Film Notes: A Year in Burgundy (2013)

Title	A Year in Burgundy
Director	David Kennard
Synopsis	The film follows seven wine-making families in the Burgundy region of France through the course of a full year, and delves into the cultural and creative process of making wine, as well as its deep ties to the land. The film is in four season-sections, and plays out against that backdrop: spring showers, drought, heat wave, hail and storms, harvest moons and the damp cold of winter.
Release	November, 2013
IMDB	imdb.com/title/tt2177180
Length	1h 28m
Website	www.ayearinburgundy.com (discontinued)
YouTube	youtu.be/_hBScIb-wxM
Apple TV+	A Year in Burgundy

David Kennard

David Kennard (1946-2021) has been producing, directing and writing non-fiction shows for PBS, the BBC, Discovery Channel, international television and theatrical distribution for 50 years. During that time, he has helped to create more than 120 films and full-length TV programs, 35 studio shows and many shorter videos. 

Besides A Year in Burgundy, Kennard also made

• A Year in Port (2016)
• A Year in Champagne (2014)

See also

• IMDB Bio
• David Kennard (LinkedIn)
• SO THAT’S A WRAP: 50 Years of Fun and Adventure Making Documentary Films (November, 2020)
• www.incafilms.com

Martine Saulnier

Martine Saulnier, a Chevalier du Tastevin and decorated as Officier du Mérite Agricole acts as the guide. Retired from her own California-based wine import business, started in 1979, she co-produced Kennard’s wine documentary trilogy.

• www.mwines.com/aboutmartine
• The Legendary Martine Saunier – Elin McCoy, wine-seacher 2014

Dominique Cornin

• www.cornin.net
• Map: Chaintré, France

Michel Gay et Fils

• www.vins-bourgogne.fr
• Map: Chorey-les-Beaune, France

Morey-Coffinet

• www.morey-coffinet.com
• Map: Chassagne-Montrachet, France 

Thibaut Morey plays Erik Satie on the piano (and also composed the film’s original score)

Bruno Clavelier

• bruno-clavelier.com
• Map: Vosne-Romanée, France

Christophe Perrot-Minot

• www.perrot-minot.com
• Map: Morey-Saint-Denis, France

Marcelle “Lalou” Bize-Leroy

Co-director of the domain La Romanée Conti (1974-1992).

• Domaine Leroy
• Map: Vosne-Romanée, France
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalou_Bize-Leroy
• Meet Burgundy’s Most Powerful Woman In Wine, Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy (Jeannie Cho Lee – Forbes, 2017)

Reviews

• A Wine Movie Worth Watching, James Molesworth – Wine Spectator

• A Year In Burgundy – Wine Searcher

Saunier imports the wines made by the Burgundian winemakers examined in the film. In this sense, "A Year in Burgundy" is the cinematic version of a tradition of wine writing that includes Kermit Lynch’s "Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer’s Tour of France," Terry Theise’s "Leading Between the Vines," and Neal Rosenthal’s "Reflections of a Wine Merchant." Saunier’s film and these books combine memories and in-depth examinations of the winemakers' lives and techniques.

• A Year in Burgundy: film review, Adam Lechmere – Decanter

This is the sort of film they used to show in cinemas in the 1970s, before the main feature. It’s a paean to an ancient craft without a hint of bombast or polemic, gentle and old-fashioned and at some moments, like the closing scenes of autumn smoke rising from the pruners’ fires, it’s lyrical.

Watched	January 7, 2025
Where	YouTube

Bonus

John Cleese’s Wine For The Confused – Food Channel by David Kennard (2004)