The Corkscrew | A blind tasting with Inside Burgundy author Jasper Morris

For any wine lover who likes burgundy, there are books that are con­sidered must-reads. One that is often cited is Inside Burgundy (2010), by master of wine Jasper Morris.

Morris has long been the Burgundy specialist at Berry Bros & Rudd, the oldest wine merchant in Britain. It has the distinctions of having had a shop in the same location in London since 1698 and having seven masters of wine on staff, each with their own area of expertise.

Morris was recently in Hong Kong to conduct a master class on the French region’s 2015 vintage, during which he explained the variations between the wines we were tasting, and the world of difference there could be between plots of terroir separated by a road, or even just a fence.

The Briton has had a home in Burgundy for many years, near Savigny-lès-Beaune, and spends a lot of time with wine­makers. While researching Inside Burgundy, which won the André Simon Award for best drinks book of 2010, Morris said nothing taught him more about the region than walking in the vineyards with a winemaker. With them, he learned about the vines, soils and terroir, which could make a vast difference in the taste of a wine, even though they might have been made from the same grape varieties, and by the same winemaker.