What I'm Excited About This Week: Absolutely Beautiful Burgundy
We just had another fantastic tasting from Alex Pross, and I really loved the heck out of it. It was all reds from Burgundy, which typically means all Pinot Noir, and this was no exception. I have written before about how much I enjoy tasting a lot of something all at once, and this lineup showcased to me the beauty of this format. We tasted 22 wines, and all of them were unique with their own personalities. Sure, they were all Pinot Noir, but like all truly elegant and luxurious things it's the nuance that makes all the difference. The regional similarities were ultimately trumped by each wine’s more individual qualities.
We tasted through some Bourgogne Rouges and then went into Volnay before focusing on Gevrey-Chambertin, with a few other crus along the way. It was just a fantastic time and a fantastic tasting. Alex really impressed upon us the variances that contribute to all of these differences, every single choice and decision: when to pick, what time to pick, how much to pick per day—the whole spiderweb of vinification choices, which lead to so much individual character. While terroir is a major contributor, especially between different villages, it’s also the human factor of choice and free will that makes such unique wines.
2022 Domaine Pierrick Bouley Bourgogne Rouge Côte d'Or $44.99 While this might be a little light for people seeking to transition from California Pinot Noir to Burgundy, this is absolutely perfect for people who have already found their stride within the region. This is absolutely gorgeous and really delivers on the QPR that people are looking for in the region. This is a bottle I'd happily hand to anyone who is looking for something drinking well already, while still delivering all the elegance you want from a great Burgundy. The nose is bright with pie cherry, raspberry, cranberry skin, a little bit of red floral in the very background. The palate has great acidity and slightly higher toned fruit, underripe raspberry, pie cherry, and cranberry flesh. This is so good for the price, it's crazy that we haven't already sold out. Don't worry though, we will soon enough, these great Burgundy deals never last long.
2023 Domaine Parent Bourgogne "Cuvee XIV" $34.99 Domaine Parent makes some of the easiest drinking Burgundies that we have, and to me that's a pretty huge compliment. I know I can hand any of their wines to someone at the price point they're happy with, and they'll enjoy the wine. They're all very approachable, even for someone who might not even know how they feel about Burgundy. This bottle is absolutely no exception. For this price, you can really enjoy a high-quality bottle, and this is that bottle. The nose has a little bit of darker fruit, a very light touch of plum or a little Bing cherry mixed in. The palate has a touch of plum along with the raspberry and bits of strawberry, plus barrel spice on the lingering finish, the fruit growing creamy. Easy and approachable, this is what you want when you just want a wine to enjoy, not necessarily one to study, but while leaving study open just in case.
2022 Domaine Pierrick Bouley Volnay $99.99 This is an absolutely phenomenal bottle of wine. I don't care who you are or what you like, this is straight up good. The nose is an amazing mélange of fruit and spice. There's pretty red fruit, a little bit of stewed strawberry, fresh raspberry, pie cherry, and then a cranberry-pomegranate-rosehip compote towards the end, all with touches of barrel spice throughout. The palate is fairly dense, albeit still solidly towards the light side of things. There's raspberry, red cherry, and cranberry skin on the palate. This is so good, and I really had a tough time spitting this one out, both during the tasting and even more so a few hours later when writing this blog, once it’d had time to open up. Have this with anything you want, but any of the usual suspects would be great: roast chicken, salmon, some pork dishes. Just go for it.
2022 Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini Bourgogne Rouge "Champ Franc" $39.99 This is such a compelling bottle for this price. It's got amazing structure and depth, and at the time of writing, towards the end of the day, it's also got such a pretty nose that was a little closer earlier despite being double-decanted. The nose is richly layered: rose petals and a touch of hibiscus. The fruit is the star of the show, with raspberry, pie cherry, and crunchy cranberry. The palate is pretty and bright, lots of cherry, little touches of cranberry skin, and some underripe raspberry along with some dusty fruit on the finish. There's a hit of neutral oak roundness in there. The whole thing is a really pretty study in structure and finesse.
2022 Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini Morey-St-Denis 1er Cru "Les Millandes" $199.99 92-94JM 91-93VN 90-93BN While there's something glorious about trying a beautiful and expensive bottle of Burgundy, sometimes there's a little bit of sadness when your brain starts to imagine how much better the wine could be with some time, and this one did that little trick to me. This is really great now: it has structure and already is showing both depth and length. At the same time, the level of acidity, the firmer grip on the tannins, and the overall fruit quality tells me that I want to have this in another five-to-ten years to properly enjoy it. You can cellar this or, if you can’t wait, give it a heavy decant and have with some perfectly rich foods… it will be everything you want it to be, but with a little patience this will be more than you thought it could be.
We have a few nice tastings this week, just like we have nice tastings every week. On Thursday we have our monthly blind tasting and this month it’s Pinot Noir from around the world, which really ties in nicely with Saturday’s tasting focusing on higher-end red Burgundy. I suggest doing both of them for a more complete experience, since one will get your mind tickling itself trying to convert these flavor memories and concepts while the other will help round out that experience by giving you some solid examples of high-end Burgundy to compare to what you had before. Maybe it’s because I’m a huge nerd, but that just sounds like good clean fun to me.
Besides those two, we also have a fantastic and pretty unique tasting, a vertical from Greer. It’s all 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and 100% Estate grown from a small three-acre vineyard in Napa Valley, and for the true wine connoisseur and nerd, the chance to try side by side vintages from 2015 to 2021 is pretty exciting. I know I’m excited. Are you excited?
As always make sure to check our Local Events page every single day. It doesn’t update every day but you just can’t afford to miss tastings and events like these. What if you miss the perfect tasting because you just didn’t check? Be kind to yourself. Maybe check twice a day just in case.