One of the most maddening wines to fall in love with are the red wines from the Burgundy region of France. Aside from the fact that the proprietary pinot noir grape is a persnickety varietal — thin skinned and temperamental — great vintages in Burgundy are rare enough to be celebrated when they occur. The good news is that the quality of red Burgundies is on the rise thanks, in large part, to the improvement in winemaking techniques and a consolidation of plots in the famed vineyards of the legendary wine region.

Pinot noir originally gained popularity in the Burgundy region sometime around the first century. It originally was thought that Roman conquers brought the noble grape with them during their invasion of Gaul. However, recent evidence suggests the indigenous inhabitants might have already been growing the grape when the Romans arrived.