The New Old World: Regions That Drink Like Burgundy (But Don’t Cost It)

If you’ve been around here before you know I have a thing for Pinot Noir, but more specifically, Burgundy. I hate to be a cliché sommelier, but if there was a perfume that smelled like a good Burgundy, I’d be wearing it every day.
There’s something oddly nostalgic and comforting about the aroma of a good Burgundy that I can’t name besides just saying it’s highly addictive and pure heaven.

Maybe it’s that whisper of earth after rain (petrichor), or the quiet slap of cherry skin and stone, or the way it feels less like a drink and more like a contradiction of itself made liquid with it’s fragility, pride, and endless expressiveness.

But Burgundy, let’s be honest, is no longer for the faint of wallet and hasn’t been for at least the last decade. Once the secret of sommeliers, it’s now a collector’s playground and a sommelier’s nightmare. Bottles that once cost $40 now come in around $400.

And yet, you don’t have to give up that Burgundy feeling.
You just need to know where it’s hiding.

And yes, I’m going to preface this by saying no wine is exactly like another, especially if it’s made of the terroir-sensitive Pinot Noir, but these are alternatives you might enjoy when chasing that Burgundy high and waiting for that next paycheck to clear (aren’t we all at the moment).

1. Oregon, USA: The Modern Burgundy

Flavor Profile: really earth-driven Pinot Noir with red cherry, mushroom, and forest floor.

Price Band Ranges: $30–$75

Producers to Know: Domaine Drouhin Oregon, Cristom, Beaux Frères, Lingua Franca, Domaine Serene

Vintage Tip: Seek 2019 for vibrancy, 2021 for plush texture. The 2019 vintage was cooler and later than usual, which means the grapes ripened slowly, developing nuanced acidity and fine-boned structure. The 2021 growing season was warm but not overbearingly hot, the kind of “Goldilocks year” vintners dream about. Riper fruit, rounder tannins, and luxurious texture, without losing Oregon’s hallmark freshness.

Food Pairing: truffle pasta or pizza, roast chicken with thyme or rosemary, or even miso-glazed salmon.

Oregon’s Willamette Valley was practically born from a love letter to Burgundy. Its cool climate and volcanic soils echo the Côte d’Or, but its pricing still whispers sanity. Oregon is obviously not of the same climate, but it does the job in that respect with cooler temperatures than California and decent sunlight.

2. Tasmania, Australia: The Wild South

Flavor Profile: shrp acidity, red currant, sea spray, and subtle spice.

Price Band Ranges: $25–$50

Producers to Know: Moorilla, Pooley, Tolpuddle, Josef Chromy

Vintage Tip: 2020 and 2021 are standouts for structure and purity. The 2020 vintage in Tasmania was small in yield but mighty in character. Cooler conditions and an extended ripening period resulted in wines with focused acidity, fine tannins, and remarkable longevity. The 2021 vintage was almost idyllic. Mild days and cool nights gave winemakers fruit of perfect balance with delicate lifted aromatics, and energy that shines.

Food Pairing: seared off duck breast with cherry glaze or a nice confit, mushroom risotto.

Tasmania’s Pinot Noirs has a crispness to it that really zings with energy. There’s salt in the air, mountain chill in the fruit, and a wild elegance that feels like a young Burgundy might’ve caught a cold sea breeze.

3. Etna, Sicily: Fire and Finesse

Flavor Profile: red fruit, ash, herbs, and fine-grained tannins with a bit more structure than Burgundy.

Price Band Ranges: $25–$60

Producers to Know: Graci, Benanti, Terre Nere, Passopisciaro

Vintage Tip: Look for 2019 for freshness and aromatic lift. The 2019 vintage on Mount Etna was one of the most balanced in recent memory with cooler nights and a long, even ripening season gave the grapes a kind of refined energy that hints of altitude and pure minerality.

Food Pairing: eggplant caponata, charred octopus, tomato risotto.

Etna wines are Burgundy’s Mediterranean twin, born from volcanic soil rather than limestone, but equally high-strung in their tension. They taste like the mountain remembers both fire and snow.

4. Alto Piemonte, Italy: The Northern Secret

Flavor Profile: Nebbiolo in its most ethereal form that sort of is a gentle reminder of Burgundy with crushed rose petals, strawberry, and iron dust.

Price Band: $35–$70

Producers to Know: Antoniolo, Nervi-Conterno, Le Piane, Travaligni

Vintage Tip: 2018 and 2019 are graceful while 2020 promises structure. The 2018 vintage was cool, even a touch shy at first, but what it gave was subtle beauty, the kind that unfolds with time and air and loves decanting. 2019 was almost a perfect growing season and gave Nebbiolo its sweet spot, ripeness balanced by acidity, fruit framed by fine tannins. The 2020 vintage experienced slightly warmer conditions, giving Nebbiolo more muscle while keeping its alpine nerve.

Food Pairing: wild mushroom risotto (yes, again, but this is Italy, come on!), seared tuna with herbs like parsley and oregano.

Forget Barolo’s bombast, this is Nebbiolo wrapped in silk pajamas ready to comfort and please. Think Burgundy’s perfume with Italian confidence and swoon ahead of time.

5. Jura, France: Burgundy’s Wild Neighbor

Okay, bear with me, I understand why you might think this one is a bit more of a stretch than the others, but what the hell, I felt like doing yoga I guess.

Flavor Profile: redcurrant, cranberry, sous bois (forest floor), and salty minerality.

Price Band: $25–$60

Producers to Know: Tissot, Ganevat, Pignier, Domaine de la Pinte

Vintage Tip: 2020 for freshness, 2018 for texture. The 2018 vintage was unusually warm for the Jura, creaating wines with generous fruit and a touch more body, without losing that signature forest-floor restraint. After the warmth of 2018, 2020 felt like a return to Jura’s roots. A cooler, cleaner vintage, it gave wines of bright minerality and tight precision, the kind that taste like the air they were born in.

Food Pairing: comté cheese if you’re in the Wegman’s cheese section, roast pork with apples, lentil stew.

Jura’s reds and whites walk the same tightrope of tension and earth that Burgundy does, but add a touch of eccentricity, like a French philosopher who prefers the woods to the café. They might be a little funky and more “natty” than you’re used to, so I’d recommend a good decant before enjoying. You’ll still get the Burgundy vibe after some of the wine opens up.

6. Germany: Pinot With Precision

Flavor Profile: Spätburgunder (German Pinot Noir) delivers bright cherry, minerality, and precision.

Price Band: $20–$50

Producers to Know: Meyer-Näkel, Fürst, Becker, Enderle & Moll

Vintage Tip: 2019 for freshness, 2020 for body. The 2019 vintage was a cooler growing season, allowing the grapes to ripen slowly and build those layers of acidity and aroma. A sunnier vintage that still kept Germany’s famous acidity intact, 2020 brought riper fruit and a touch more weight, proving that Spätburgunder can wear richness gracefully.

Food Pairing: roasted duck, caramelized onions, spaetzle with butter and parsley.

Spätburgunder is Burgundy with a calculator: meticulous, elegant, and surprisingly emotional (yes, calculators can be emotional!). It’s what happens when discipline and delicacy fall in love, we all know those couples. Across the river valleys of Baden, the slate hills of the Ahr, and the limestone slopes of Pfalz, Germany has quietly mastered the art of balance with wines that feel cool, clean, and impossibly alive.

7. Santa Barbara, California: Sun-Kissed Grace

I know I rushed to say California temperatures were too high when I was writing about Oregon, but my mind was more in Napa than Santa Barbara.

Flavor Profile: silky smooth red fruit, baking spice, and soft tannins.

Price Band Ranges: $25–$70

Producers to Know: Sanford, Melville, Au Bon Climat, The Hilt, Sandhi (although the newer vintages seem to be getting heavier, so seek out older ones)

Vintage Tip: 2021 is a standout with balance, fragrance, and full of life. The 2021 growing season was nearly perfect with warm temperatures but not hot, dry but not parched, sunny but softened by the marine layer. The result is Pinot Noirs with clarity and poise, generous in fruit but anchored in freshness.

Food Pairing: grilled salmon with some soy sauce glaze to it, roasted vegetables, herbed goat cheese.

Santa Barbara’s cool Pacific air and calcareous soils give a California heart to Burgundy’s soul. These wines don’t pretend to be what they’re not, they reinterpret.

Pairing Like a Sommelier

You don’t need foie gras or fancy menus at Jean Georges to enjoy Pinot’s elegance. You just need a little texture, a touch of salt, and food that feels honest and alive.

Pair it with:

Poultry: roasted chicken, turkey burgers, or even crispy rotisserie straight from the store.

Vegetarian: roasted mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes, or beet salad with a sprinkle of feta.

Seafood: baked salmon, shrimp tacos, or seared tuna.

Cheese: brie, gouda, or whatever soft cheese you already have chilling in the fridge.

Late Night Uber Eats Pairings:
Pizza – Oregon Pinot Noir
Burger & Fries – Santa Barbara Pinot Noir
Sushi – Tasmanian Pinot Noir
Grilled Cheese or Panini – Jura Pinot Noir
Fried Chicken – Alto Piemonte Pinot Noir
Pasta with Red Sauce – Etna Rosso
Chocolate Dessert or Leftover Brownies – Santa Barbara Pinot Noir

Pinot doesn’t need a five-course dinner to be enjoyed, it just asks that you slow down enough to taste it.
Balance, after all, is its love language.

The spirit of Burgundy isn’t always a place, and let me say again that nothing tastes exactly like Burgundy, except Burgundy.
But you can find some well made Pinot Noirs from around the world that are subtle over loud, soil over sugar, and have the patience over show that you’re craving.

You can taste echos of it in Oregon’s fog, Etna’s fire, and Jura’s forest floor.
The beauty of wine is that you don’t have to spend a fortune to drink a masterpiece, sometimes, you just have to know where to look.