Originally published in the October 2015 issue of Robb Report Collection as “Telling Secrets”

The Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, the governing system that controls the hierarchy of vineyards in Burgundy, may seem immutable. But in fact, it was only established in 1936, and in the region’s 1,600-year history of producing wine, there were other opinions on which plots of ground produce the finest juice. 

Last year, Charles Curtis published a deep historical exploration of the region in his…