Burgundy is one of the regions to turn to when looking for white wines capable of ageing. It is some distance away from Chablis in style and distance and produces fuller, rounded and fruitier wines. The region also provides the benchmark for judging red wines made from Pinot Noir. Ch Dracy's Bourgogne Rouge and the Mercurey give pleasurable, straight forward drinking. Cote de Beaune from the southern half of Burgundy produces nice long lived wines but the serious interest (and money) is in the classic names of the Cote de Nuits in the north.

The old established firm of Albert Bichot has been family owned and run independently since 1831. Over the past 40 years this medium sized company has invested in the purchase of vineyards and now own over 100 ha in Cote de Beaune, Cote de Nuits and Chablis. Since 2000 they have turned their attention to perfecting vineyard management with a more organic approach. Bichot have recently bought new premises in Beaune town centre to upgrade vinification, bottling and cellaring.Bichot is now embracing organic and ecological production methods. Chemical fertilisers and weedkillers have been eliminated from their vineyards in favour of compost and ploughing. Drastic pruning and green harvesting are employed to give a small yield of high quality. Wine making is carried out in the new Nuits St Georges winery where to optimise care for the fruit all mechanical operations have ceased and gravity based processes have replaced pumping. Traditional open wood vats are still used, though now with thermo-regulators, as is cold maceration, a lengthy three week fermentation and twice daily cap punching.

Henri de Villamont is a leading shipper and négociant in Savigny-les-Beaune, founded in 1889 and since 1964 owned by the Swiss firm Schenk. Their main building, 'Le Manoir', has long been a landmark on the outskirts of Savigny-les-Beaune, and its spectacular 6 metre high traditional vaulted cellars, built in 1880, cover 4,000 sq meters and hold 4,000 barrels. The cellars were completely renovated and modernised in 2004-5 and hold a superb collection of Burgundy wines.Villamont own 10 hectares of vineyards in the Cote d'Or, and offer a full range of Burgundies including top wines from the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits Villamont's home town of Savigny-les-Beaune produces particularly fine wines and the 'Le Village' is great value.