BIVB boosts Burgundy with virtual tastings

“Bourgogne wines, live and direct in 25 cities around the world!” This is the tag line for a series of interactive presentations that have been taking place around the world hosted by the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne, more commonly known by its acronym BIVB.

Côte de Nuits Source: Wikipedia

Each session focuses on a different aspect of Burgundy, for example the first session last year focused on the village of Pernand-Vergelesses and the second session looked at Pouilly-Fuissé. Participants join each session from several locations around the world including the USA, China, Hong Kong, Belgium, and Malaysia.

Credit: BIVB.

The BIVB schedules four different satellite times during the day, offering a range of times to suit different time zones around the world. The experience offered to participants consists of a filmed presentation led by expert Jean-Pierre Renard, who has been involved in wine education focused specifically on Burgundy for more than 40 years, interviews with key industry figures, a tutored tasting with M. Renard and a live Q & A session to conclude.

Participants in Hong Kong.

The latest session for the trade in Hong Kong took place earlier this month focusing on the Côte de Nuits appellations of Morey-Saint-Denis, Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny.

The wines tasted were:

• Chambolle-Musigny, Les Chardannes, 2011, Maison Jean Claude Boisset
• Morey-Saint-Denis, 2011, Domaine des Beaumonts
• Gevrey Chambertin, vielles vignes, 2011, Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy
• Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru, Les Borniques, 2011, Domaine Frédéric Magnien
• Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru, Clos Sorbe, 2011, Maison Joseph Drouhin

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru, Bel Air, 2011, Domaine Taupenot-MermeThe final part of the session is a dynamic experience where questions are submitted from around the world via twitter using the tag #BIVBRDV. M. Renard responds in real time speaking directly to the camera. Not only is it interesting to hear which topics are important to different countries it also allows for the latest industry issues to be discussed directly with an expert in the field, providing a unique experience to those who might otherwise be excluded due to physical location.

Jean-Pierre Renard on set. Credit: @BourgogneLive

Clearly the BIVB have invested heavily in promoting the region and in providing a veritable toolkit of resources to support the Bourgogne wines, live and direct sessions, including detailed maps and fact sheets for each appellation, a smartly designed website with a library of resources available for download and of particular note, an e-learning module specifically designed for members of the trade. This is a clever tool both for marketing the region and for increasing regional knowledge. It is also available in a number of languages such as English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. The module is built around several interactive sessions, each concluding with a short quiz to test your knowledge and all complemented by interviews with industry professionals across Burgundy.

Jean-Pierre Renard responding to questions from participants around the world.

Congratulations to the BIVB on creating a very positive learning experience for perhaps one of the most complex wine regions in the world. The variety of tools with which to learn about each appellation has created an invaluable library of documents suitable to all levels of experience and knowledge. And the opportunity to learn directly from an expert such as Jean-Pierre Renard is one not to be missed!

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