Cinnamon and I just got back from a lovely vacation in Burgundy, and one of the highlights for me was visiting Domaine Bart in Marsannay. Located at the very top of the Côte de Nuits, just south of the city of Dijon and just north of Gevrey-Chambertin, this property was part of the historic Clair-Daü estate that was split between Bruno Clair, Louis Jadot, and, of course, Bart. They have an impressive 54-acre estate at Domaine Bart, and Pierre Bart was kind enough to lead us through his extensive range of wines with the help of his extremely cute dog Lemon.

These wines are a staple of our cellar at home and our table. Collectively, they are dark fruited and surprisingly concentrated, especially given the modest price K&L snags thanks to our Direct Import program. For the 2019 harvest we have so far bought a case each of the Fixin Hervelets and the Echezots for our own personal cellar as well as smaller quantities of all the rest. In order to taste them old, we need a case… they are far too charming in their youth and too tempting to let them be in the cellar without drinking a few bottles now. I find these wines to be an excellent partner to our Sunday roast chicken but also for duck leg confit, wild salmon, as well as stews like coq au vin and boeuf bourgignon. These are real Burgundy lover’s Burgundies!

Here are some of the highlights from our tasting with Pierre Bart:

2019 Domaine Bart Marsannay "Les Ouzeloy" $29.99: If you think you can’t find that true dark Pinot fruit in Burgundy without calling the bank first, here is your relief. This rich, full-bodied Ouzeloy has great sappy bing cherry fruit, but also that graceful Burgundy magic. This is a big wine for a small price.

2019 Domaine Bart Marsannay Rouge "La Montagne" $29.99: This comes from a parcel with more clay, and sees 20% whole-cluster fermentation. The results are a wine with quite a bit of tannic structure to go with its cola-tinged Luxardo cherry fruit and clean power. This wine has very impressive silky texture on the mid palate to go along with bolstering tannin.

2019 Domaine Bart Marsannay Rouge "Es Chezots" $39.99: A shining star in a great lineup for me, Cinnamon and I bought a case of this one for our own cellar, to go along with the other vintages we have collected over the years. This is a spicy Pinot with great color and savory dark fruit. The mid palate is soyeuse comme tout true velvet in the mouth and a great contrast to the spice on the nose. The back end is as fresh as the texture is velvety… A little bit of that high-end Burgundy magic! Very long finishing and layered, but far too easy to drink. Our case might have to go into our wine locker where I can’t get to it if I want to age this one!

2019 Domaine Bart Marsannay Rouge "Les Grandes Vignes" $29.99: This is the crossover wine, the gateway drug of our Burgundy lineup, with enough black Pinot Noir fruit to make the Sonoma Coast fans swoon. You have been warned! This is a glimpse at the richness that the wines of the Côte d’Or can offer, at a price that can only be achieved with direct importation.

2019 Domaine Bart Marsannay Rouge "Champs Salomon" $39.99: This wine is to me the Musigny of Marsannay, the iron fist in the velvet glove with its Luxardo cherry power, layered spices, and concentrated, powerful mid-palate impression. The finish is long and sweet. I can’t wait to have it with duck leg confit.

2019 Domaine Bart Fixin $39.99: The village of Fixin is just south-east of Marsannay where Domaine Bart is based, and offers wines with more acidity and freshness. This 2019 has the black cherry Pinot Noir fruit that we all love in the Bart wines, but with more clean minerality and lift. The finish is long, and detailed, and comes with that crunch that I love with my Sunday roast chicken.

2019 Domaine Bart Fixin 1er Cru "Les Hervelets" $59.99: Cinnamon and I did not wait to taste this wine to buy our case, we have been collecting the Bart Hervelets since we started importing them, and now have a nice vertical. Pierre treats this to 25% new oak, but it is completely integrated into the wine. This site is one of the most “under the radar” 1er crus in all of Burgundy and used to be celebrated in the same breath as Chambertin and Corton. The Hervelets is one of the rare high-end, finessed Burgundy bottlings that one can still buy for less than three figures, and it is too bad that we can’t get more. Tasting it with Pierre at the domaine, it is obvious that this wine needs cellar time. It was powerful and dense with a nearly inscrutable aroma. In the mouth it showed much more, with sweet Luxardo cherry fruit and clean earth. The finish went on forever, closing my eyes I can almost taste it again now.

2019 Domaine Bart Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru $199.99: Pierre Bart is fortunate to have a full hectare, more than 2.5 acres, of vines in this grand cru; but with part of the vineyard over 100-years old, the yields are tiny. They are working on doing their own massal selection from the ancient vines here, and I can’t wait to follow the results. This wine sees 40% new oak and 50% whole-cluster fermentation, but the oak disappears into the concentrated black fruit of this luscious, compote de cerises–style grand cru. The finish is pristinely clean and ultra-long. It is amazing to me that we still have some of this to offer given the price of other Bonnes-Mares; almost all the rest we have, from younger vines as well, are more than twice the price!