facing homegrown challenges such as changing domestic drinking habits and an aggressive anti-alcohol abuse program. Wine producers in some regions of France are coming to view the AC system itself as an obstacle to selling wines to North America and other important export markets. Among the changes being considered are loosening restrictions on what can be planted where and on how wines can be made, and allowing producers in certain areas to indicate the grape variety or varieties on their labels -- rather than simply the place name, which is less meaningful to consumers in many of France's key export markets.

Adored by critics, prized by collectors, Pinot Noir is one of most tantalizing yet temperamental varietals in the world. For many wine enthusiasts, this is part of the appeal of Pinot -- it doesn't reveal its charms easily.

Pinot Noir's virtue also stems from the unique characteristics of the grape. The skins are especially delicate, which accounts for the lighter color and body of the finished wine. But, despite the delicacy, the best wines have excellent backbone and length, providing aromatic intensity unlike any other grape.

As a general category, California Pinot Noir has been on fire since the movie Sideways. In fact, California's Pinot Noirs are increasingly divergent. The state offers Pinots for virtually every taste, running the style gamut from pungent, cool, minerally, and Burgundian to soft, superripe, and chocolaty-sweet. The latter style of wine, often made from grapes harvested at very high sugar levels, is popular among those who prefer extremely ripe, lush wines with strong fruit character and little apparent acidity or tannin. Many of today's new generation of wine drinkers -- especially those who did not cut their teeth on European wines -- gravitate toward this style. On the other hand, most veteran wine drinkers, especially those whose model for Pinot Noir is red Burgundy, typically find these new-style wines too roasted and high in alcohol, lacking subtlety and refinement. But today even the drinker with the most extreme Old World leanings can find California examples of Pinot Noir that will give pleasure. Never before have consumers had so many good California Pinot Noirs to choose from.

Moving north, Oregon's Pinot Noirs typically feature exuberant cherry-berry aromas and flavors; varying degrees of spicy oak; medium body; and reasonable tannin levels. Oregon Pinot Noirs generally carry moderate alcohol in the 12.5 to 14 percent range, lower than those of today's typical Pinot Noirs from California, although very warm years can bring wines with higher alcohol and more roasted flavors. Rarely austere or tough on release, the best Oregon Pinot Noirs gain complexity with three to five years of bottle aging, and top wines from the most successful vintages can improve in bottle for a decade or more. "Tender" might be an apt description of the best Oregon Pinot Noirs.

After a couple of challenging growing seasons, the 2002, 2003, and 2004 vintages brought a return to mostly favorable weather conditions. The 2002 vintage yielded many bright, harmonious Pinot Noirs from Oregon that promise to repay cellaring. Even some of Oregon's old-timers, who have bene on the scene for 30 years, consider that year to be their most successful vintage to date. Periods of extreme heat in the summer of 2003 and shortly before the harvest yielded the ripest grapes in Oregon's history. While many wines taste distinctly pruney, overripe, or roasted, the best wines from this vintage are wonderfully dense, sweet, and unusually mouth-filling, with the sheer stuffing to stand up to alcohol levels reaching as high as 15 percent. Vintage 2004 was another excellent years for the Willamette Valley, having produced fresh, tangy, classically balanced Pinot Noirs that lead with their red berry fruit and floral characteristics.

Pinot Noir has emphatically found a home in New Zealand's temperate climate, where the variety benefits tremendously from an extended growing season. The soil-inflected Pinot Noirs of Martinborough, on New Zealand's North Island, where the harvest can last well into May (the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of November), have proven their quality and ageability over the past 20 years. Much more recently, Central Otago, a spectacular inland region of lakes, alpine meadows, and steep mountains and valleys (this is where Lord of the Rings was filmed) located in the middle of the South Island, has exploded onto the world wine scene in the past decade with some stunning wines. With their rich dark fruit aromas and flavors, intriguing floral and mineral nuances, and ripe harmonious acidity -- not to mention their often considerable heft (typically 13 to 14 percent alcohol) -- these Pinot Noirs may be better suited to today's wine drinkers than the earthier Pinots of Martinborough, which, despite their often greater complexity, can come off as dry and lean in comparison. Incidentally, beginning with the 2003 vintage, most of the best Central Otago Pinot Noirs are bottled under screw cap, which further emphasizes the fresh, clean fruit of these wines.

2007 had 26 regions scored 95 or above. Chateauneuf de Pape (Southern Rhône) got the highest score, with a 98.

Other regions that scored 95 points or higher were Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany), Napa, Western Australia, Carneros, Franken (Germany), Graves (Bordeaux), Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (Germany), Paso Robles, Port, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, Washington, Alsace, Anderson Valley (California), Barbaresco (Piedmont), Barolo (Piedmont), Bolgheri (Tuscany), Burgenland (Austria), Columbia Valley, Loire, Maipo (Chile), Piedmont, Santa Barbara, Sauternes, and Sonoma Coast.