Week in Burgundy

[AlexR]

I always spend a few days a year in Burgundy, so it was nice to get away last week. I stayed in a gîte owned by Australians on the Place du Monument in Puligny-Montrachet, a charming little village.

First stop was in Aloxe-Corton, at domaine Poisot, a relative newcomer on the scene. They have only 2 1/2 hectares of vines, but in some very fine climats. The cellars are located underneath Château Corton Grancey, which belongs to Maison Louis Latour. The owners, cousins of the Latours, inherited their vines several years ago. M. Rémi Poisot retired fairly young from the navy and his pension enables him to devote all his time to winemaking. We tasted all his wines in the 2013 and 2012 vintages: Saint-Aubin, Corton Charlemagne, Pernand Vegelesses, Corton Bressandes, and Romanée Saint Vivant. I really liked them. For a start, I had several Saint-Aubin's on my trip and am beginning to have a lot of time for this appellation (I learned, for instance, that above Le Montrachet, you have Chevalier Montrachet, and directly above Chevalier Montrachet you have a plot of AOC Saint-Aubin!). The red wines were quite good, and the Romanée Saint-Vivant was particularly suave and silky. That evening, we dined at the Ed.Em (as in Edouard and Emilie) above the caveau in Chassagne Montrachet. This turned out to be an OK meal, but really quite expensive for what it was, and the wine list had extortionate prices.

The next day was the 1st of May, a public holiday. We visited Domaine Dublère in Savigny Les Beaune. American Blair Pethel is a former journalist who followed his dream in 2006. The 2013 wines were good across the board, although I preferred the white.
After this visit we went to have lunch at Caveau des Arches in Beaune. The cuisine there is hearty and good, and was much better value for money than the previous night.

We had 3 visits the next day. The first was to Bernard Moreau in Chassagne, where we were welcomed by Alex Moreau and enjoyed his Chassagne Montrachets (among other wines). The next stop was Henri Boillot, located in an industrial estate outside Meursault since their small cellars in Volnay had become too small. We were welcomed by Guillaume Boillot and tasted through a series of wines (although not the grand cru whites this time). I’ve always liked his whites, but had found the reds less good. Not so this time, and I remarked on this in as diplomatic a way as possible. Gauillaume explained that they changed their red winemaking methods markedly 2 years ago, and it shows.
The next stop was Vincent Girardin in Meursault, once again in the same industrial estate. The man – Vincent Girardin – has nothing to do anymore with the firm bearing his name. He sold out to the owner of Les Vins d'Autrefois and used the money to buy wheat fields in Ile de France. The company are purely négociants, although a very important land purchase is apparently in the offing, so stay tuned... We were welcomed by Eric Germain, a young enologist who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Burgundy. We tasted through a great many wines, and the whites, particularly, showed well.
The last visit of the day was to domaine Lucien Boillot in Gevrey-Chambertin. This proved to be a nice discovery. We tasted through Pierre Boillot’s entire range and admired the expression of terroir and purity of his wines. I was able to buy some 2009s and 2010s, and look forward to drinking them.
In the evening, we went to a trendy wine bar-cum-restaurant called Le Columbier in Beaune. This is apparently the place to be because it was tremendously crowded. But between the loud music, cramped tables, and tremendously overpriced wine, I suggest giving this place a pass...

On Saturday, we went to the Beaujolais, where we had two very strange visits. The first was to Domaine Michel Guignier in Vauxrenard. Monsieur Guignier is a biodnyamic winegrower verging on the fanatic. He also makes “natural wines” (or “pur jus” as he calls them). You can't help but like the guy, but his wines were just plain weird (for instance, a blend of 2004 and 2006 left on the lees and bottled in 2012…). Lunch at Le Cep in Fleurie is like stepping back into the 1950s, and was very enjoyable. Afterward, we went to Domaine Jules Desjourneys in La Chapelle de Gunichey. The visit lasted four and a half hours. Upon arrival (at 4 pm), M. Fabien Duperray was just finishing lunch. He offered us some of the wines he had shared with a visiting Parisian client and then opened a bottle of... 1937 Ch. Gillette (Sauternes) for us. This had a nose of mushrooms, but was very nice on the palate. We then tasted through his wines – and then drank and drank them, talking about everything under the sun. This is Beaujolais such as I have never tasted: very dark in color, big, tannic, and some of the cuvées are wood aged. We managed to find our way out of the cellar and across the street to La Poularde restaurant where we enjoyed a 2010 Mâcon-Pierreclos from Domaine Guffens-Heynen. This restaurant deserves its one Michelin star, and Fabien was right to recommend the wine.
While in Beaujolas, we visited the Georges Duboeuf wine tourism center. This is quite an operation, and they receive busloads of people to see their wine museum (we didn't have the time), tasting room, and boutique. They sell wines from all over the world there and I was happy to walk away with a 2000 Ch. Clerc Milon that cost 37 euros.

Sunday is generally dead in France, although Burgundy less so than many other places because of the tourists trooping through. It was "Open Doors" days in Savigny-les-Beaune, so we visited about 7 cellars. I've had very good experiences with domaine Chandon de Briailles, but the red wines I tasted there were disappointing, and none of the better whites were on show. I did, however, like the estate wines from domaine Doudet Naudin, especially the Beaune Cent Vignes. I'd often heard about the wines of Simon Bize, but never previously visited. They were pouring several wines, and I quite liked their 2009 Savigny village for 28 euros, and so bought 3 bottles. Monsieur Bize died recently, but his Japanese widow is carrying on.

Obviously, growers are disturbed by the low crops of the past three years, but they are reacting in different ways. Many are raising their prices by 40% which has caused a lot of groaning. But others are less greedy, so it is difficult to generalize.

Lunch on Monday was at Le Montrachet restaurant in Puligny. This is a classy establishment that would be too expensive (for me) at dinner, but lunch was very good and reasonably priced (32 euro menu). We had a Chablis premier cru La Forest from Dauvissat and a 2009 Saint-Joseph from Coursodon with our meal. Then it was time to visit domaine Liger-Belair in Vosne Romanée. This was memorable because Louis-Michel is very communicative – and also makes good wines. The range is fine, without exception. I think the ex-cellars price of La Romanée is 900 euros a bottle… After tasting the 2012, we were offered the 2007 to drink. We asked about the sale of Domaine des Lambreys and Louis-Michel told us he was involved in the negotiations and so, obviously, thought it was a good thing. Opinions up and down the Côte are divided, though… After Liger-Belair, we went to domaine Hubert Lignier in Morey Saint-Denis. I quite like his wines, made in a very traditional mode. He kindly invited us to dinner that evening and, among other wines, we enjoyed a 1999 Charmes Chambertin.

There were 3 visits on the last day. First was to Mugnier. Jacques-Frédéric (“Freddy” pour les intimes) was away, so his assistant Audrey looked after us. We tasted through his 2013s and 2012s, and you can’t help but like the purity and precision of his wines. Lunch was at Le Millésime in Chambolle, which I recommend. Second stop was domaine Pierre Damoy in Gevrey Chambertin. Pierre has had some terrible health problems, but is just getting over them now. We tasted his full range, including a special reserve cuvee of Clos de Bèze, of which his family are the largest owners. Final visit was to domaine Buisson Charles in Meursault. Patrick Essa makes very good wine there. He is also a gym teacher at a local school and a noted taster who posts on French wine sites. After sampling 25 of his wines, he and his wife accompanied us to dinner at Le Bouchon in Meursault (where they’re redoing the entire town centre) and then it was time for a good night’s sleep before the 8-hour drive the next day.

This post is long as it is, so I am not going to transcribe pages upon pages of tasting notes. But I will say that, in my limited experience the 2013 vintage is surely worthy of attention. Forgetting the pricing for a moment, many of the wines I tasted are looking good. But growers aren’t lying when they say quantities are severely reduced. And when you factor in the growing Chinese interest in Burgundy, we are unfortunately looking at sizeable increases. Intelligent Burgundy lovers would do well to buy older vintages.

Best regards,
Alex R.

[DavidG]

Nice report Alex. Did Boillot say what they changed a few years ago? The Desjourneys Beaujolais sound interesting but it appears to be offered in only a few places in the US.

[stefan]

Thanks for the very interesting report, Alex.

It is bad for us that the Chinese are now into Burgundy.

[Nicklasss]

Merci pour le beau compte-rendu AlexR.

Informative and funny, with good restaurant recommendations, If I ever make it to Bourgogne.

Chandon de Briaille and Simon Bize wines are available here, but I never had them. Would you recommend them? Reasonnable priced vs the Côtes de Nuits.

I like Liger-Bélair and have some 2006 Vosne-Romanée and 2009 Nuits St- Georges 1er Cru Les St- Georges.

Mr Essa from Buisson-Charles is well known in Québec, as he is participating on a nice Forum here. I read his wine are very good, and that the man is an unbeatable Bourgogne taster.

Lately, I discovered the wines from Domaine Rollin in Pernand-Vergelesses, and like them.

Nic

[Carlos Delpin]

Nick:

Simon Bize wines are really solid in both red and white. Pure and crunchy fruit characterize the wines and the use of oak is judicious. Solid QPR.

Chandon de Brialle in general also showcase pure fruit but use a high percentage of stem inclusion and therefore is more polarizing.

Another one to seek out in that area is Pavelot.

Cheers.

Carlos

[jmccready]

A great read. I will use some of your info when I'm there in November. So many small producers.

[brodway]

Alex.

you actually tasted 3 of my regular Burgundy purchases. one being Boillot Volnay Frimets is one of my all time favorites. a few years ago i brought a bottle one to Jacque's famous pool parties and it showed brilliantly . the Dauvissat La Forest is something i purchase in any successful vintage (and its still a good value). i just went through my final few bottles of Vincent Girardin Puligny Foletieres, Champs Gains and Combettes (i cleaned out a shop that was clearing them out locally), and was sad to see the replacement value almost triple from the early 2000' vintages i've consumed.

i'm traveling to Paris/Loire this summer, and your notes have me now contemplating splitting the 6 days between Burgundy and Loire.

[jal]

Thank you for the report, I'm happy to see that not much has changed since I visited some of these sites in 1994 (pre-internet!!!)
Beaujolais as a whole and Fleurie in particular were very charming then, stepping back into the 1950s is the appropriate description, what a lovely place.
The Montrachet restaurant in Puligny for lunch remains a very vivid memory and I always wanted to go back and visit. I'm glad to see it's still going strong.

About the wines, Lignier and Mugnier are two of my favorite estates, the prices are very high these days, but worth an occasional splurge.

I have drank a few Girardin reds in the last few years and one thing strikes me; the style is very homogeneous, I can barely discern a difference between their various bottling, terroirs, vintages, etc... I think the simple Bourgogne will do me fine, no need to go high end. Maybe I just need to expand the samples but then it is also a splurge, and I would rather splurge on the favorites.

Nice trip, Alex, it brought back memories

p.s. I would love to see your tasting notes on the wines of Mugnier and Lignier

[Jay Winton]

Thanks Alex, I remember a 4 hour dinner at Caveau des Arches back in the 90s-a very nice evening.

[stefan]

Mugnier and Lignier wines are fantastic, but now we rarely drink them because of the price. I like Vincent Girardin white wines, but I agree with Jacques about the reds. I don't buy them now unless there is a super sale on them and I need some good quality generic pinot noir.

[jal]

The Mugnier NSG Clos de la Marechale was somewhat still affordable until 3 years ago, the 2008 can still be found at around $70 (ok not that affordable, but not in the hundreds like his Chambolle 1er) and I think Mugnier did a really great job with that parcel. Problem is that since then, the new vintages are selling for around 40-50% more; the 2010 goes for $90-$115.