Dame Wine®

Roasted hazelnuts, dried lilacs and honeysuckle soared through the air as the aromatics emanated from the glass to thrill and excite the intended drinker. As the wine caressed the palate, flavors of cranberry tart and baked golden apples with hints of cinnamon stick delighted along the creamy texture. And on the finish, the crisp freshness was pure magic when it combined with the fine, tiny bubbles that sensually glided along the mouth. An outstanding Champagne that is more than just a Champagne, a fine wine that is distinctive with a strong sense of place, deep concentration and overall elegance that is on par with an exquisite Grand Cru Burgundy. It is the 2012 Bollinger ‘La Côte aux Enfants’, which is a 100% Pinot Noir Champagne from the Grand Cru village of Aÿ, and it is an exceptional monopole vineyard that the Bollinger family has owned for centuries.

This is Bollinger’s first release of a single vineyard, representing many key pillars of this famous Champagne house. They have been run by the same family since the early 1800s; it has always been a family business focused on owning a large amount of vineyards themselves – today approximately totaling 445 acres. Pinot Noir has always been a strong focus, with the Bollinger house located in the middle of the Grand Cru village of Aÿ, surrounded by vineyards. This village is famous for having some of the best Pinot Noir grapes in the Champagne wine region.

Classic Bollinger

For many Bollinger fans, it has been the Champagne that drank like a fine wine as even its non-vintage has a multi-layer complexity, deep concentration and that classic creamy texture that could hold up to a serious multi-course meal. They have always stayed true to their foundation which is built on a majority of Pinot Noir grapes in their blend as their flagship Bollinger Non-Vintage Brut Special Cuvée has 60% Pinot Noir, a high proportion of reserve wines (wines that have been held back for several years) that can range from a jaw-dropping 50-60% and to make it even more astonishing, 1/3 of the reserve wines in their cellars have been aged in magnum bottles for an average of ten years. Finally, a portion of the wines are initially fermented in small Burgundy oak barrels.

And Bollinger fans could always depend on the house to keep these ridiculously high standards as well as never altering their principles to appease the latest trend, such as making Blanc de Blancs Champagne, made from 100% Chardonnay. As Bollinger’s managing director Charles-Armand de Belenet likes to say, “Bollinger is about Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir.” And it is serendipitous that he should be the managing director of such a globally renowned Champagne house that, in reality, is like a small Burgundy producer, owning its own vineyards and devoted to showing the terroir of those plots that have been in the family for generations, as Charles-Armand is from a tiny winemaking family in Burgundy.

100% Pinot Noir Terroir-Driven Wines

“This is a big change for Bollinger as the last new innovation was Bollinger Rosé, and that was about ten years ago, and now we have three new wines. It is a very exciting time for us,” exclaimed Charles-Armand as he started to talk about their new Pinot Noir projects. The projects include Vieilles Vignes Françaises (old pre-phylloxera Pinot Noir vines), Bollinger PN wines and the single vineyard ‘La Côte aux Enfants’ Champagne. When one considers how long Bollinger has kept offerings to a limited selection, with the last addition, a Rosé Champagne, added around a decade ago, it is quite the adventure for them now to dive into these very ambitious projects.

The Bollinger PN represents a 100% Pinot Noir Champagne with a majority of the fruit from the same village and vintage. For example, the current release, PN TX17 has a majority of Pinot Noir grapes from the Tauxières village in the Champagne wine region and a majority from the 2017 vintage. Charles-Armand said they wanted to bring the ideals that Bollinger was built on to the consumer in a much more direct and specific way. And hence, being able to release a wine mainly from one of their top Pinot Noir villages, giving an expression of various pockets of Champagne during a particular window of time, is the best way to present their core values.

To make these wines more accessible and consistent in their desire for excellence year in and year out, there would need to be a small amount of room to add other villages and other vintages to find an ideal balance. And so, 25% of the wine comprises those decade-old magnum bottles from grapes grown in the Tauxières village. Interestingly, the markings on the label, PN TX17, are used as a shorthand in the Bollinger cellars, written on small boards above stacked bottles, to indicate the year and provenance. Through time, Bollinger would like to release PN bottlings from various villages to emphasize the varying terroirs that Pinot Noir can beautifully transmit to the drinker.

Bollinger ‘La Côte aux Enfants’

Bollinger connoisseurs may already be familiar with the ‘La Côte aux Enfants’ vineyard, which is in the Grand Cru village of Aÿ, where the Bollinger house and many of Bollinger vineyards (that they have owned for centuries) are located, as they make a tiny quantity of red wine from the ‘La Côte aux Enfants’ vineyard. Charles-Armand noted that the ‘La Côte aux Enfants’ is one of their top vineyards as it is greatly prized for its opulence and power balanced by freshness and overall elegance. The red wine comes from the southern section of the vineyard, while this newly released single vineyard sparkling Champagne comes from the northern side as the fruit in that section retains more freshness.

This single vineyard wine highlights a very special Bollinger monopole (a designated area, in this case, a vineyard, owned entirely by one producer). But just like the village bottlings of Pinot Noir called PN, Charles-Armand says they will be excited to release different single vineyards that display outstanding qualities of an array of Bollinger plots.

When one thinks about how steadfast Bollinger has been to its principles of producing Champagnes as serious fine wines, these new releases are not so much an exploration of other areas that they haven’t touched upon in Champagne but a focus on the things that have always been a part of the soul of the house. Many Champagne drinkers who have always gravitated to Bollinger might have yet to learn the extreme practices that the family continues to implement with every bottle, as consumers weren’t that curious to delve into the details of Champagne in the past. But all that has changed with Champagne lovers wanting to understand the sense of place and all the nuances that go into every bottle being popped. Champagne is no longer only for celebrations but for well-crafted meals, long conversations, or to contemplate alone – a Champagne mediation of sorts.

And so, these new releases are not only exciting because it gives consumers a great way to go deeper into these remarkable plots but it allows, after all this time, for Bollinger to finally gain recognition for the extraordinary treasures that they have always brought to the Champagne fine wine world.

***Link to original article published on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2022/12/17/1000-bottle-of-champagne-demonstrates-bollinger-as-a-pinot-noir-fine-wine-specialist/

Bollinger wants to get fine wine lovers more involved in learning about their vineyards and everything they do, so, they are renovating the existing Bollinger house to include 20 rooms where people can stay and participate in master classes and vineyard visits.

Also, Bollinger has another project to bring the idea of expressing terroir to the next level. Fermenting in barrels is an essential part of Bollinger Champagne and they currently have 4,000 used barrels allowing them to ferment plot by plot. They have a cooperage that fixes any issues with the barrels but now they want to make their own. They plan to pair the forest, where the oak originates, with the Champagne village, where the grapes are harvested. Charles-Armand said it would probably take 200 years to replace all the 4,000 barrels with ones that match particular plots but Bollinger is up for the challenge.

2012 Bollinger ‘La Côte aux Enfants’ Champagne: 100% single vineyard Pinot Noir from the Grand Cru village of Aÿ ; north side of this vineyard. Roasted hazelnuts, dried lilacs and honeysuckle on the nose and flavors of cranberry tart and baked golden apples with hints of cinnamon stick caresses the palate with a creamy texture, and on the finish, the crisp freshness is pure magic when it combines with the fine, tiny bubbles that sensually glide along the mouth; a breathtaking balance of deep concentration and overall elegance. Only 1,000 bottles made; suggested retail price is $1,000.

2016 Bollinger ‘La Côte aux Enfants’ Côteaux Champenois Rouge: A red still wine made from 100% single vineyard Pinot Noir from the Grand Cru village of Aÿ; south side of this vineyard. 2/3 of the grapes were destemmed and 1/3 were not destemmed. Pretty floral notes with ripe red cherries and anise seeds with forest floor and a touch of morel mushrooms with an overall charming quality with lots of chalky minerality on the finish.

A short explanation about how the PN village wines below are developed in the Bollinger cellars: the blend is chosen from a blind tasting among the cellar master and his team to find the best Pinot Noir wines of that vintage and that is how they decide which village they will concentrate on in any given year.

Bollinger PN VZ16: 100% Pinot Noir where the majority comes from the Grand Cru village of Verzenay and the 2016 vintage; 25% of reserve wines from the same Grand Cru village are in this blend. 50% of the wine was vinified in barrels and the other 50% in stainless steel tanks. The saline minerality typical with Verzenay vineyards is shining through with lemon zest aromas with a hint of brioche and tart green apple and a racy acidity on the palate with a fine-laced mousse.

Bollinger PN TX17: 100% Pinot Noir where the majority comes from the Grand Cru village of Tauxières and the 2017 vintage; 25% of reserve wines from the same Grand Cru village are in this blend. 50% of the wine was vinified in barrel and the other 50% in stainless steel tanks. Softer acidity and richer flavors such as candied ginger and peach cobbler with an underpinning of oyster shell and lemon confit with a delectable creamy body with touches of marzipan – delicious.

Bollinger Brut Special Cuvée: 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier. Charles-Armand says this is the most challenging wine as they have to make it every year and deliver that classic Bollinger house style. 30% of Special Cuvée is vinified in used oak of 228-liter barrels, with some 400-liter barrels up to 40 years old. The final blend consists of 50% reserve wines of which 5-10% consists of reserve wines from magnums that average ten years in age. Complex nose of freshly made croissants with yellow flowers and lemon verbena tea with crumbled chalk and dried apricots with exquisitely fine bubbles with a long persistence. The multifaceted quality of the Bollinger Special Cuvée is unmatched within the non-vintage blends in Champagne.

On the Left Bank of the Bordeaux wine region live the prominent First Growths of the 1855 classification, when producers like Lafite and Latour were carved into history as the fine wines that all others would aspire to reach. Even with the anointing of greatness over a century ago, these top Grand Cru Classé wines still had to make significant improvements when their superlative quality was questioned during particular decades. Still, today, they are unquestionably considered the top of the Left Bank red wines that consistently deliver year in and year out. But the châteaux that are one notch down, the Second Growths, have a handful of producers that can reach First Growth quality in some years and they are given the unofficial name “Super Second,” despite never coming close to First Growth prices even in their best years.

When it comes to the Saint-Julien sub-region (a.k.a. appellation) in this area, located below the appellation of Pauillac, where Lafite and Latour are located, there is one château that always comes to mind when thinking of a “Super Second” and that is none other than Léoville-Las Cases. Yet a sibling seems to always follow behind Las Cases, either not taken as seriously in the past or not thought of at all, and that is Léoville-Poyferré. They just recently celebrated their 100th anniversary of the Cuvelier family running the estate, which is a key factor in majorly raising the quality to such a point that some would argue that Poyferré is performing at the same level as Las Cases in some vintages, although it will typically be priced 40% less.

Léoville-Poyferré

One might ask if Poyferré and Las Cases are somehow related and that wouldn’t be a foolish question as they were both part of one larger estate called Léoville. And back in the mid-1800s, Léoville was considered at the forefront of vineyard management and divided in 1840 using the appendices of Poyferré and Las Cases to represent the new owners of each property. To make things even more complicated, the land would be further separated into three different estates: Léoville-Poyferré, Léoville-Las Cases and Léoville Barton. All three would be seen as equals once the 1855 classification was designated, awarding the eternal ranking of Second Growth yet along the way, Las Cases started to gain a more prestigious name, hence commanding higher prices. 

When addressing the modern history of Léoville-Poyferré, there has been no greater influence than the Cuvelier family who bought the property in 1920. Perhaps part of the issue, initially, that Poyferré couldn’t distinguish itself earlier at the beginning of the Cuvelier era is because the family had the Léoville-Las Cases owner also manage their property. That all changed when Didier Cuvelier took over Léoville-Poyferré in 1979 and learned about wine from one of the greats, Emile Peynaud, the forefather of modern winemaking. Under Didier’s guidance, the winery was redone with state-of-the-art equipment and a replanting program that spanned two decades, increasing the percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon in the vineyards and adding the first plantings of Petit Verdot, was implemented. As time went on, to those in the know, Léoville-Poyferré became one of the most exciting estates in Saint-Julien; it was the dark horse that all of a sudden started sprinting with a fierce velocity.

Didier retired a few years ago and handed the reigns to his cousin, Sara Lecompte Cuvelier, who celebrated Didier’s achievements recently with a vertical tasting celebrating the 2020 Léoville-Poyferré, the 100th vintage since the Cuvelier family has taken ownership.

1996 Vintage 

The vertical in New York City showcased a handful of their best vintages in recent times, some being an outstanding vintage for the Left Bank as a whole and others a shining moment for only certain châteaux, including Léoville-Poyferré. First, they displayed the 2018 Léoville-Poyferré, which is already impressing top critics with Jeb Dunnuck giving it 100 points and famous British wine critic Jancis Robinson giving it 19 out of 20 points; and anyone familiar with Jancis Robinson scoring knows she rarely gives out a high score. Also, they gave a preview of their 2020 vintage, which is bottled in a stunning anniversary bottle showcasing their vineyards. 

Then the enchanting 2016, the lesser-known 2014, the superstar vintages of 2009, 2005 and 2000, and finally, the controversial 1996, were all in the lineup. Why is 1996 controversial? Many top Bordeaux wine collectors have differing views on this vintage as it has had more ups and downs than any other outstanding year and so some question whether it is on the same greatness level as 2000. 

From the first bottlings, the 1996s were considered excellent on the Left Bank, especially more Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated blends and so as one may guess, Léoville-Poyferré made a sensational wine. There was a lot of structure and power and the great ones, such as Poyferré, would make outstanding old bones, 30 years and beyond. Yet many of these wines have had a rollercoaster ride of varying stages, one stage showing its superiority and at other times, the same bottle will take a sharp turn and seem to be at the end of its life way too early without the tannins ever completely integrating.

But 1996 is an ideal vintage to show during this momentous occasion, not only because it was a vintage that brought a lot of attention to Léoville-Poyferré but it also represents the rocky journey of this estate that was always cut out for greatness but because of some missteps, it initially lost that momentum reinforcing that greatness in the minds of Bordeaux wine critics and collectors. In a way, no matter how stellar the bottling, there is always that first reaction to assume that Las Cases is better than Poyferré, as it is like that story about the sociological experiment, that may or may not be true, where researchers sprayed monkeys with ice-cold water every time they tried to climb up a ladder to get bananas; as they rotated new monkeys into the group and older ones out, through time the more seasoned monkeys kept the newer ones from trying to climb up the ladder. Eventually, none of the monkeys in the group have ever attempted to climb the ladder and they don’t know exactly why they shouldn’t as none of those had ever been sprayed with the ice-cold water – they only knew that they should never try it.

That same behavior can be seen in humans, as no one wants to make a fool out of themselves by saying in any particular vintage that they prefer Poyferré over Las Cases, as it has been passed down that Las Cases is at the top of the pecking order when it comes to the Léoville wines. Indeed, no one can argue with Las Cases’ stellar quality in many vintages; the idea of Poyferré always defaulting to an afterthought is the issue. Many have assigned it to a lesser position than what it deserves. The Cuvelier family, especially Didier Cuvelier, never gave up on the property, no matter how unfair the situation might have seemed.

Their 1996, has had the same path – at first impressing the taster with its sensational qualities but then it went through awkward stages, even indicating at times that it might be at the end of its life after only two decades. But today, it is awe-inspiring and those who didn’t give up on it have been rewarded. And the newest 2018 Poyferré suggests that it has much more to give than its fans could have imagined. And now, Sara Lecompte Cuvelier has taken the baton to bring Bordeaux lovers into the next era of Léoville-Poyferré.

***Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2022/12/15/top-wine-vintages-explored-to-celebrate-2nd-growth-bordeaux-producers-100th-anniversary/

2020 Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The preview of the 100th Anniversary bottling has hit the market as a pre-sale that will arrive in the fall of 2023. Aromatic nose of purple flowers and blueberry pie with spicy notes of nutmeg and cinnamon with a stony minerality that has a plush body with cassis flavors with an overall freshness, finely chiseled tannins and long, expressive finish with an elegant precision.

Four different wines from the Léoville-Poyferré estate were shown for their recent 2018 vintage:

2018 Château Moulin Riche, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 12% Petit Verdot. The Moulin Riche is from the more western part of the Léoville-Poyferré estate, slightly further from the river, where most of their Petit Verdot vines are planted. Approachable flavors with blackberry jam and blueberry scones with a hint of fresh tobacco that has a silky texture.  

2018 M de Moulin Riche, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 69% Petit Verdot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot. This is the second wine for Moulin Riche with 69% Petit Verdot. Crushed black cherries, licorice and rosemary on the nose with big, round tannins on the palate and black pepper on the finish.

2018 Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Broken rocks and graphite with crushed rose petals and cigar box with a fantastic combination of intense concentration with lots of energy and sculpted tannins. Terrific!

2018 Château Pavillon de Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot. This is the second wine for Léoville-Poyferré. Fresh sage leaves and baked plum tarts with drive to the palate and slightly firm tannins giving shape.

The rest of the vertical:

2016 Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Charming wine with aromatics that dance with hints of cocoa powder, lilacs, fresh mint and espresso with an overall harmonious quality to the palate with bright acidity and a long, expressive finish.

2014 Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. 2014 was a mixed bag vintage and Léoville-Poyferré came out with an intriguing beauty with spice box, dried herbs and lit embers on the nose and generous fruit on the palate that is simply delicious.

2009 Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc. Robert Parker originally gave this wine 100 points and it is in a stunning place right now. Jasmine oil, cherry blossoms and raspberry danish twist with plush tannins, fresh acidity and a lovely balance of richness with a clarity to the nuanced layers. Can’t use the word stunning enough!

2005 Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 68% Cabernet Sauvignon , 26% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc. The intense concentration, expansive palate and silky texture are not a surprise, but the crystalline quality of the aromatics on the nose and the finish is a surprise and breathtaking! Sweet red fruit balanced by tobacco leaf and forest floor on the finish.

2000 Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. Pristine red strawberries and white pepper with cherry blossoms and stony minerality on the nose that has a juicy body with a long, flavorful finish. At an exquisite stage in its life!  

1996 Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 11% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Smoldering earth, cocoa nibs and sizzling bacon with blackberry preserves and weighty mid-palate with slightly firm tannins that are fine in quality at this stage and warm raspberry compote over blackberry sorbet, very, very long finish with finesse and power. Impressive!

“Time for dinner,” is heard in the distance as a boy runs around with his dogs along steep rocky paths. The several layers of dirt that cover every inch of him indicate that it was a great day. “Time for dinner!” his mother yells a second time and the boy knows he shouldn’t press his luck so he dutifully runs back home. He sees his charming house coming up the road as he hurries down the path; it is a lovely place made of off-white stucco with ceramic roof tiles and an enchanting wrought iron balcony on the second floor where his mother stands to call for him. The boy dashes into the house before his mother can reach him and his grandparents at the dinner table immediately call for him to join them as he tracks dirt all over the house. His mother quickly enters the dining room and gives her son a quick wipe with a big, soft towel and, finally, everyone settles down for dinner as delicious smells emanate from the kitchen.

As night starts to descend around the home, the bright glowing lights from outside fade and the stories would begin. The boy’s grandfather and father talk about the family business, the current harvest, the concerns about costs and the plans for the future. The boy was transfixed on their discussions, never fully understanding what they were talking about but he knew he wanted to be part of the conversation one day. He would ask his grandfather to tell the stories he loved to hear about the past; no electricity, dangerous conditions along the river and the fight to preserve the way of life in their remote and desolate region. The grandfather was like a superhero to this young boy and the boy would wonder, one day, if he could become a heroic giant like his grandpa.

Once dinner was finished, the boy’s grandfather and father would go out onto the veranda, which during the day has a stunning view of the river and the ancient stone terraced vineyards on the side of surrounding mountains. It is an entirely different kind of beauty at night – the beauty of darkness and silence. Both his father and grandfather would quietly sit there, their bodies sinking in their chairs as they drank their Port¹ wine and a sense of serenity would wash over the boy making him wish he could freeze time at that moment, as no other feeling felt as good.

Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos 

All grandfathers seem like heroes to their grandchildren but, in this case, this grandfather, James Symington, played a pivotal role in his family’s legacy safeguarding Port production and the preservation of its ancient vineyards in the Douro Valley in Portugal. The home where James, his son Rupert and his grandson Hugh spent so much of their family time was on their Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos property.

The Graham’s Port house is where it all began for the Symington family, the largest owners of vineyards in the historic, designated Douro Valley wine region. In 1882, Andrew James Symington, James’ grandfather, left the comfort of Scotland to take an adventurous ocean voyage to Porto in Northern Portugal, a port city where much of the Port production was brought to export to other countries. He worked for a Scottish family, with the surname Graham (the founding family of Graham’s over 60 years earlier) and then eventually Andrew started his own Port business. From the beginning, the Graham family’s goal was to make exceptional Port wine and that was the foundation on which Andrew James Symington built his Symington Family Estates. A couple of generations later, Andrew’s grandson, James, with his siblings, purchased Graham’s from the founding family and with it, the estate of Quinta dos Malvedos which is at the heart of Graham’s Vintage Ports.

The outstanding quality of the Quinta dos Malvedos grapes make up the central core of Graham’s Vintage Ports when a vintage is declared and in years when a vintage is not declared, it makes a fantastic Single Quinta Vintage Port (SQVP), a single estate (a.k.a. quinta) from a single vintage. The SQVP category is one of the most exciting for Port wine collectors. Even more thrilling and rare is the bottling of Quinta dos Malvedos ‘The Stone Terraces,’ made only from two parcels of 18th-century schist stone-terraced vineyards on the Quinta dos Malvedos property, which has proven over time to produce a very distinctive sense of place.

Graham’s Six Grapes 

James Symington not only purchased Graham’s, where his grandfather started the legacy of the Symington Port family but he took another important property that used to source for Graham’s called Quinta da Vila Velha and he restored it to its former glory. James purchased the riverside property of Quinta da Vila Velha with his son Rupert back in the late 1980s and it became just as important of a place as Quinta dos Malvedos – where they would have their family dinners. And in honor of his father, Rupert is releasing a very special limited bottling of Graham’s ‘Six Grapes’ called Special Vila Velha Edition, sourced exclusively from a strict selection of Quinta da Vila Velha grapes.

The ‘Six Grapes’ label is an historic and iconic one rooted in the six grapes symbol used in the 1800s as a code for Graham’s winemakers to identify the barrels with the best wines, which were often bottled as Vintage Port. Starting in the early 1900s, Graham’s decided to bottle a Reserve Port selected from these barrels, and hence, why their ‘Six Grapes’ Reserve Port has always held a highly esteemed place within Graham’s portfolio, having higher status than even their LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) Port. 

Although ‘Six Grapes’ Reserve Port does not have the rarity or exclusive appeal that the SQVP or ‘The Stone Terraces’ may have, it does consistently have a beautiful expression of fruit with an overall vibrant and youthful quality that over-delivers for the modest price and it is widely available on the marketplace as it is an extremely popular brand. It is the ideal wine to introduce Port to a novice as it gives a good impression of the incredible aromatics, flavors and complexity that the Douro Valley can express, especially when it comes from top-selected barrels from Graham’s estates, yet there is tons of bright, juicy fruit making it irresistibly delicious. And so, it is perfect for new Port drinkers as well as more seasoned, ones who prefer to have a bottle of ‘Six Grapes’ as an everyday wine, which is easy, especially considering the bottle will last up to six weeks after being opened.

Because of the popularity of ‘Six Grapes,’ there has been a demand for special edition bottlings and so other special editions include Six Grapes: Special River Quintas Edition, which is made from two of Graham’s top estates and Six Grapes: Special Old Vines Edition which is sourced from old vines over 40 years old.

The Spirit of the Douro Valley

After a long stretch of grueling working hours that can go on for several months, there is nothing more precious to Rupert Symington than spending time in that serene silence on the veranda at his Quinta dos Malvedos family home. But nowadays, instead of him connecting in that silence with his father, James, he spends it with that little boy, now a man, his son Hugh, who has taken some of the heavy burden of helping with sales in the U.S. As they share a glass of Port, the Six Grapes Special Vila Velha Edition, they bask in the memories of Rupert’s father, Hugh’s grandfather, who passed away two years ago. As the moonlight shines slivers of light cutting through the dark cover of night, it hints at the glimpses of ancient terraces carved within steep slopes, enhanced by the sound of the flowing river. “This is what the Douro is all about,” Rupert says softly, as he and Hugh go back to silently drinking their Port honoring a heroic giant of the Douro Valley.

***Link to original article on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2022/12/02/special-limited-edition-portuguese-wine-honoring-a-leading-figure-in-the-douro-valley/

A quick note about Port wine: it can be a misnomer to think of it as a sweet wine that should only be paired with dessert. Because Port has many layers of complexity, the higher the quality status, the more layers and so the sweetness takes a backseat to the multifaceted aromas, flavors and structure. Its residual sugars are natural sugars from the grapes so the sugar is also part of the expression of grape varieties, place and hundreds of years of tradition. It is very easy to forget that it is a sweet wine when tasted, as due to all the complex layers, it is great to pair with hearty meals and fantastic with spicy foods such as curry. But since the natural fruit sugars balance all the other layers, it is an entirely balanced wine that can be consumed on its own.

NV Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Ruby Port: When one thinks about how many people love to drink wines with a sweet quality that are just marketing gimmicks, Six Grapes, which has beautiful sweet red fruit yet also violets, smoldering earth and dry herbs wrapped in great energy and overall freshness, becomes a more authentic choice than many of these other wines that hits one over the head with one-dimensional sweetness. Retailing around $25 and lasting around six weeks after opening, it is one of the best ways to satisfy that sweet fruit craving.

NV Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Ruby Port, Special River Quintas Edition: The regular Six Grapes Reserve is already impressive, and always has been, but this Special River Quintas Edition takes it up several notches. Wow! The quality of the tannins is exquisite as they set up a firm framework on the entry to bring precision and focus to the generous fruit yet once it hits the mid-palate and the finish, the tannins melt into silky ribbons. Plush mid-palate with flavors of plum pie balanced by zesty orange peel, and again, those tannins – impressive! Only retailing between $40-$45 as it delivers at a much higher price point.

NV Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Ruby Port, Special Vila Velha Edition: The beautiful homage to James Symington by his son Rupert that features James’ beloved Vila Velha estate. Candied violets and rose petals with smoked black tea and crushed rocks with intense blackberry and cassis flavors with fine tannins; only 12,000 bottles produced.

2020 Graham’s Vintage Port: This Vintage Port celebrates the bicentennial anniversary of Graham’s. Lots of brambly berries with hints of tarragon and citrus blossoms that has a sculpted texture balanced by plenty of fleshy fruit on the palate that has a lifted and extended expressive finish.

Vertical of Quinta dos Malvedos:

1987 Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port: Lit cigar with dried red currants with bay leaf and high acidity that has an expressive finish with notes of star anise and fennel fronds.

1999 Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port: Lifted, bright aromas of eucalyptus and pine that is nimble as it dances on the palate with juicy cassis and vibrant red cherry flavors with fresh tobacco leaves in the background.

2004 Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port: This wine immediately jumped out of the glass with an aromatic nose of dark fruit, cocoa dust and broken slate and if one thinks it can’t get any better than the nose, then wait, the palate is incredible with supple fruit texture, richly decadent body and an extremely long and flavorful finish.

2010 Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port: This wine is extremely harmonious already at this relatively young age for a Vintage Port. Fresh mint on the nose with layers of stony minerality and kirsch on the juicy palate intermixed with bitter dark chocolate and spices with a lovely freshness on the finish.

¹Port is a fortified wine with a neutral spirit added during fermentation, leaving some of the natural sugars from the grapes in the final product.

While the California wine industry was moving towards a more technical approach, a group of men who desperately wanted to connect with nature decided to throw themselves into making wine in California during the early 1960s. They had heard about a legendary vineyard on the Monte Bello Ridge high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Central Coast of California, an area planted with vines since the 1870s that piqued their interest. The Monte Bello cool climate Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards, planted on terraced slopes with limestone soil, with temperatures moderated by the Pacific Ocean and high altitudes up to 2,700 feet, seemed as if it would produce elegant wines but they needed to be sure.

The men purchased a small plot within the Monte Bello estate with which they would make a quarter-barrel of wine during the 1960 and 1961 vintages and it was one of the best wines they had ever had; so, the men re-bonded the winery on their property as Ridge Vineyards in 1962. But they didn’t want to get in the way of this fantastic vineyard, and hence, they pushed back against the wine technical driving force surrounding them at the time. They were going to start a wine revolution by proving that less is more when expressing terroir. Ironically, all of these men were Stanford Research Institute engineers.

Ridge Vineyards 

The founding engineers (Dave Bennion, Hew Crane, Charlie Rosen and Howard Ziedlerfirst) were able to slowly buy back various plots of the original Monte Bello estate, adding a field blend vineyard down the road dominated by Zinfandel grape vines, planted in the late 1800s, to their portfolio. They made their first Zinfandel in 1966 after their first official Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon in 1962.

After increasing their production to fewer than 3,000 cases a year, far from where they needed to be to make a profit, they found a winemaker, a Stanford graduate in philosophy, Paul Draper, to join their partnership. Paul is a living legend, who, from the very start, shared the low intervention, more natural approach aligned with the founding engineers’ mission. He restored the old limestone winery built into the mountainside that the first vineyard owner constructed in the 1890s and he felt that their resources needed to be put into leasing and buying top vineyard sites that would help them establish a global reputation for outstanding wines. Unlike many people with lofty goals, he was able to achieve such a feat. But making wine, in California of all places in the ’60s and ’70s, that would compete in the fine wine world yet made with natural practices, wasn’t the only revolution he started.

Ingredient Labeling 

“After making my first four vintages of Monte Bello (’69, ’70, ’71, ’72) and tasting again the superb ’62 and ’64 made by the founding partners, I thought we should do something to show how few ingredients are needed to make truly fine wine,” noted Paul Draper. When Paul reached out to the federal authority that approved wine labels all those decades ago, he was told “no”; because it was not required, no one else did it and it would be confusing to customers. With federal approval in 2008, a neighboring winery in Santa Cruz Mountains had a list of ingredients on many of its wine labels, so Paul was determined that Ridge Vineyards would do the same. With Ridge’s 2011 vintage, they began to list ingredients on their labels as well as explain each ingredient on their website. Paul further explained his intentions, “As more of our estate vineyards were certified organic and we could put “organically grown” on the label, we began to ask ourselves, does “organic” mean anything at all for your health if chemical additives were used once the grapes reached the winery?” 

Ridge Vineyards is also atypical for a medium-sized winery as they have had their own lab since 1971, as most wineries back then had their analysis done by outside wine laboratories. Today’s head winemaker and COO of Ridge, John Olney, talked about how over the past several decades, Ridge has built a sophisticated laboratory that helps to complement their hands-off approach in their winery as it allows for natural fermentation, lower levels of sulfites and the minimum amount of invention during the winemaking practices by making sure that the wine is always in a stable state during each stage. 

Of course, this does not mean that those who are not using ingredient labeling should be accused of using undesirable additives as, for some, it is a cost that they cannot take on, or many producers find it could create fear and confusion of listing natural additives in tiny quantities that are misunderstood by the public; such as small amounts of sulfur in wine that is much lower than many of the food products that people eat daily. Yet one thing is for sure, Ridge gives a pure expression of their vineyards that deserve nothing less as the fruit is stunning.

Motive: Marketing or Philosophy 

Today, it has become trendy for relatively new, big-brand wines to list their ingredients, giving the impression that they are made of purer ingredients that are better for the consumer than most other wines on the market. This is a very dangerous marketing campaign because it maligns other wine producers who have decided to focus on their vineyards, history and philosophy instead of an ingredient list and just simply saying that there are grapes in the wine and not much else doesn’t tell a consumer the whole story of what is in that bottle.

But Ridge Vineyards, started by engineers and a philosophy major, wasn’t exactly being run by marketing experts – far from it! There is no doubt about Monte Bello having an illustrious history and sense of place that some have called America’s First Growth and Ridge is rooted in a solid commitment to avoid anything that gets in the way of wine drinkers being able to experience the true glory of their vineyards.

Paul made a valid point that putting “organic” on a wine label seemed pointless if one didn’t know the ingredients in the bottle. But what is remarkable is that many fine wine connoisseurs worldwide love the Ridge Vineyards wines and their hearts skip a beat when Monte Bello comes to the table – and some have no idea of their commitment to low-intervention winemaking and ingredient labeling. His philosophy in showing the world what is in the bottle, unadulterated, is to stand behind the greatness of his vineyards. And 60 years after the first official vintage of Ridge Vineyards, it is finally getting wider recognition for being one of the first to push for complete transparency in the wine world.  

***Link to original article on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2022/11/30/the-california-wine-revolution-natural-practices-for-fine-wine-celebrates-60th-anniversary/

60th Anniversary Ridge Vineyards Tasting:

David Gates, senior vice president of vineyard operations, said that they only make a small quantity of Monte Bello Chardonnay in certain vintages. When it comes to the difference between the Estate Chardonnay and the Monte Bello Chardonnay, the Monte Bello is a parcel and barrel selection of the best Estate Chardonnay.

2012 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello Chardonnay: Ripe golden apples and honeysuckle with a smoky minerality with hints of nutmeg with good concentration balanced by a nimble energy.

2006 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello Chardonnay: Lots of chalky minerality right off the bat with lemon custard and graham cracker flavors that had a creamy yet textured body with bright acidity and lots of energy on the finish.

“The founders were looking for only Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in California in the 1960s, and instead, they found all these field blends, including Lytton Springs and Geyserville,” said John Olney, head winemaker and COO. The first Ridge Zinfandel blend was Geyserville in 1966, with a section of the vineyard containing vines more than 130 years old; the vineyard is composed of Zinfandel, Carignane, Petite Sirah and Mataro (Mourvèdre). And another iconic Zinfandel of Ridge is Lytton Springs which had its first vintage in 1972. Lytton Springs has Zinfandel vines that are over a century old and interplanted with Petite Sirah, Carignane, Grenache and small amount of Mataro (Mourvèdre). And despite the vineyards only being two miles apart, the Geyserville “has a little firmer acidity, more red fruit, rounder, more forward” than the Lytton Springs, according to John Olney.

2005 Ridge Vineyards, Geyserville from 3-Liter bottle: An open and generous nose with lush red cherries and baking spices intermixed with star anise and a gracefully broad body with fleshy fruit that has lots of energy on the finish.

1999 Ridge Vineyards, Geyserville from 3-Liter: Broken earth with subtle hints of raspberries and rhubarb with white pepper and poppy seeds and silky tannins and refreshing acidity.

2005 Ridge Vineyards, Lytton Springs from 3-Liter: Blackcurrant fruit with notes of licorice and dried herbs with structured tannins that give lift to the concentrated fruit.

1999 Ridge Vineyards, Lytton Springs from 3-Liter: This shows how Ridge’s Zinfandel blends can age beautifully with plenty of supple black cherry fruit with added layers of black pepper and crushed rock that has tannins with big shoulders balanced by plush black fruit on the mid-palate; a harmonious wine.

Monte Bello was initially 100% Cabernet Sauvignon until 1975, but through time Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were planted as it was difficult to fully ripen the Cabernet Sauvignon decades ago in the cool climate of Santa Cruz Mountains, just like in Bordeaux, and so other Bordeaux varieties were added to bring balance. The 1964, listed as the last wine, was only 11.5% alcohol.

2013 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot. Ridge Vineyards usually re-releases their Monte Bello wines again onto the market after ten years, and so this 2013 is currently available on the market. This is a stunning wine, from the multi-faceted aromas and flavors of cassis, espresso, truffles and a stony minerality with plush texture that has firm tannins with racy acidity giving vitality to the intensely concentrated fruit along the extraordinarily long finish. Wow!

2005 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello from Magnum: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Redcurrant preserves with cocoa powder and upheaved earth with hints of fresh sage and slightly firm tannins that has lots of juicy fruit on the palate.

1996 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello from Magnum: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 9% Petit Verdot. A lovely aromatic nose that is still so vibrant with boysenberry and black raspberry with allspice in the background that has intense flavors on the palate with lots of focused energy.

1988 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello from Magnum: John Olney said that this wine does have a bit of Brettanomyces (Brett) as it was a learning process of how to work naturally without unwanted yeasts converting into sometimes off-putting aromas during fermentation. But Brett can range in qualities from barnyard to gamey notes and this wine has a hint of grilled pork ribs, which is an aroma loved by some people and so the Brett may not be an issue for some, adding layers of smoldering earth, brambly fruit and tree bark with a textured body.

1977 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello from Magnum: Smoky note that is reminiscent of lit charcoal, wild berries and graphite with blueberry scones and bacon fat with a linear body with fierce energy and lift on the finish.

1964 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fresh tobacco leaf and hints of tar with layers of sandalwood, cigar box and forest floor in the background that has well-integrated tannins and marked acidity, giving a mouthwatering finish.

The surreal California coastline seems like a dream to a young man from Burgundy, France, who was swept away by the place, the wines and the people who have a casual, warm temperament balanced by a fast-paced creative energy. He became completely inspired by the idea that anything is possible in this stunning paradise while meeting people from all over the world who have moved to “The Golden State” to live their dreams. The 24-year-old young man was to stay two to three years in California just after having graduated from the University of Dijon to gain international experience so he could return to his family’s wine estate, Edouard Delaunay, to work with his father, hopefully bringing valuable contributions back from his time spent in the U.S.

“You should come back! Your father is tired and he needs help!” said the young man’s mother on the phone one day after he had barely spent a year in California. And so, he didn’t question it but jumped on a plane back home where he would help his father. But something wasn’t right as the young man’s father did not seem like the same man that he was before he left. And his father’s ability to perform everyday tasks seemed to get more difficult for him as time went on; within a few months, his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. While mourning the loss of the father he knew, this young man needed to take over quickly during an unfortunate economic time in 1991. It was during the first Gulf War and inflation was high with a significant increase in the cost of living. Moreover, Burgundy’s property taxes had already become exorbitant and this young man needed to make sure his parents had enough money to live out the rest of their retirement.

So the young man reached out to one of his father’s longtime friends, Jean-Claude Boisset, who had already bought many vineyards and wineries in Burgundy to purchase Edouard Delaunay. That way, the young man’s parents would have a nice nest egg, even if it left him with nothing. So he decided to move down to the South of France with his future wife, a winemaker from the Rhône Valley (just south of Burgundy). She had heard that the Languedoc wine region in the South was the best place for young people with zero resources to start a winemaking business. 

No Money But a Strong Work Ethic 

That young man was Laurent Delaunay and his family’s estate, Edouard Delaunay, was named after the founder and his great-grandfather; in an ideal world, he would have been the fifth generation taking over. But life had other plans, so Laurent, with the help of his wife Catherine, went down to the Languedoc to figure out how they could make wine with “no winery, no vineyards, no money, no anything.”

“We were able to convince some local people to allow us to make our own wines in their wineries,” said Laurent. And with lots of hard work, they made wine while quickly developing new markets around the world, especially in the U.S., from 1995 to 2003. Then, one day, he received a call from an old friend back home as his friend’s father wanted to retire – he was an owner of a small company in Burgundy that distributed and marketed the wines of small Burgundy producers. It was an excellent opportunity to find a way back to Burgundy. Even though he and his wife had successful businesses in the South and they had very little time to dwell on the past, Laurent wanted to renew that connection with what he lost. They were back living in Burgundy and grew their business to represent 180 Burgundy producers, becoming the largest distributor of small, independent domaines¹. But as Laurent got older, frustration started to build as he wasn’t making his own wines in Burgundy. He had a few opportunities to buy some vineyards and then a négociant² house but none of those deals worked out and it didn’t seem right in his gut.

Then, one day, as fate would have it, Laurent saw Jean-Claude Boisset at a restaurant in the Burgundy village of Nuits-Saint-Georges and after Jean-Claude’s guests left, Laurent took that serendipitous moment to invite Jean-Claude to join him for coffee. At one point in their conversation, Laurent mentioned his old family’s estate that he sold to Jean-Claude and that he was seeing it on the market less and less, which Jean-Claude admitted that they had bought a lot of wineries lately and they hadn’t given the Edouard Delaunay name the attention that it needed. Laurent asked if he could buy his family’s estate name and winery back and Jean-Claude agreed as he always respected what Laurent did for his parents. But Jean-Claude would not sell back the vineyards, which probably would have been impossible for Laurent to buy anyways as some of their vineyards were in the very expensive village of Chambolle-Musigny.

Edouard Delaunay

When Laurent walked back into his family winery, he was struck by the intense emotions he felt that were buried deep within him. Seeing all the areas where he would play as a child and the smells that were unique to his family’s cellars brought back a flood of memories that mainly conjured all those times he spent with his father teaching him various winemaking techniques as an adolescent, an adolescent who dreamt of the day he would work side by side with his father as a man, which sadly never came to pass. At that moment, he swore he would bring Edouard Delaunay back to its glory by reestablishing the name among the top Burgundy wines of the world. So first, he completely renovated the winery with state-of-the-art equipment to accommodate small-volume, high-quality wine. Next, he hired his winemaker, Christophe Briotet, the chief winemaker and cellar master at the School of Viticulture in Beaune. Laurent’s father had always respected those chosen to be the chief winemaker at the School of Viticulture in Beaune as he felt they picked the people who had the best sense of how to express the terroir of the various vineyards in Burgundy.

The last thing he needed was to find grapes to buy, so Laurent reached out to everyone in his network to give him the contact information for the growers he most wanted to work with in Burgundy. And even though being from Burgundy himself, he knew that growers have long relationships with well-known winemakers and négociants², and they would never jeopardize those relationships by working with a new producer in town who wanted to give a go at making Burgundy wine. But never say never, especially when it comes to certain circumstances, as all the producers were thrilled that he was resurrecting his family’s estate and they were more than happy to sell him grapes; some would even set aside the equivalent of a couple of barrels of their grapes from their top Grand Cru vineyards just for him because as they saw it, it was his “birthright.”

His first vintage was 2017 and they produced wines from 20 different appellations³ from the heart of Burgundy in the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. Laurent slowly increased their offerings over the years and today they make wines from around 30 different appellations. He has also taken on the task of expanding into the vineyards of the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, where his winery is located, only three miles outside of the well-known red wine village of Nuits-Saint-Georges. He makes the case that the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, which makes up the most valuable Burgundy vineyard land known as the Golden Slope a.k.a. Côte-d’Or, were designated with incredible skill and accuracy by the monks many centuries ago yet no one has formally designated the vineyards of the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. The Hautes-Côtes de Nuits has Jurassic limestone soil and the vineyards range in altitude between 980 to 1,300 feet; such altitude could be more ideal today with consistently warmer temperatures due to climate change.  

Within a short time, Laurent’s winemaker, Christophe Briotet, has won awards from the International Wine Challenge (IWC), first winning Red Winemaker of the Year in 2020 and then White Winemaker of the Year in 2021. And last year, Laurent was asked to become the president of the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB), a non-for-profit organization of wine growers/winemakers and négociants that handle the present and future challenges of the Burgundy wine region. As someone who had already been through a multi-generational wine family’s worst nightmare of having to sell, as well as being a great businessman and marketer by building a successful business with global distribution out of nothing, there is no one better suited for the job. And so Laurent goes around the world talking to various wine enthusiast groups to inform and inspire them about the current state of Burgundy and where the wine region wants to go in the future. One of the things he would like to implement is to inform English-speaking countries like the U.S. that the name of Burgundy in French is Bourgogne (pronounced bor·gaan·yuh) as they are the only wine region in France where the name is changed in English.

Stronger Foundation Avoids Desperation

Laurent had everything anyone wanted: successful businesses, fulfilling work and a great partner in life with his talented wife Catherine, however, there was still something missing as one should never live in regret, especially when life forces one’s hand. He did the right thing when it came to taking care of his parents but it was undoubtedly a very unfair position for someone who wasn’t even 25 years old to have to navigate. Overwhelmed with a bad economy, escalating inflation and excessive property taxes, he needed more than ever to talk to his father and lean on him for advice and comfort. But his father needed him and the clock was ticking so he did what he had to do, only thinking of his parents.

And so, although it doesn’t make business sense to try to reinvigorate and reestablish a neglected family estate in a highly competitive Burgundy fine wine market, when one hears Laurent’s story, it makes complete sense, as a part of him was taken the day he sold. 

Laurent is grateful for every grape that enters his winery from all the wine grape growers who are willing to sell him his “birthright” as no one knows more than he does what it is like to have great vineyards, that are part of one’s legacy, to be swiftly lost by the cruelty of the randomness of life. 

He has never felt closer to his father, as all the precious time he spends in the winery and cellars is filled with memories that are as vivid as if they happened yesterday. The transition of one generation to the other did not happen the way Laurent’s father wanted it to happen but Laurent has more than made up for that over the past five years. And as unfortunate as the initial selling of his family’s estate may seem, it gave him the drive to go down to the South of France to build a booming wine business gaining marketing savvy and global distribution know-how. And he is now part of helping other small, independent Burgundy wine producers build a strong business foundation for their multi-generational estates, so what happened to him decades ago never has to happen to another family again. 

***Link to original Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2022/11/27/a-family-wine-estate-lost-while-dealing-with-fathers-alzheimers/

The French word Bourgogne is used below instead of the English word Burgundy:

2018 Edouard Delaunay, Chassagne-Montrachet 1^er Cru “Les Baudines”, Côte de Beaune, Bourgogne: 100% Chardonnay. Lovely Anjou pear, crumbled hazelnuts and a touch of warm spice on the nose with juicy nectarine fruit on the palate intermixed with dried lemon verbena and good mid-palate weight with a long, expressive finish.  

2020 Gruhier & Delaunay – Associated Cousins, Chablis Grand Cru “Les Preuses”, Chablis, Bourgogne: 100% Chardonnay. Intense chalky nose with a fierce stony minerality highlighted with lemon blossom that becomes mouthwatering on the palate with flavors of lemon zest and white peach that has lots of energy on the mineral-laced finish.

2020 Edouard Delaunay, Hautes-Côtes de Nuits “Les Rouards”, Bourgogne: 100% Pinot Noir. This non-designated vineyard called Les Rouards is near the Vosne-Romanée border and so it has similar beautiful floral notes with a silky texture that has plenty of backbone – interesting to see how this will age in time. Ripe black cherries, cinnamon stick and broken earth dominate the flavor profile at this time but there seems to be so much more underneath waiting to evolve with time.

2019 Edouard Delaunay, Nuits-Saint-Georges Village, Côte de Nuits, Bourgogne: 100% Pinot Noir. This Nuits-Saint-Georges village wine is a blend of three vineyards that come from older vines. One is north-facing and so the fruit is more aromatic with high acidity and the other two plots are south-facing and so they bring the richness and body to balance out the other plot. Crushed rocks, fresh tarragon and a touch of cumin seeds with concentrated and zingy flavors of raspberry coulis on the palate that has fine tannins and a linear drive to the finish.

2018 Edouard Delaunay, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1^er Cru “Aux Murgers”, Côte de Nuits, Bourgogne: 100% Pinot Noir. Wet stones and dried cranberries on the nose with an intoxicating smoldering incense aroma in the background that has dark, brooding fruit and finely etched tannins with a long, flavorful finish.

2019 Edouard Delaunay, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1^er Cru “Les Crots”, Côte de Nuits, Bourgogne: 100% Pinot Noir. Lifted aromatic nose with lilacs and cherry blossom grounded in an underlying compelling undergrowth aroma with extremely silky tannins that caress the palate with fleshy red cherry and a stunning delicacy on the finish with pristine fruit and minerality.

2019 Hospices de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1^er Cru “Les Porrets St. Georges”, Côte de Nuits, Bourgogne: 100% Pinot Noir. A very pretty wine with lots of violets and blueberry fruit that has plum pie flavors on the palate intermixed with ripe red cherry fruit that has an overall elegance balanced by fruit generosity. Laurent talked about how the Hospices de Beaune is very well-known but the Hospices de Nuits needs to be rediscovered. It is much smaller than the Hospices de Beaune auction and it is focused on the 1er Crus of Nuits-Saint-Georges. The Hospices de Nuits, which owns 30 acres, is the largest land owner of 1^er Crus of Nuits-Saint-Georges, according to Laurent. The auction happens on the 3^rd Sunday of March and so it is later than the Hospices de Beaune, and hence, the wines are already tasting better and MLF has almost finished. The auction takes place at Château du Clos de Vougeot and it has recently been opened to the public.

2019 Edouard Delaunay, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, Côte de Nuits, Bourgogne: 100% Pinot Noir. This wine’s aroma was wafting from the glass the moment it was poured, begging the Burgundy lover to try an extraordinary wine that was multi-layered with black truffles, forest floor, pressed rose petals and jasmine flower; supple fruit on the exquisitely textured body with velvety tannins and sexy concentrated red fruit that is at the same time charming with its nuanced delivery of the fruit with an outstandingly long finish. Stellar wine!

¹Domaines are parcels of land under the control of the winemaker/owner in Burgundy.

²Standard wine négociants buy wine and handle the packaging, marketing and sales. Also, there are some négociants that will buy grapes or unfermented wine juice and do the winemaking themselves, or they buy fermented wine and make tiny improvements to the wine as well as age it.

³An appellation is a designated wine area many times to indicate quality status with it specifically used in Burgundy under categories such as villages (communes), 1er Cru (Premier Cru) vineyards and Grand Cru vineyards.