It is difficult not to get caught up in his enthusiasm. He describes the landscape, its soils, terrain and climate so poetically that one hardly needs to see the beautiful slides he has brought back with him from his many trips to the area. Clearly, here is a man who was not named Grand Officier, the highest rank attainable in the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, for nothing. (The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Tasting Cup is a venerable group of Burgundy producers and aficionados, in this country, as well as in France.)

Although it’s hard to believe, Dr. Corriher tried his first non-communion glass of wine in 1967 at a restaurant in Lisbon, Portugal. Apparently, it was love at first taste, because he went on to amass, over a period of years, a collection of wines that numbered nearly 6,000 bottles from nine countries. Even for him, keeping up with them all became a daunting task.

“I decided it was better to know a lot about a little rather than a little about a lot,” he says. As many serious collectors do, he chose to specialize — in the magnificent wines of Burgundy. He calls the region “the most complex and diverse single wine region in the world.”

His lecture only touched on Burgundy as a whole. He narrowed the focus even further to speak particularly about the wines from a discreet area. La Cote d’Or, which means the golden slopes, and refers to the color of the vines in early autumn. This central kernel of Burgundy is further split into two sections — La Cote de Nuits and La Cote de Beaune — and stretches a thin 60 kilometers between Dijon and Chagny. Some of the most notable wines from this area include Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanee, Aloxe-Corton, Savigny-Les-Beaune, Beaune, Cote de Beaune, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet, but there are many others.

Given that this is such a small area, wines can be quite different culled from grapes grown only yards apart from each other. Much depends on how far up a slope the grapes are grown. Grand Cru, a historic delineation, might be within a stone’s throw from a humbler “villages” row. Corriher told his audience that one wine proucer paid $2,500,000 for five particularly choice rows. And some of the best land, like at La Tache, would cost $1,250,000 per acre — if you could buy it.

Both red and white wines from La Cote d’Or are distinguished, and most are pricey. At the high end of the scale, Corriher mentioned some Romanee Conti ’95 that sold for $1,799 per bottle. He noted, however, that the beginning collector can find some very good bottles for $16 to $18 per bottle. He recommends looking in wine stores in larger cities for any wines touted by Robert Kacher in The Wine Spectator.

One of the best ways to begin is to learn about the producers, Corriher noted, as he showed his slide presentation. Faces in the fields, in the cellars, at the bi-monthly chapitres, or gatherings, flashed behind him.

“The people are wonderful,” he said. “The Bordelaise (who produce the great Bordeaux) are the aristocrats, but the Burgundians are peasants and farmers. Down-to-earth.Great people.”

He showed the beautiful barrels that must be changed every year or two; the charming old chateau at the Clos de Vougeot, which began as a monastery nearly 900 years ago; the late medieval Hospice de Beaune, which began as a hospital but is now where the great wine auction is held the third Sunday of every November, determining yearly prices.

The slides illustrated the tile roofs particular to Burgundy, the flinty stones that reflect light up to the grapes, and the village of Volnay, unique in its hilltop setting above the vineyards.

Corriher can indeed wax eloquent when discussing his favorite subject.

Consider how he described Burgundy’s glass container, unlike the stiff upright Bordeaux bottle.

“It has a slender, sloping shoulder. Very appropriate for this ‘feminine’ wine. Burgundy is seductive and appealing. Like a woman, it is beautiful in youth, charming in old age, and has won the hearts of many men.”