Burgundy

Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Prepares to Release Its Maiden Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2022 from Le Charlemagne…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The spectacular wines of Jean-Yves Bizot represent the pinnacle of wine quality in a region graced with some of the most sought-after labels in the world of fine wine. Jean-Yves’s strict and uncompromising standards in the vineyards and his enviable old vine parcels in Vosne-Romanée combine to offer a stellar line-up of miniscule production red Burgundies built for ageing. Jean-Yves is a respected professor of viticulture and oenology in Beaune and lives in Vosne across the road from Henri Jayer’s old residence.

Sunrise in January 2024 over Gevrey-Chambertin.

Indeed, the two vignerons had neighbouring parcels in Vosne-Romanée and often discussed vinification techniques while working their vines. As a result, Jean-Yves decided to adapt some of Jayer’s techniques in his own cellar (in particular, whole cluster fermentation at cool temperatures in conical wooden vats) and is now making exceptional Vosne-Romanée wines that defy quality comparisons. Jean-Yves has undoubtedly forged his own unique winemaking path and today is recognized as producing some of the most iconic wines in Burgundy, following his own distinct and rigorous philosophy in the vineyards and in the cellar. Unsurprisingly, the wines of Domaine Bizot are now regarded as the pinnacle of Pinot Noir perfection and are coveted by the greatest Burgundy collectors and connoisseurs around the world, joining the ranks of other iconic names such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

Tasting the Corton-Charlemagne 2022 from barrel with Jean-Yves in January 2024.

Jean-Yves Bizot recently made some exciting new purchases in Burgundy, including 0.14 hectares of prime Le Charlemagne Chardonnay vines as well as further north in the Côtes-de-Nuits, terroirs that he believes are still under-appreciated by the current generation but which were very well known and highly regarded centuries ago – both of his Côtes-de-Nuits vineyards are just south of Dijon: Bourgogne “Le Chapitre” and Marsannay “Clos du Roy”, both of which are old vine parcels.  His range is completed by his magnificent Bourgogne Blanc that comes from an old parcel of sélection massale Chardonnay right next to Grand Cru Clos de Vougeot. Bizot’s wines are bottled by hand, barrel by barrel, without filtration, and are serious Burgundies for the patient connoisseur, emphasizing purity, subtlety, power and elegance.

Some Bizot vineyards next to his Vosne-Romanee winery.

Domaine Jean Yves Bizot Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2022

The two specific single vineyards of En Charlemagne and Le Charlemagne make up half of this famous appellation, while white grapes grown in seven other vineyards may also be sold as Corton-Charlemagne. As a result there can be a wide divergence in styles between earlier picked south-facing locations and cooler, later picked western slopes around Pernand-Vergelesses. Jean-Yves’s 0.14 hectares of vines are located in the prestigious Le Charlemagne vineyard and produce a meagre two new French oak barrels, or 600 bottles, of this golden Grand Cru nectar. A wonderfully sophisticated first showing of this wine reveals a rich vinous tapestry tightly packed with savoury aromatics of leesy yellow citrus, fresh rain on limestone, wet straw, baking herbs and glacé lemon rind. The concentration on the palate is astonishing – glycerol, piercing, fresh and beautifully crystalline and saline with intense layers of lemon and lime cordial, green apple pastille over an electric laser-like acidity with just a subtle kiss of lemon butter and vanilla pod spice on the finish. An astounding wine of incredible power, focus and precision, the likes of which you rarely see from Corton-Charlemagne. A wine that is sure to be legendary even before its official release.

(Wine Safari Score: 99-100/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The wines of Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot are imported and distributed exclusively in the UK by Wimbledon Wine Cellar. Contact: andrew@wimbledonwinecellar.com to enquire about available allocations and up coming new releases like the Corton-Charlemagne.

Highlights of Burgundy En-Primeur 2022 – Reviewing the Domaine Jean-Marie Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 2022…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 2 Comments

Over the last twenty years, Domaine Fourrier has turned out to be one of the great success stories in Burgundy, proof that a talented grower with good sites can rise out of near obscurity to make wines that have become some of the most sought-after in the region. The man behind this rapid rise is Jean-Marie Fourrier, whose father generously handed over control in 1994, when his son was twenty-four. He is lucky to have a large stock of old vines, but as ever, the secret to his success is meticulous work in the vineyards.

Jean-Marie does not follow organic methods specifically, but rather he tries to keep chemical treatments to a minimum and is more of an ‘intuitive anticipator’ of vineyard problems. While always remaining true to their terroirs, his wines have won over a legion of Burgundy collectors and followers with their unashamed ripeness, textural polish, and an all-round seductiveness that is normally instantly recognisable, but without ever compromising on the wines’ age ability.

Vintage 2022 in Burgundy:

The 2022 vintage undoubtedly represents a return to a warmer and dryer style of season after the trials and tribulations of the complex, frost affected, low yielding but high quality 2021 vintage. The 2022 conditions and wine styles have more in keeping with the trilogy of riper years in 2018-2019-2020 despite the region having had several near misses with frost during the season with low -4c temperatures recorded in April.

Fortunately, after a very meagre but high quality 2021 harvest, the volumes of 2022 rebounded, as is often the case with frost affected vines, with some generous grape yields of excellent quality for both reds and whites after a warm, dry summer without any heat spikes. Harvesting generally began towards the end of August in the Cotes de Beaune and in early September in the Cotes de Nuits and Chablis. The resultant wines are beautifully ripe and vibrant, with invigorating fruit concentration, crystalline purity, and delicious mouthwatering intensity.

Domaine Jean-Marie Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 2022, Burgundy, France

A very classy, plush aromatics which suggests great pedigree and power but announces it with true elegance and soft-spoken restraint. There’s a lovely melange of both red and black fruits, strawberry, black cherry, red currant and plum spice. The palate is deliciously bright, sleek and fleshy but also beautifully delineated, with fresh underlying acids punctuating the focus and purity of fruit. All wonderfully in balance, the fleshy sweet fruit is tight knit, taut but silky, the tannins powdery and mineral. Very elegant and supremely classy with the archetypal Fourrier fruit purity and palate concentration but importantly with energising, revitalising acids in this warm ripe vintage. Yet again a thoroughly seductive Gevrey-Chambertin from this blue chip 1er Cru vineyard. Drink on release and over the next 10 to 15+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94-96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Great Chardonnay Blind Challenge 2023 – Putting Some of the World’s Finest Chardonnays Through Their Paces in The Judgement of Surbiton…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 2 Comments

The annual Tim Atkin South Africa Special Report is always an interesting barometer for what’s hot and what’s not in the wider Cape winemaking landscape. It remains an impressive body of work albeit written from the point of view of one individual. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, his 95+ point tasting hosted in Cape Town and Johannesburg in 2023 included 29 Chenin Blancs from around the Cape, confirming this cultivar’s quality and standing in the general South African fine wine landscape. But equally of interest, the tasting featured a whopping 20 Chardonnay whites, making it the second biggest awarded white category after the Chenin Blancs. As Tim and other commentators now point out, South Africa has undoubtedly overtaken France and the Loire region as the most lauded, successful, and sought-after dry Chenin Blanc producer in the world.

Chardonnay from the Cape, on the other hand, has the considerable might and prestige of Burgundy to compete with, and then, just when you think you are gaining ground on this undisputed world market leader, collectors and afficionados are quick to rattle off another incredibly impressive list of producers from California, Australia and New Zealand that are making some very highly rated, eminently respected Chardonnay’s that South Africa’s top producers still need to contend with in international markets in order to catch the attention of importers and top collectors.

For those of you familiar with my own website, A Fine Wine Safari, you might remember an incredibly insightful and challenging tasting that a bunch of fine wine afficionados in London pulled off in June 2018. It was born out of the lunch-time banter between some good fine wine friends who quickly aligned themselves as either New World Chardonnay afficionados or consummate Burghounds. The competitive nature of fine wine does this to grown adults… and so was born, the concept of a New World versus Burgundy Chardonnay shoot-out. Each team of tasters would run several rounds, and through a series of blind, scored tastings, they would select their top 10 wines, without budgetary restrictions, to compete against each other in a grand blind taste off.

The results of this tasting were indeed fascinating…

Read the tasting results here:

https://gregsherwoodmw.com/2018/06/18/the-great-blind-chardonnay-challenge-2018-new-world-chardonnay-giving-burgundy-a-run-for-its-money/

… but also served to confirm that yes, white Burgundy even five years ago was still prohibitively expensive from the top producers and even more so today, and yes, the New World could undoubtedly produce wines that rivalled the very best of France. I was of course lucky enough to serve as one of the New World team members on the June 2018 tasting alongside global heavy-weight journalist Neal Martin, who was there to help oversee the proceedings and to help make it a bit of a legendary tasting event… never to be repeated. Well, they do say, never say never!

In early 2023, one of the fine wine judges on our now famous “Judgement of Wimbledon” Grenache blind tasting panel raised the feasibility of presenting another blind Chardonnay Challenge, but this time not pitched against Burgundy directly, but merely featuring some of the best and most highly rated Chardonnays in the world in another blind, judgement-style tasting… this time not in Wimbledon, but in neighbouring Surbiton. Now, I will be the first to admit that “The Judgement of Surbiton” does not quite carry the same gravitas as “The Judgement of Paris”… however, the fine wine aficionado and obsessive South African wine collector behind the idea, Riaan Potgieter, single handedly organised one of the most impressively slick blind tastings I have attended in many years, featuring a line-up of wines from around the world that any Chardonnay fanatic would give their eye teeth to taste individually, let alone altogether.

The wines were as follows:

Rest assured, tasting so many incredible wines was positively gruelling, not in a bad way but in a mentally sapping way. When confronted with so many individually brilliant wines, it is always going to be hard work separating the merely good from the truly great. Among the 19 wines tasted by seven expert tasters, there were four wines from Australia, three from France, one from Germany, one from Italy, two from New Zealand, four from the USA and of course four from South Africa. Wines were generally all rated 97+ from critically acclaimed international reviewers but the range also included two blind hundred pointers from recent releases, namely Giaconda 2021 from Australia and Kistler Laguna Ridge from Sonoma County, USA.

Where the June 2018 Chardonnay Challenge selection failed to include any South African wines, (not for a lack of trying), this tasting featured four stunning wines that performed incredibly well considering the competition. These included a fabulous Kershaw Wines Deconstructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 Chardonnay 2018, a Leeu Passant Chardonnay 2020, a Lismore Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2021,  and a Draaiboek Wines Onskuld Chardonnay 2021 from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley made by Stephanie Wiid. On the day, six of the seven tasters certainly did not know what the final line up of wines would be, let alone that it would include four South African wines!

But boy did they perform, with the astonishing final Top 5 line-up including:

1. Littoria BA Theriot 2020, USA

2. Kistler Laguna Ridge 2019 (Magnum), USA

3. Giaconda Beechworth 2021, Aus

4. Leeu Passant 2020, SA

5. Draaiboek Wines Onskuld 2021, SA

Followed by in order of averaged score assessment total:

6. Furst Franconia R 2020, Germany

7. Tolpuddle 2021, Aus

8. Shaw + Smith Lenswood Vineyard 2020, Aus

9. Cullen Kevin John 2021, Aus

10. Ramey Hyde Vineyard 2019, USA

11. Domaine de Montille Puligny Montrachet Les Cailleret 2019, Burgundy

12. Domaine Leflaive Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres 2013, Burgundy

13. Kershaw Decontructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 2018, SA

14. Lismore Estate Reserve 2021, SA

15. Kumeu River Mates Vineyard 2020, NZ

16. Gaja Gaia & Rey 2020, Italy

17. Blank Canvas Reed Vineyard Marlborough 2021, NZ

18. Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 2019, USA

19. Coche Dury Bourgogne 2013, Burgundy

With the current state of ascendancy of South African wines, it seems obvious that this type of blind judgement tasting is going to be repeated regularly in the years to come. Whether they will all feature this calibre of competition from around the world, is another question altogether. I have it on good authority that assembling this selection alone was a fairly laborious, arduous and long-winded affair. For starters, the Giaconda 100-pointer was flown out from Australia as European stock is only going to be released through the Bordeaux Place and the Kistler Laguna Ridge cuvee was only available in magnum format at great expense. Needless to say, an absolutely phenomenal result for South African Chardonnay!

My personal blind tasting notes and individual Chardonnay Challenge 2023 scores were as follows:

Kistler Laguna Ridge 2019 (Magnum), USA

1. Aromatics of oyster shell, lemon peel and sea breeze, with mineral notes of wet stones. Incredible texture and depth, this coats the mouth with an insistent intensity showing an unctuous length of citrus pastille, vanilla wood spice and lemon oil.

(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Leeu Passant 2020, SA

2. Taut and fresh, the nose is tight and nervy with crushed rocks, wet stones, lemon peel and dried herbs. Palate is sleek and fresh, energetic, with fresh acids and a tangy, lemon and lime cordial finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Lismore Estate Reserve 2021, SA

3. A more smokey, spicy, herby nose with an underlay of burnt wood embers. Palate is broad and plush, fleshy and glycerol with soft acids, tangy mango and green papaya fruits and a lemon confit finish. Quite an oily style.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Kumeu River Mates Vineyard 2020, NZ

4. Quite a stony, mineral flinty nose with a melange of smoky reduction and sweet lemon and herb nuances. Acids are fresh and vibrant, notably tangy with pronounced savoury wood spice length.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Littoria BA Theriot 2020, USA

5. Nose is elegant and cool, even restrained, showing mojito and mint leaf, dried herbs and lime blossom. The acids are laser fresh and tart, adding a fine frame to the cool, lemon and lime peel fruits. Wonderfully integrated oak massages the fruit beautifully. True class.

(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 2019, USA

6. A very exotic nose with fig and tropical nuances, waxy apple peel and lanolin hints. The palate is broad and rich, perhaps a touch ponderous and creamy, quite spicy and mineral with petrichor hints, but lacks a bit of verve and vigour on the finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Coche Dury Bourgogne 2013, Burgundy

7. Exotic nose with rhubarb and fennel, wet slate and dried herbs. Palate is taut and tart with a sour acidity, lime zest, savoury lemon, and a massive length and intensity.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Cullen Kevin John 2021, Aus

8. A wonderfully fresh, vibrant, lime peel and cordial aromatics, so pure and classical with subtle hints of incense. Palate is fresh, taut and tangy with sweet – sour acids, and a massive lemon & herb fruit length. Beautifully pithy and zesty on the finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Furst Franconia R 2020, Germany

9. A more savoury aromatics with hints of biscuit, oat meal, dried herbs and wet river stones. Palate is fabulously clean, lean and restrained with a fine crystallinity, smoky minerality, and waxy green apple finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Tolpuddle 2021, Aus

10. Deep, wet chalk and struck flint nose with plenty of SO2 floating around with a dusty minerality, vinyl and lemon pith. The reduction follows to the palate with a lemon, apple and vinyl note. Made in a skinny reductive style, this needs more time in bottle.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Ramey Hyde Vineyard 2019, USA

11. Taut shy mineral nose, full of star fruit, hints of honeydew melon and a touch of lemon biscuit. Quite fresh and crystalline, with a really freshly pressed blood orange and tangerine juice intensity.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Leflaive Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres 2013, Burgundy

12. A complex but exotic nose with hints of oat meal, chalk, chablislesque minerality and green apple. Lovely notes of savoury pear purée, a hint of reduction, taut and sleek, mineral and classical. Spicy and pithy on the long finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Giaconda Beechworth 2021, Aus

13. A notably reductive nose with wet slate, petrichor, apple peel, chalk and apple cordial. Cool, sleek and elegant, this is a wine with precision, poise and focus expressed with intelligent winemaking.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Shaw + Smith Lenswood Vineyard 2020, Aus

14. Granitic spice, crushed rock, lime peel, green melon, and pistachio macaroons. Clean, intense and pristine with a piquant, pithy limey finish. Such lovely intensity, a sweet – sour palate breadth and a limey saline persistence.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de Montille Puligny Montrachet Les Cailleret 2019, Burgundy

15. Hints of spicy apple cider, lemon, biscuit, and pear purée aromatics. Palate is soft, cool and fleshy with a crisp but soft integrated acidity, a real elegance and finesse. The palate is smoky, mineral and crystalline, sleek, pure and very fine.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Draaiboek Wines Onskuld 2021, SA

16. Nose shows dusty aromatics, talc, sherbet, lime bon bons, wet stones and sweet baking spices. Palate sings with tart apple, crunchy pear, white citrus and a saline, pithy dry bitter lemon finish. Quite a cerebral wine.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Gaja Gaia & Rey 2020, Italy

17. Sweet confected lift with melon, bon bons, rock candy, with apple and pear boiled sweets. Cool, tangy and crystalline with apple cordial and lime juice hints, finishing with a soft, pithy mineral finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Kershaw Decontructed Lake District Bokkeveld Shale CY95 2018, SA

18. Sweet pear, hints of flinty reduction, savoury oat meal and buttered white toast. There is a massive intensity, richness and tangy freshness with an incredibly salty maritime finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Blank Canvas Reed Vineyard Marlborough 2021, NZ

19. Big, bold intense punchy aromatics that are shrouded in reductive flinty, smoky, stony notes. The palate reveals a magnificent clarity and precision, with the most seductive salty oyster shell notes of chalk stone and citrus. Beautifully fresh and intense, this wine is young but screams class!

(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Louis Jadot Releases Another Stellar Ladoix Blanc from the Warm 2020 Vintage in Burgundy…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Louis Jadot seems to be on a bit of a run of form when it comes to top quality white vintages. This Covid-hit 2020 is a charming vintage delivering full, fleshy, concentrated wines with plenty of intensity, depth and textural mouthfeel while retaining moderate alcohols and low pH levels. 2020 was a warm, dry year and efforts were of course made to pick fruit a little earlier than normal to retain freshness and energy in the wines. In the cellar, foudres and 500 litre barrels complement the classic Burgundian 228 litre barrels as changes are made to the wines’ elevage in an attempt to adapt to climate change.

Louis Jadot Domaine Gagey Ladoix Le Clou d’Orge Blanc 2020, Burgundy, 13% Abv.

The 2019 vintage was widely regarded as one of Jadot’s best white vintages on record, so 2020 was always going to be up against it. But this juicy Domaine Gagey Ladoix Le Clou d’Orge 2020 Blanc is a wonderfully expressive creation showing the ripeness and exoticism of the vintage. The aromatics are intricate and expressive, boasting notes of peaches, lemon pastille, citrus oil, salted toffee and honey drizzled on warm pastries fresh out the oven. The palate reveals a lovely opulent core of fleshy yellow citrus fruits that coat the mouth, with ripe flavours lingering with impressive persistence. A wine with a pleasing balance, flavour intensity and soft bright acids rather than zippy, nervy, chiselled acids of a cooler, leaner year. Certainly a real class act in terms of white Burgundy quality, and most importantly, with a rare accessible price point still. Enjoy now and over the next 3 to 5 years.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Wines are available exclusively to the UK trade through importer Hatch Mansfield and retails for circa £35 per bottle.

Jean Yves Bizot Establishing His Stunning Domaine Wines As Some of the Most Sought-After in Burgundy…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Burgundy remains one of the most exciting and alluring French appellations producing fine wine today. Whether it’s because of its 900 plus years of history or its exceptional terroir carefully married to primarily one red and one white grape variety, namely Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, no other wine region around the world has been able to truly match the profound expressions being produced in these small village appellations. Today, Burgundy and its top growers are arguably making the most sought after, ethereal and unrivalled fine wines in the world.

Jean-Yves Bizot is a Vosne Romanee based vigneron armed with a PhD in oenology and geology producing iconic wines that have certainly captured the imagination of connoisseurs and collectors around the globe in recent years. Originally owned by his grandfather, Domaine Bizot was, in essence, brought back to life in 1995 by Jean Yves when he took over the running of the winery. A passionate winemaker with a keen eye for history, Jean Yves is a big fan of the wines from the 1950s and 1960s but is less enamoured with the wines that Burgundy produced thereafter. Being one of the smaller domaines in Vosne Romanee at just 3.5 hectares, Jean Yves took over a winery that had been renting out most of its vineyards to other growers as his father was a full-time paediatrician at the hospital in Beaune and did not produce any wine himself.

Jean Yves Bizot of Domaine Bizot

The original domaine was, in the earlier days, almost eight hectares in size before some of the vineyards were passed on to successive generations, with several hectares going to Domaine Coudray-Bizot in Beaune and some to Domaine Naddef in Fixin. When Jean Yves took over the domaine in 1995, he immediately stopped using herbicides and also attempted to reduce the general use of sulphides, reverting to the lutte raisonnée or minimal intervention philosophy early on before progressing completely to organic wine growing in 2004. Nowadays, the domaine consist of mainly Pinot Noir with a small amount of Chardonnay planted in the Haut-Cotes de Nuits and in Flagey-Echezeaux, which is sold as simply Bourgogne Blanc.

In 2007, Jean-Yves acquired additional vineyards in Chenôve, in one of Dijon’s suburbs. Le Chapitre is a regional appellation site, squeezed in between high buildings in the middle of Chenôve whilst Clos du Roy, despite being located in the commune of Chenôve, is a village appellation Marsannay and is the northern continuation of the vineyards around the village of Marsannay. Compared with the lieux-dits sites considered for Premier Cru status in Marsannay, Le Chapitre is just a small 5.5 hectares in size owned by around ten growers including illustrious names like Sylvain Pataille, Laurent Fournier, and Domaine Gagey, Drouhin, among others.

Back in Vosne Romanee, Domaine Bizot produces several village appellation cuvees and the occasional Premier Cru red from declassified Echezeaux vines as well as his now highly famed Grand Cru Echezeaux red. Jean Yves doesn’t produce a Vosne Romanee Premier Cru every vintage, but when he does, it is normally sourced from an Echezeaux parcel called Les Treux, a site lower down the slope below Loächausses. The second of the two parcels in Echezeaux is a slightly larger site in Les Orveaux which is normally a later ripening plot, and in years when yields are low, Jean Yves will blend the sites into a single Echezeaux cuvee. Just behind the winery in Vosne Romanee is Les Jachees, one of the biggest parcels of the Bizot domaine at 0.63 hectares, which is a village appellation and Jean Yves is currently the only producer to bottle this site separately.

Jean Yves Bizot now produces undoubtedly some of the most highly coveted fine wines in Burgundy and I was very fortunate to meet up with Jean Yves recently at a bespoke dinner hosted by his UK importer, Wimbledon Wine Cellars. As I get so few opportunities to taste and write about Jean Yves’s incredible Domaine Bizot wines, I have tagged on a few extra previously unpublished tasting notes from a tasting dinner at Noble Rot. Nowadays, these wines are coveted for their extreme finesse and sumptuous depth, partly as a result of the whole bunch extraction process that the Domaine utilises, and every year, Bizot only produces between 9,000 and 10,000 bottles, making them incredibly difficult to purchase.

Domaine Bizot Bourgogne Blanc 2005, Burgundy, 13.5% Abv.

Yellow honied colour raised concerns, but in the glass, the aromatics are perfect for a 13 year old white. Impressively complex with layers of orange peel, apple skins, pithy pear and the most delicious gravelly, liquid minerality. Just to spice up the equation, the wine shows the most delicious struck match reduction on the finish. What a surprise. Delicious. 

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Bizot Echezeaux Grand Cru 2008, Burgundy, 12% Abv.

Showing some lovely foresty evolution, the aromatics are very expressive with graphite, smokey black cherry, earthy forest bramble berries with a delicious piquant, sappy, resinous black berry notes. Superbly fresh acids, beautiful sweet / sour berry notes, and a fine concentrated long finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Bizot Vosne Romanee 2005 Vieilles Vignes, Burgundy, 13% Abv.

Lovely dark broody, smokey, reductive nose with salty cassis, pithy black currant skins and an alluring salty black liquorice complexity. Sleek, quite mineral in orientation, piquant and fabulously intense, this is quite an intriguing Vosne Romanee that certainly punches above its village weight. (The last vintage of the Vieilles Vignes Vosne Romanee was in 2009 before the vineyard’s old vines were destroyed by frost.)

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Bizot Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes de Nuits Blanc 2018, Burgundy

Incredibly steely, saline aromatics great your first approach to the glass followed by a complex melange of lime cordial, lemon biscuits, grapefruit confit over subtle hints of struck flint reduction. But there is so much more on offer, as incrementally the wine unfurls revealing hints of honey suckle, passion fruit, Parma violets, perfumed lemon tea and purple rock candy. Wonderfully fleshy on the palate, this makes way for a complex smoky stony complexity with soft supple tangy acids, crunchy white peach, incredible lemon and lime fruit concentration overlayed by a pithy liquid minerality. A very regal expression from such a modest appellation. Simply stunning.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Bizot Vosne Romanee 2017, Burgundy

A beautifully plush signature Bizot nose with dusty chalky mineral sappy floral lapsang Souchong tea spice notes over earthy bramble berries, mulberry compote, black berry and peppermint crisp nuances. The palate is weightless yet intense, focusing the senses with its stony mineral pithy black fruits, black cherry reduction, black currant, pomegranate and delicately savoury mineral spice. An ethereal expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Bizot Marsannay Clos du Roy Rouge 2017, Burgundy

First vintage was produced in 2007. A most powerful Cuvee from Marsannay. A beautifully bold, plush opulent expression of Burgundy boasting perfumed violets, wild strawberries, burnt wood embers, graphite and red currant confit. Fabulously saline and bright on the palate with phenomenal concentration once again, tangy fresh acids, tart red cherry and cranberry pastille over pithy chalky mineral tannins. Really lovely intensity, flamboyance and depth with subtle power and focus. Will certainly improve with further time in bottle.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Bizot Vosne Romanee Les Jachees 2018, Burgundy

A powerful vintage but one that lacked a little acidic backbone in general, according to Jean Yves. Another individual expression full of Vosne spice, liquid chalk, dried Provençal herbs, garrigue, charcoal embers, raisined cranberries, and stewed strawberry fruits. The palate is super complex packed full of dusty chalk minerality, wet river stones, cherry and strawberry compote notes that melt into creamy mineral graphite tannins. A wine with such energy and fruit concentration, all assembled into a very special expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Bizot Bourgogne Le Chapitre Rouge 2016, Burgundy

From a plot in Marsannay. Huge frost in the Spring allowing only a two barrel production. One of the smallest vintages until the 2020s. Vines planted in 1954 but with several replantings since to replace dead vines. Initially very taut and tight with stony aromatics, the wine slowly opens its shoulders to show hints of wood smoke, charcoal embers, tar, sappy spice and black chai tea over a smoky black berry compote fruit core. Silky soft, spicy and full of energy, this is a characterful Cuvée that punches well above its weight, with impressive red and black fruit concentration, a smoky stony mineral vein leading to pithy strawberry fruited finish. Effortlessly classy and elegant.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Bizot Clos de La Bidaude Rouge 2021, Burgundy

Only circa 900 bottles produced. The first ever showing of this new Cuvée from Jean-Yves outside of his cellar. Taut, young and energetic with the unmistakable Bizot signature smoky, sappy, mineral spice with an opulent melange of forest berries, black plum, sour black cherry, blueberry, wild strawberry and a dusty chalky top note. Youthful vibrancy ripples through the palate while all the while retaining a sense of composure, elegance and class. Delicious tangy acids enliven the red and black fruits leading to a long, chalky, pithy strawberry fruited finish. Beautiful!

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The wines of Domaine Bizot are imported into the UK on release by Wimbledon Wine Cellars. Register your interest for new En-primeur releases.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Previews Their Exceptional and Unique 2020 Vintages in London…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 1 Comment

You know that when Aubert de Villaine declares that he believes their 2020 vintage will find a very special place among the great successes of recent years because of its uniqueness and originality, that you are in for a real tasting treat. Never one for exaggeration or hubris, Aubert nevertheless feels that the 2020 range of wines released in 2023 by the Domaine are really something exceptional.

With the vintage being produced in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s UK importer comments that it is therefore “quite fitting that Nature should have decided to take a very different path during the growing season of this, arguably the most beautiful of the fabulous trio -2018, 2019 and 2020. Born in a timeless world of clear skies, empty roads, smokeless factories … the 2020 vintage may almost be seen as an Ode to Joy.”

The wines share the opulence, power and density of 2018 and 2019 but their unique signature is a precision and startling freshness allied to an eery calm and authority – what Co-director Perrine Fenal called “a Zen-like quality of being undisturbed.” After tasting the full line up, I can concur that the wines are indeed incredibly charming but also pretty serious.

At harvest time, the grapes were magnificent. Small, thick skinned, intense, sweet and perfectly healthy, with a final sorting table selection only removing 1.5% of the crop. Yields were average in 2020 and vinifications were effected with 90 to 100% whole bunch clusters, without destemming, and lasted on average 18 to 21 days under the supervision of Chef de Cave Alexandre Bernier.


Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault-Blochet 2020

Made only rarely and in exceptional years, the 1er Cru Vosne Romanée which is always reserved for on-trade restaurant clientele, is deep and dark fruited but also beautifully fragrant and perfumed showing violets, lavender, purple flowers over black plum, earthy black berry and Vosne five spice. Palate shows impressive depth and density with lovely layers of red and black berry, raspberry confit and earthy, musky spice. An impressive offering from fruit sourced mostly from La Tāche and younger vines in Grands Echezeaux.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Corton Grand Cru 2020

The 12th vintage of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Corton sourced from Clos du Roi, Bressandes and Les Renardes reveals pure and precise aromatics with a real focused perfume of musk, black cherry, small black currants and earthy wild strawberry hints. Super sleek with good mid-palate weight, there is a very fine, finessed core of dark fruit power all wonderfully balanced with a drying tannin structure. There is also some sapidity and resinous red fruit complexity on the finish but also a delightful symmetry. Elegance with power.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux Grand Cru 2020

Wonderfully sappy and dark fruited expression packed full of five spice, dusty limestone minerality and a pronounced chalky lift. Red and black fruits, raspberry, strawberry candy and red cherry all lift the palate. Compact, fresh and very precise with a hint of ripe summer berry fruit warmth on the long finish. Always an impressive and utterly delicious wine.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru 2020

One of the Domaine’s first vineyards to be picked, the 2020 is beautifully dark fruited and reserved with black cherry, black currant and broody spice with a sweet ripe core of savoury power and sapidity.  Cool, crisp and very precise with a harmonious but powerful palate weight, hints of rock candy, cherry and spicy sun-dried cranberry before darker earthy berry nuances emerge. Compact and focused, there is something quite special here yet again. Finesse, minerality and subtle majestic power.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-St-Vivant Grand Cru 2020

A more perfumed exotic aromatics of red cherry pastille, strawberry rock candy, musk before ripe savoury raspberry fruits. The wine coats the palate with beautiful red and black berry fruits all tied together with silky soft mineral tannins and a purple rock candy intensity. Just the most subtle top notes of crystallized red berry fruits on the long, suave chalky fine-grained finish. A delightfully profound wine.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg Grand Cru 2020

Dark and alluring aromatics abound, layered with violet perfume, sweet mixed red and black summer berries over a delicate salted caramel kiss. Plush, broad and finely textured, this shows plenty of red cherry rock candy fruits, spicy black currant and small blueberry fruits over a chalky, sappy mineral frame. Regal, confident, but beautifully polished and rather effortlessly noble expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tāche Grand Cru Monopole 2020

Not totally dissimilar to the Richebourg aromatics but seemingly turbo charged with a few more gears. More red fruited than black initially but all underpinned by a fabulous, dusty, sappy, chalky limestone elegance. Very full and intense, showing massive sweet fruited concentration, regal power, focused depth and incredible mouth coating red and black berry fruit power. Beautifully dominant and imposing, confident and very impressive but still shows a lovely classical twist of cherry, sapidity and chalky drying structure on the long balanced finish. Another memorable La Tāche for sure!

(Wine Safari Score: 98+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti Grand Cru Monopole 2020

A dark and mysterious Romanee Conti that seemingly combines all the complexity and vintage elements of all the other vineyards all in one riveting glassful. Still quite broody, savoury, and dark fruited but with plenty of suggestions that beneath the youthful demeanour lies a fair amount of exoticism and exuberance waiting to reveal itself. Seamless oaking and deliciously broody black fruits combine with a chalky sapidity to create something extra special. Understated intensity, seamless balance and a true classy finesse and harmony on the long fresh regal finish. Simply beautiful.

(Wine Safari Score: 99/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2020

The second vintage of this new Domaine de la Romanée-Conti white is born from a very small 2.9 hectare plot leased from Bonneau du Martray lying in 2 locations, Le Charlemagne (Aloxe-Corton) and En Charlemagne (Pernand-Vergelesses). It is beautifully intense and exotic showing the warmth and ripeness of the vintage. Sweet lemon confit on warm buttered white toast, leesy oatmeal, waxy lemon rind and that seductive hint of struck match reduction seduce the senses. Riper, sweeter and more exotic than the 2019 maiden vintage but equally succulent, intense and concentrated. A wine that captures the imagination with the aromatics and then delivers in spades on the refined palate. Big money indeed, but not too many white Burgundies of this quality are produced every year.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Wines are exclusively imported and distributed in the UK by Corney & Barrow fine wine merchants.

The Wines of Kei Shiogai – One of the Most Exciting Talents to Come Out of Burgundy in More Than a Decade…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Burgundy is full of talented wine makers, but every now and then, a new name comes along almost out of the blue, with incredible flair – this is Kei Shiogai – a superstar in the making. Originally from Japan, Kei left Tokyo to travel to New Zealand as he was so interested in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. After a short spell there, he was strongly encouraged by locals to pursue his passion in the true home of these varieties – Burgundy – where studied viticulture and vinification in Beaune and Dijon.

Kei arrived in Burgundy and proceeded to work with several top producers including Philippe Pacalet, Domaine Rousseau and Domaine Roulot. Indeed, his earlier vintages in Beaune were produced while he was still working at Domaine Roulot. Even with his 2020 vintage, Kei started to turn heads and draw attention to his wines with their incredible elegance and purity of fruit produced from modest “village level” sites.

Kei is hard working, especially when it comes to taking care of the vineyards. The purposely low yielding vines ensure that he harvests only the best quality of grapes which he vinifies using whole clusters, without sulphites. He has a very precise vision of what he wants to achieve and is undoubtedly a perfectionist when it comes to wine making. His roots are subtly integrated into his passion and the knowledge and inspiration he gained from his various work experiences in Burgundy, can be seen in his own wines. This natural fusion combines with respect to the soils, while targeting the finest characteristics from each of his terroirs.

My first encounter with Kei’s wines was here in London, sadly not in Burgundy, where he operates out of a small but spotless cellar. 2021 was of course an incredibly small but high quality, concentrated vintage in Burgundy and Kei’s wines are simply astounding, explaining why he has acquired a cult following around the world in such a short period of time. From all accounts, his 2022s are even more impressive than his phenomenal 2021s, suggesting there is going to be a massive scrap to get hold of precious allocations. With wines of this quality, Kei Shiogai definitely deserves to take his place in the Burgundy hall of fame even at his tender young age.

Kei Shiogai Gevrey Chambertin 2021

A beautifully lifted, dusty, sapppy mineral led aromatics underpinned by pink flowers, wet chalk, crushed red cherries, wild strawberries and subtle petrichor notes. The palate purity is pinpoint, focused and intense, the saline red and black berry fruited concentration piercing, almost overwhelmingly so. Simply stunning for a village level wine.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Kei Shiogai Pommard 2021

Very classy effort shows beautiful aromatics of purple flowers, cherry blossom, violets and purple rock candy with subtle undertones of sweet sappy oak spice following to a taut, elegant palate with the texture of polished marble, a black berry intensity, hints of bramble berry and a sweet, pure, concentrated finish. A wine that really grows and puts on weight in the glass. Very impressive with all traces of Pommard rusticity banished.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Kei Shiogai Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Cherbaudes 2021

Majestically perfumed and lifted with hints of crystallised cherries, strawberry compote, wet chalk and a sappy, black bon bon fruited candied exoticism. Silky and soft textured, beautifully precise and pure with incredible focus, seamless harmonious balance and a long, lingering mineral finish. Positively regal and very, very impressive indeed.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Kei Shiogai Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru 2021

After tasting this incredible wine, you can only conclude that the Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru vineyard can no longer be considered the poor cousin of the likes of Ruchottes, Mazy and Clos St Jacques. The perfume on this wine is simply intoxicating, overwhelming the senses such is the supreme intensity and florality on display. Seductive layers of sweet kirsch cherry, salty black currant, blue berry pastille and chalky liquid minerality tease the palate. Full, plush and elegantly fleshy, the mouth-coating intensity floors you with its sheer concentration, breadth and harmonious depth. Simply mind blowing in terms of young, pure, vibrant red Burgundy. A paradigm shifting wine.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The 2022 releases will be available in the UK from Wimbledon Wine Cellar.

Tasting the Exceptional Louis Jadot Domaine Gagey Ladoix Le Clou d’Orge Blanc 2019 Burgundy…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

When I worked in the fine wine trade in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Burgundy was a much different landscape. Yes, there were the great red and white appellations in the north and south that are nowadays pretty much unaffordable, but there was also a whole slew of petit appellations that were historically underachieving and usually unexciting. Among these unsung appellations definitely lay the wines of Ladoix. On the whites, they were often slightly dull from ageing in old oak barrels, not being worthy of any expensive new oak, and the reds were slightly tart, dilute, and at very best, safe and boring.

But how the years have changed this ugly duckling into a young swan. The rising tide of Burgundy has certainly lifted all appellation boats, and the price rises and advances in winemaking and viticultural expertise combined with a bit of global warming ripeness, has transformed appellations like Ladoix into increasingly sought after hunting grounds for high quality premium Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. In recent years, I have been increasingly impressed with the wines of Louis Jadot, and it was their stunning Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc 2014 village wine in particular that really sold me on the magnificence of their ‘lesser’ appellation white wines at incredibly affordable prices.

In his impressive pre-amble writing for The Wine Advocate, William Kelley goes on to state that “Frédéric Barnier has presided over a small but superb vintage at Louis Jadot, and in terms of overall consistency across the range, I’m inclined to single out 2019 as the most successful I’ve ever tasted at this address.” With Louis Jadot’s approach to winemaking described as ‘democratic’ with almost all cuvées handled the same way — whole-cluster pressed whites, with élevage in one-third new French oak barrels, one-third once-used barrels, and one-third twice-used barrels, they ensure that a house style is present and consistent across the whole range. To use William Kelley’s words again… “this important firm is a credit to contemporary Burgundy.”

Louis Jadot Domaine Gagey Ladoix Le Clou d’Orge Blanc 2019, Bourgogne, 13.5% Abv.

When you have a range of reds and whites as large as Louis Jadot has, it is inevitable that there will be some incredible bargains to be found when vineyard, vintage and winemaker are all in sync. In the 2019 vintage, their Ladoix Le Clou d’Orge Blanc from Domaine Gagey represents an incredibly exciting expression of Burgundian Chardonnay that exhibits tantalising aromatics of baked pears sprinkled with vanilla and cinnamon spice, sweet waxy lemons, freshly baked pastries over hints of crushed limestone and a subtle struck flint reductive dustiness. Medium to full bodied, this wine punches well above its price and appellation weight, showing an impressive fruit crystallinity, a chiselled white citrus purity, lime peel zest and a long, stony, saline, liquid mineral finish enlivened by deliciously mouth-watering tangy acids. An incredibly evocative and expressive white Burgundy that has the intensity, tensile structure and focus to drink well for several years if cellared further. Just when you thought invigorating white Burgundy was all but unaffordable, a wine like this beautiful Ladoix Blanc saves the day. I for one and smitten! 

(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The wines are imported exclusively into the UK and are available to the trade from Hatch Mansfield, and are available retail from fine wine merchant Museum Wines at circa £29.99 per bottle.

The Age of Bourgogne Aligote: Part 8 – Domaine Sylvain Cathiard et Fils Bourgogne Aligote 2020…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard et Fils is one of the most famous red Burgundy domaines in the Cotes de Nuits and today the estate rests in the capable hands of Sébastien Cathiard, Sylvain’s son. Often described as a “thoughtful and focused winemaker” who seeks to improve the wines with each and every vintage that he’s in charge, is a philosophy that has helped make an already high collectable domaine even more so, with their profound Pinot Noirs commanding massive prices, elevating this Vosne Romanée producer to one of the perennial must-have allocations every vintage. But did you know that even this iconic winery produces an esteemed Aligoté white?

The 2020 Aligoté is normally bottled in around April along with their red wines after being vinified in stainless steel. Sourced from 2 hectares, 95% coming from Villiers Lafaye, which according to Jasper Morris MW, is mostly from vines planted in 1945 and 1948, with the remaining 5% coming from grapes in and around Nuits St Georges. Hitting the shelves at between £40 and £50 a bottle, this is certainly positioned in the premium premier league of Aligoté wine offerings. So how did it perform?

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard et Fils Bourgogne Aligote 2020, 12.5% Abv.

Quite golden yellow in colour, this is classical Aligoté on the nose with notes of freshly cut apples, citrus oil, tangerine, greengage and white flowers. The palate is full, glycerol and opulently textural with a soft fleshy acidity and a luxurious mouthfeel more reminiscent of a Bourgogne Blanc or Cotes de Beaune village white wine made from Chardonnay than Aligoté. This is undoubtedly a serious expression that is full in the mouth, displays a fine harmonious balance with plenty of apple and pear puree honied intensity on the long, persistent finish. A lovely wine but be prepared to pay an extra premium for the fabled Domaine Sylvain Cathiard name on the label. Drink now and over the next 3 to 5+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Getting Ready for Burgundy En-Primeur 2021 with a Fabulous Private Client Dinner Featuring the Wines of Top Talent Bruno Desaunay-Bissey…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

I first discovered the incredible wines of Bruno Desaunay-Bissey in January 2021 when I was invited to review the “in-bottle” 2018 vintages with his main UK importer Wimbledon Wine Cellar. I had never heard of Bruno’s wines, never tasted them and was unable to even find anything of interest online about his wines… not on Vinous, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate or even Jasper Morris’s new Burgundy web resource. Bruno genuinely seemed to not only fly below the radar but remained one of the best kept secrets of the Cotes d’Or.

Together with his wife, Marie-Christine Bissey and his son, Bruno manages this small family domaine based in Flagey-Echezeaux that consists of 6 hectares, some of which is owned by the family, including prestigious old vine plots in Echezeaux and Grands Echezeaux, with additional plots farmed on a “fermage” basis. With first vintages produced in 1975, it seems almost inconceivable that wines of this quality have managed to enter the market almost unnoticed, especially considering the current clamour and fervour of wine merchants to discover “the next big thing” in Burgundy. Over the years, some of the production was sold off to other domaines and as recently as the mid-1990’s, several of Bruno’s valuable barrels of Grands Echezeaux were being sold to illustrious names like Dominique Laurent. The Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru appellation takes the shape of a triangle with its northern point orientated towards Musigny, its eastern flank bordered by the Clos Vougeot Grand Cru and its western flank by Echezeaux Grand Cru. The Desaunay-Bissey old vine parcel, planted from 1928 onwards, is located on the point of this triangle.

Come the UK Winter, in November and December, all attention and thoughts automatically swing back to the Burgundy En-primeur tastings that will occupy the minds and palates of most Burgundy lovers in the UK for the duration of January and February. Just to get some customers back in the mood, Wimbledon Wine Cellars hosted an incredible food and wine paired dinner with 30+ private clients to taste through a cross section of Burgundy’s best kept secrets from Bruno.

The evening started with a delicious glassful of Bruno’s Bourgogne Blanc 2019 (89/100 GSMW) as an aperitif. Rich and textured with fleshy, citrus oil layers infused with minerality, combining with pithy, waxy lemon peel nuances that made this wine a perfect piquant aperitif white Burgundy before launching into the reds. The opening salvo from the first pair was incredible and really set the tone for the rest of the evening. The Nuits Saint Georges Les Belles Croix 2017 from Vieilles Vignes (94+/100 GSMW) was dark and deep with bottomless layers of blue and black berry fruits, a subtle oystershell salinity and an incredibly mouth-watering underlying acidity that energised the wine beautifully. One of the night’s favourite wines despite only being a lieu dit and not a Premier Cru.

The Nuits St Georges was followed by a vibrantly youthful 2014 Gevrey Chambertin that I had not tasted before. This rich, deep, earthy black fruited example showed an impressive depth of fruit and fine tannins wrapped around a fleshy, earthy, plummy, cured meat core of intensity. Plenty of vibrancy and youthfulness evident (93/100 GSMW). As if not to be outdone by the savoury black fruited opulence of the Gevrey Chambertin, a beautiful 2017 Chambolle Musigny from Combe d’Orveaux more than held its own alongside the Gevrey, showing impressive classical precision, focus and spicy mineral tannins as well as all the text book elegance you’d expect from a top Chambolle Musigny (94/100 GSMW).

The next flight was made up of two Vosne Romanee Premier Cru classics, Les Beaut Monts 2018 and Les Rouges 2018, both of which left a long-lasting impression on me the first time I had the privilege to taste and reflect on these wines. The Beau Monts 1er Cru remained classical and regal with fabulous power and depth of black berry fruit, intense cassis fruit concentration and subtle bramble berry and Vosne five-spice notes scattered liberally across the palate making for a very complex expression (95+/100 GSMW). The Les Rouge 2018 was another standout expression showing plenty of opulent concentration, blue and black berry fruits, purple rock candy and all the textural power and drive that you could hope for from a top Vosne Romanee producer (95/100 GSMW).

Just like a wintery November Guy Fawkes fireworks evening, there always needs to be a few big guns to end the show to reiterate the absolute pedigree of the finest red Burgundies produced. An incredible final pair including an Echezeaux Grand Cru 2018 (95+/100 GSMW) and a very regal Grands-Echezeaux 2019 (96/100 GSMW), were alluringly bold, concentrated and red fruited displaying incredible purity, power and textural promise, helping to end a most spectacular evening of food and wine in true style. Sadly, Bruno was not there to share his unique story, but the wines were as fascinating and beguiling now as they were the very first time I tasted them.

Watch out for Bruno Desaunay-Bissey’s incredible 2019 reds that have arrived in the UK and will be hitting the shelves of a few select merchants. Unfortunately, most of his prestigious wines will have sold out already on En-primeur release. But the eagle-eyed Burghound might still be able to sniff out a few rogue bottles of back vintages. Otherwise, you can beg and grovel for a small allocation of his 2021s which will be offered in the UK in the coming months. This is most definitely one producer in Burgundy to watch very closely indeed.

Contact importer Wimbledon Wine Cellar to register for a future allocation.