Cotes de Nuits

The Majestic Vintage 2024 Burgundy Wines of Jerome Galeyrand Profiled on His Annual London Visit…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Good winemakers can make good wines in great vintages, but only great producers can make great wines in difficult vintages. This is what I saw when tasting Jerome Galeyrand’s 2024 wines at his new cellar in Gevrey-Chambertin in December 2025. I already commented the previous year, that he had produced some of the most serious Pinot Noir expressions in the “lighter and more accessible” 2023 vintage. But 2024 dished up an entirely different buffet of viticultural challenges, all of which Jerome seemingly brushed aside to produce one of the most complete and impressive line-ups of red and white wines of the vintage. 

But for Jerome, the hard work never ends, because as soon as his back breaking toiling finishes in the vineyards, it continues in his new winery in Gevrey-Chambertin where he vinifies all his wines. But that’s not where it stops. For the past several years, Jerome has made an annual pilgrimage to London after harvest to showcase his newly bottled releases with his exclusive UK agent Musigny Wines, alongside a selection of recent back vintages. This year, Jerome and Musigny Wines hosted two superb private client tasting dinners that I was gratefully invited to.

Andrew Pavli from Musigny Wines with Jerome Galeyrand.

The first event was held in London’s Wimbledon Village at Light on the Common restaurant. A relaxed jovial evening, Jerome used this setting to show off a stunning selection of his newly bottled 2024 wines. Tasting through Jerome’s finished bottlings, not only were my enthusiastic En-primeur barrel scores and reviews vindicated, but they started to look almost conservative in nature compared to how the wines were showing in their completed state. Sitting alongside two very big Burgundy collectors for the evening, their reaction to Jerome’s 2024 wines was very insightful – both of them were simply blown away with the quality of the wines, and this was after both had already tasted many of Burgundy’s top domaines’ new releases during January’s En-primeur tasting week.

Below is the stunning selection of 2024s presented by Jerome:

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Bouzerons Cran 2024

A classical expression boasting the complexity of this village, packing in musky talc perfume, limestone minerality, lemon bon bons and a chalky sherbety depth. The acids are intense and tangy, the fruit weight fleshy, concentrated and glycerol.

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

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Marsannay Est-Ouest Rouge 2024

Deep and broody, this shows depth and beautifully perfumed complexity, full of black cherry, saline cassis, and wild strawberry. Super precise, steely and tightly wound with piercing length. Wow!

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

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Nuits Saint Georges Vieilles Vignes 2024

The 2024 NSG announces itself from the glass with aromas of damson plums, blueberries, Christmas spices, dark chocolate and delicate woodsmoke nuances. Medium-bodied, this impressive young wine is ample, fresh and perfumed with a sweet core of broody black berry fruits, powdery tannins, and an elegant persistence. This fourth vintage could be Jerome’s best yet.

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

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice 2024

The aromatics resonate with rose petals, pink musk, lavender, and red cherry rock candy over subtle limestone nuances. The focus and the precision marry tart tangy acids, silky tannins and fleshy red and black berry fruits in a seamlessly balanced expression that rides high on its purity and finesse! Simply enchanting.

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

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Gevrey-Chambertin En Billard 2024

An enticing aromatics of strawberry candies, violets, and cherry sherbet with a delicate undertone of limestone minerality. The concentration is massive with layers of unctuous black plum, black berry fruits, and strawberry jam nuances. Wow, what concentration and power. This is simply knock out.

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

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Gevrey-Chambertin En Croisettes 2024

A seductive aromatics with a blueberry and black cherry lift, violets and saline cassis with a maritime nuance and a bloody, steely strictness. The concentration is intense, piercing with tart tangy acids and a rich, generous fleshy plummy finish. Very classy but also quite classically structured.

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

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Marsannay Clos du Roy 2024

A mere 3 barrels (900 bottles) produced in 2024 of this benchmark expression that shows delicate notes of potpourri pressed violets, rose water and black cherry. The focus, purity and precision are phenomenal, seamless finesse, perfect ripeness, and a magical balance. This is not to be missed.

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

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Cotes de Nuits Village Les Retraits 2024

This iconic vineyard next door to Frederic Mugnier’s Clos de la Marechale Monopole offers an intricacy and complexity almost unmatched. Layered aromatics with limestone, chalk, sapidity, wood spice and black cherry follow to a fully loaded palate packed with bramble berries, blueberries, piercing salinity and a velvety concentration that leaves you gasping for more. Massive concentration, effortless power, and undoubtedly one of Jerome’s finest Retraits expressions to date.

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

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Meursault Village 2024

Aged for 14 months in barrel, 25% new oak, this is another very classy expression of Meursault with complex aromatics of green apple, lemon grass, and wet stone minerality. Youthful and punchy, the depth and power are eye-watering, full throttle tangy acidity, green apple cordial, white peach and a leesy, oatmeal biscuity depth. Phenomenal concentration, precision and harmonious balance. Undoubtedly Jerome’s best example yet.

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

Jerome’s second dinner in Chelsea featured a similarly stunning array of wines including a tighter selection of 2024 new releases alongside a line-up of slightly older vintages from 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023. As always, Jerome’s opening salvo came from his delicious and highly accomplished Aligote. The Les Blanches 2022 was outstanding and certainly merits being highlighted even when tasted alongside Jerome’s superb Meursault Au Village 2024 white.

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Aligote Les Blanches 2022

Few producers produce Aligote with the verve and vigour that Jerome Galeyrand manages to illicit from this Burgundian white grape. His beautiful Les Blanches 2022 is another evocative examples with pithy aromatics of lemon and lime peel, crushed limestone, lemon grass herbs and hints of saline brine. This 2022 vintage bursts with tangy, salty yellow citrus, delicately savoury maritime notes, a liquid minerality and a finish that’s loaded with zippy sour yellow plum nuances. Such incredible energy in this beautiful expression.

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

Three superb Lieu Dit Gevrey Chambertin.

As the Domaine Jerome Galeyrand wines sell out so quickly on allocation, I normally only get the opportunity to taste older vintages when visiting with Jerome at his cellar in Burgundy. The opening line-up of reds commenced with the Galeyrand Marsannay Combe du Pre 2019, a wonderfully characterful wine that possessed all the blue – black fruit power of the best Marsannay reds but with extra sapidity, spice and mineral complexity. After another taste of Jerome’s Nuits Saint Georges 2024 offering, a real treat – tasting a back vintage line-up of his Gevrey-Chambertin En Billard 2020, the incredible La Justice 2020, and a stunningly fresh, mineral and structured En Croisettes 2019, the Cotes de Nuits only producer labelled ‘En Croisettes” lieu dit. After another reprise for the sensational Cotes de Nuits-Village Les Retraits 2024, it was time to enjoy two big guns… Jerome’s first and second vintage of his epic Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru.

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2023

Big and deadly serious, Jerome moves into the big league and knocks it out the park with four barrels of Clos de Vougeot! Packed full of blue and black berry fruits, it shows effortless power, a piercing acid vibrancy and freshness, layered with violets, cherries and pink musk. An incredibly substantial wine with taut power, structure and depth from a vintage associated with accessibility and upfront opulence.

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

Domaine Jerome Galeyrand Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2024 (Tank Sample)

Only two barrels produced with 18 months of ageing in barrel and bottled in April 2026. The aromatics offer up a wealth of depth and breath with plenty of earthy savoury black berries, wood spice and smoky complexity. The palate shows weight and power, creamy mineral limestone mineral depth with chalky tannins and ample black plummy bramble berry length. A very complete wine.

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

Magnum of Marsannay La Combe du Pre 2020.

The fine wine market is on an eternal crusade, vintage after vintage, to find the next big thing… and in Jerome Galeyrand, you not only have the next big thing but also the complete real deal. I expect his masterful wines to become some of the most sought-after and allocated wines in Burgundy in the coming years, and rightly so. After the tremendous showing of Jerome’s 2024s, the opportunity to visit him again in Gevrey-Chambertin later this year to taste his 2025s, the first wines he will have produced in his stunning new cellar, will be a tasting not to be missed. Collectors and connoisseurs will be dazzled and delighted when they taste his new 2024 releases – the precision, purity and focus of the wines complemented by impressive structure, acid freshness, and textural polish. These are, quite simply, wines collectors are going to want in their cellar.

The iconic Les Retraits 2024.

The wines of Jerome Galeyrand are exclusively imported into the UK by his agent Musigny Wines. For more allocation and pricing information, contact: andrew@musigny.wine

Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot’s Iconic New Burgundy Wines from the 2023 Vintage Tasted and Reviewed…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The phenomenal 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’ 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. 

The Bizot cellar in Vosne Romanee.

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. He is also a quiet, composed man, uninterested in publicity and completely devoted to his wine craft. In an age where branding often overshadows substance, it’s refreshing to see someone who has never followed the crowd continue to pursue what he loves most – the art of wine.

The wizard of premium Burgundy, Jean-Yves Bizot.

Jean-Yves has an uncanny ability to produce wines that are delicate, feminine, and deeply expressive – wines that stand out at any fine wine tasting. But the true magnificence of his entire range has now acquired a fervent collector and connoisseur following the world over, making his new vintage releases some of the most highly anticipated in the whole of Burgundy.

The modest Bizot house and cellar in Vosne Romanee.

Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Vosne Romanee Village 2023

A pristine, impactful nose with intense aromatics of black raspberries, black cherry and polished mahogany with a delicate sapidity over sweet Asian spices, black berry compote and bramble berry complexity. Crystalline and texturally taut in the mouth, linear, energetic and bright with tangy acids, limestone mineral tannins and incredibly focused elegance and precision. A benchmark for the vintage. Drink from 2027 to 2038+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Vosne Romanee Lieu Dit ‘Les Jachees’ 2023

Fabulously deep alluring aromatics with a broody black cherry, bramble berry and sweet mulberry complexity laced with exotic Christmas spices, Asian five spice, together with a pronounced limestone minerality. The palate clearly shows an extra gear on the village cuvée, with hints of savoury cured meats, subtle forest floor and earthy blueberry fruits with a wound spring tension, linearity, and bright acid precision. Beautiful clarity and steely purity. Supreme terroir driven class. Drink from 2026 to 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 95-96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Clos de la Bidaude Monopole above Clos des Lambray Grand Cru. Vineyard.

Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Clos de la Bidaude Monopole 2023

A wine that is simply mesmerizingly intense with piercing aromatics of violets, saline crème de cassis, oyster shells and sloe berries with a tightly knit complexity of smoky sapidity, crushed limestone and chalky spice. Piercing and powerful, the purity and intensity of fruit is awesome, the precision, polish, and concentration simply majestic. The perfect marriage of intelligent winemaking harnessing super fruit purity and perfect hillside terroir. A really super impressive success for the vintage. Drink from 2028 to 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 97-98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Echezeaux Grand Cru 2023

This is a broad complex wine with broody, earthy black fruited aromatics laced with damp earth, savoury black berry, red cherry and a well-integrated sapidity with attractive bramble berry notes. The stony mineral grip is stark, the dry exact fabulously mouth coating and intense. This is a slightly more accessible, generous expression from the Domaine but retains all the allure, purity, and mineral precision of a profound Grand Cru Pinot Noir. Drink from 2028 to 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 95-96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The “Les Jachees” lieu dit vineyard in Vosne Romanee.

Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Hautes Cotes de Nuits Blanc 2023

A broody complex white with intricate aromatics of lemon grass, sweet herbs, pithy white citrus, and sweet lemon pastille before notes of honey on warm white toast and grapefruit confit. The flavours are bright and tangy with plentiful nuances of wet stone minerality, honied lemon peel, bon bon rock candy and a dusty, powdery savoury finish. The astonishing concentration an ever-present Bizot hallmark. Drink from 2026 to 2035+.

(Wine Safari Score: 93-94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Bourgogne Les Violetts Blanc 2023

This is an expressive white with delicious waxy citrus aromatics, dried herbs, lemon tea, wet slate and delicate leesy lanolin nuances. The intensity is piercing, the texture deliciously tangy, glycerol and concentrated with lemon and lime cordial hints, a crystalline purity and a long, stony, concentrated finish. An incredibly delicious white with plenty of legs to go 12-15+ years. Drink from 2026 to 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot wines are imported exclusively in the UK by Musigny Wines. Contact Andrew Pavli to request an allocation.

Andrew@musigny.wine

Tasting Burgundian Rising Star Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet 2022 Releases – A Celebration of Terroir and Passionate Artisanal Winemaking…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The force of gravity is more intense in Burgundy. Why else would time move so slowly there? Occasionally, a domaine will pass from father to daughter, or from mother to son. Sometimes a few rows of vines may be sold from one grower to another. But as the sun sets over the top of the region’s south-east facing slopes, it sets on the same patchwork of Grand Crus, Premier Crus and Village wines generation after generation.

Romanée-Conti is Romanée Conti, and Chambertin is Chambertin. Yet spend enough time amongst the vines and occasionally you’ll spot an anomaly. In Gevrey-Chambertin, the anomaly is a young man with a look that’s more Santa Barbara County than Hospices de Beaune: hipster beard, possibly a sleeve tattoo under his plaid shirt, an easy, laid-back personality. It’s Michael Le Guellec who is definitely not part of the old guard, but scratch below Michael’s surface and you’ll find that his vineyard land has been in his family since 1920, with some of his oldest vines planted just ten years later. You’ll find a respect for tradition – for Michael’s winemaking grandfather of course, but also for the terroir, for the environment, and for the style of wines typical of Gevrey-Chambertin: rich, flavoursome, powerful, and muscular, yet with incredible finesse. Pinot Noir that can only come from one place on earth. 


Michael Le Guellec in November 2023.

For now, the domaine is still relatively unknown. Since Michael’s grandfather retired in 1990, winemaking has been on the backburner, and it’s only since Michael took over with his friend Arnaud Ducouet in 2018 that the renaissance has begun. That the domaine is already producing such exquisite wines is no accident. With winemaking overseen by Pierre Millemann, it is no surprise that the wines are luscious and elegant. This is a grower destined to become one of the must-haves of Gevrey-Chambertin. For the time being, just a few thousand bottles are being produced each vintage – from Clos Champ, the only walled vineyard in the lieu dit (planted in 1930) and from Les Jeunes Rois (planted in 1965). Other vineyards are being reworked before they’ll be considered worthy to produce wines under the domaine’s label. Eventually around 15,000 bottles could be made – and the whole world will want them. These are fabulous wines being made by imaginative, energetic, and passionate young people who want to carry their region forward, while remaining true to its history. They’re also an absolute steal… for now.

The total Pernand-Vergelesses production.

Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Pernand-Vergelesses Les Belles Filles Blanc 2023, 13% Abv.

Another new wine and a rather pleasant surprise to taste it for the first time in the Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet cellars especially seeing as their consulting oenologist is Pierre Millemann, who’s own top Corton-Charlemagne white 2022 made from grapes just down the road, was recently rated 99/100 in Decanter Magazine. This new Pernand Blanc is still embryonic but already shows a certain ripeness and aromatic complexity for a warmer year, with notes of honeysuckle, waxy citrus rind, lemon pastille, white peach and warm white toast wafting out the glass. The palate is taut and crystalline with a chiselled acidity, hints of freshly baked buttered pastries and a pronounced stony, liquid limestone minerality on the finish. All components tasted from new large oak barrels but already this wine shows a wonderful core of fruit with vibrant acids and a certain linearity on the finish. An utter delight.

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

Looking up to the home of Michael Le Guellec.

Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Bourgogne Cotes de Nuits Village 2022

Produced from grapes sourced from vineyards lying between Brochon and Fixin, the 2022 reveals a rich, intense aromatic tapestry of violets, purple rock candy, blueberry and vanilla spice. Creamy and cool, the wine shows a fabulous balance and purity with saline black currant and pithy black cherry hints. Full and compact with a sleek mid palate density and a vibrant, energetic finish. Really quite superb.

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

Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Gevrey-Chambertin Les Jeunes Rois 2022

This famous lieu dit is blended from a mixture of new and used oak barrels and displays a smoky, intense aromatics of piercing black fruits, cassis, black cherry, and black berry oyster shell reduction. Full and very fine with notable intensity, weightless concentration, supple sweet tannins, tangy mouthwatering acids, and a soft, seamless, harmonious finish. 

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

Looking into Clos Champ… the walled monopole.

Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Champ 2022

Produced from a wonderful old 0.8 hectare walled vineyard planted in 1930, like its sibling Les Jeunes Rois, it is a majestic blend of new and older oak portions that show a multi-layered elegance with great minerality and limestone linearity, freshness, and focus. Subtle oaking lends an added presence to the perfumed aromatics of Parma violets, black cherry, blueberry, and bramble berry fruit notes tempered on the palate by a cool glassy freshness, sweet tangy acids with purity but also great focus. A vibrant, concentrated wine that’s beautifully balanced and shows plenty of promise.

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

‘Clos Champ’ Mini Vertical Tasting: 2019 to 2021

Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Champ 2021, 13% Abv.

This small, concentrated vintage exhibits a spicy complexity of crushed limestone, gun smoke, and sappy spice with delicate notes of frais de bois, red plum and earthy red currant confit. The palate is incredibly compact, cool and concentrated with superb purity and precision, a beautifully harmonious creamy mouthfeel and a long, blood orange and pomegranate-tinged fleshy finish. Cool and very classy.

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

Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Champ 2020, 13.5% Abv.

The 2020 vintage consisted of six barrels with a 30% whole bunch portion included in the fermentation. The aromatics are wonderfully vibrant, with a lifted exotic perfumed expression and the exoticism of a warm dry vintage. The nose shows strawberry and raspberry notes over dusty crushed limestone minerality before a sleek, fine grained polished texture with savoury red fruits, spicy blood orange, strawberry compote, and a creamy, sappy savoury finish. 

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

Domaine Le Guellec-Ducouet Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Champ 2019, 14% Abv. 

Another rich, savoury expression that opens with perfumed aromatics and lifted exotic red fruit nuances, strawberry compote, kirsch cherry and earthy red currant. The texture is soft and fleshy, quite gentle, silky, and harmonious with a supple, elegant spicy finish. 

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

The wines are imported exclusively into the UK by Andrew Pavli at http://www.Musigny.wine

Contact: andrew@musigny.wine

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)

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.

A True Burgundy Star On the Rise – Tasting the New 2018 Red Releases from Bruno Desaunay-Bissey…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

So much has been written on or about the iconic domaines and wines of Burgundy making it so much more satisfying coming across a top drawer producer that I have not encountered before. Discovering the incredible wines of Bruno Desaunay-Bissey and unravelling the story behind this family domaine has been a great pleasure. These are wines with wonderful focus and purity of fruit, carefully considered extraction, impressively creamy concentration and an understated power all polished off into a final artisanal expression in bottle that shows an authenticity of style that represents Bruno’s own personal taste and passion for wine.

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. A fermage is a piece of land which is owned by someone other than the person cultivating it, or a farming tenancy in effect.  It is estimated that in 2010, two-thirds of all French agricultural land was tenant-farmed. Because vineyard land tends to inspire affection in the families who own it, even when they have become involved in other activities, fermages are very common in French wine regions even though this may not necessarily be identified on the producer’s wine labels.

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.

Since 2007 Bruno uses no herbicides or pesticides and all the soil is tilled. Bruno’s winemaking is very terroir-expressive, doing short pre-fermentation macerations, using only indigenous yeasts and crucially, not too much extraction.  Barrel-aging is on average about 33% new except for the Grands Cru reds where a slightly higher percentage is used.  Since the early 1990s, the wines are neither fined nor filtered.  Bruno’s wines are normally only racked twice, once after malolactic fermentations and once before the assemblage.

Bruno cultivates, together with his father-in law, Daniel Bissey, several other parcels of very old vines situated in Vosne (some 80+ years), Echezeaux (some 110+ years) Grands-Echezeaux (70+ years), Chambolle (90+ years) and Nuits St. Georges (60+ years).

Bourgogne Vieilles Vignes 2018, 14.5 Abv.

This ‘entry level’ Bourgogne appellation Pinot Noir displays some of the most seductive exotic notes of purple flowers, pink musk, blueberry and black cherries showing where the old vines start to make their influence felt. On the palate there is focus and tension, powdery tannins and fine textural shape all framed beautifully by bright fresh acids. A delicious offering with intensity and blue and black berry length, hints of wild strawberry and a beautiful saline bite on the finish. This really punches above its weight. Drink now to 2028+.

(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Gevrey-Chambertin 2018, 14% Abv. 

Deep and alluring, this Gevrey shows an impressively broody depth of black currant, blueberries and a savoury, brambley, meaty complexity with a kiss of graphite spice. Pure and expressive, there is impressive concentration and focus on the palate with Parma violets, caramelised cherries, blueberry crumble and some attractive chalky limestone mineral grip on the finish. Vibrant, energetic and textually very polished, this should evolve beautifully over a few more years in bottle but it’s already so mouth-watering and delicious. Archetypal premium quality village Gevrey. Drink from 2022 to 2034+.

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

Chambolle-Musigny Combe d’Orveaux Vieilles Vignes 2018, 14% Abv. 

This famous Chambolle plot yields a richer, earthier expression with a wonderful overlay of perfumed dried flowers, potpourri and subtle savoury Chinese five spice hints. Laser like focus on the palate, the wine shows a potent intensity of red and black berry fruits, mouth-coating richness and a long, liquid minerality on the finish. A very pretty wine that displays impressive powerful and tension behind a classy, elegant demeanour. Drink from 2022 to 2035+.

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

Vosne Romanee Vieilles Vignes 2018, 13.5% Abv. 

Initially this displays a deep, earthy, broody dark fruited aromatics with bramble berry, black currant and layers of savoury Vosne spice. With a little more coaxing, this wine starts to yield notes of pink musk, violets and blueberry hints which follow to a wonderfully chiselled, focused, tight knit palate with incredibly chalky, fleshy sweet tannins. Again, plenty of concentration, blue and back berry fruits, purple rock candy and all the textural power and drive that you could hope for from a top Vosne Romanee producer. Despite being perhaps a little less intricate and exotic, this wine’s power, concentration and pure focus are alone enough to bowl me over and make me contemplate pouring a second glassful. Absolutely delicious. Drink from 2022 to 2034+.

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

Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Les Beaux-Monts 2018, 14% Abv. 

Sourced from an 80+ year old vines, this wine shows pure class and allows its pedigree to shine through in this serious expression of Vosne Romanee. One of the most respected 1er Cru vineyards delivers quality in bucket loads in 2018 with even more perfume, lift and intricacy than the village wine. The aromatics display a splendid array of crunchy wild strawberries, red and black cherries, subtle dried herbs and alluring Vosne spice. The palate reveals incredible depth and breath with piercing mouth-watering concentration, fine-grained tannins like polished marble and a tart, bright maritime salinity on the finish that retains a seductive kiss of pink rock candy. This is a very serious effort indeed. An utterly seductive Pinot. Drink from 2022 to 2038+.

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

Echezeaux Grand Cru 2018, 14% Abv. 

Made from old vines planted in 1902, 1940 and 1945, this Grand Cru red shows a more reticent and broody demeanour to begin with before revealing a complex melange of red and black berry fruits on the nose, seamlessly integrated oak and a subtle freshly tilled earth savoury note. Broad, suave and texturally plush, this is a wine to savour, to lose yourself in and to allow the more intricate finery to reveal itself slowly over time in the glass. The texture is dense, compact, almost creamy, with powder fine tannins, layers of bright blueberry, cassis and Fraises des Bois notes that linger for an age on the finish. Grand Cru Burgundy is not just about more volume, it’s about intricacy and complexity of rhythm, more drum, more base and an altogether more melodic crescendo. Drink from 2022 to 2038+.

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

Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru 2018, 14% Abv. 

There is plenty of fragrant intricacy and complexity evident on this big hitting Grand Cru all delivered with the most considered delicacy, complexity and subtlety. The wine shows notes of rose petals, violets, pink musk and perfumed red and black orchard fruits underpinned by a grounding of chalky, stony minerality. The palate displays a broad seductive rainbow of flavours starting with tart red berry fruits and strawberry pith before fading to more darker blue and black berry fruit notes. But it’s the tension, taut energy, stony minerality, focus and length of flavour that really makes this a real eye opener. Quality comes at a price and this is certainly worthy of top echelon Grand Cru Burgundy status. Drink from 2022 to 2040+.

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

Wines available in the UK from Importer Wimbledon Wine Cellar London and Handford Wines.