To share a nice evening and meal together before I’m off for producer visits in France/Germany/Spain, my wife Amber and I cracked a '15 Bertheau 1er cru and an interesting 100% Chardonnay Extra Brut sparkler project from Nathalie Falmet called “Terra”.
Man oh man, the Bertheau was plain stunning…aromatically and in the mouth, it has swoonworthy red fruited purity and a silken texture. Every time that I went back for another sip, I would curse with pleasure, as the fruit tone is just soooo pretty. At the moment, I got very little in a mineral sense, so i’m curious to go back and try the wine on night 2 to see if things tensed up at all after digesting some oxygen. Nonetheless, quintessential Bertheau Chambolle that will please any and all…I never understand why some people hate on drinking Burgundies young before they close up, it can be deliriously tasty in its flush of youth! 
The Falmet, 100% from the 2012 vintage with 4+ years on the lees before disgorgement, was very good, excellent purity, precision, balance. Whilst it is very well made and everything in place, it left me wanting a wee bit for complexity or layering. While it is a “correct” wine, I was looking for some more soul. I’m not sure about the vine age here, but I would guess relatively young vines…I would say that the wine makes a good case for the potential quality of Chardonnay based bubbly from the far southeastern reaches of the Aube, a place where Pinot Noir is king…
An exciting trip lined up, i’ll chime in from time to time with some thoughts…lots of interesting irons in the fire, as always…
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Thanks for the advance note on Bertheau. Looking forward to these.
I have just enjoyed a superb bottle of the 2009 Chambolle 1er Cru at home tonight. It too shows terrific purity of fruit and a silky texture (both a Bertheau hallmark) but has an undertow of minerality and some pleasing acidity to round things out. I tasted the 2015 1er Cru (amongst others) with Francois last November and it showed great promise then. It is for my money probably the value buy in the cellar.
2015 is off the charts at Bertheau, 2016 is more uneven and he lost a lot of grapes. 16 has less concentration, the Bonnes Mares is the wine of the cellar in 16, in 15 it was amoureuses for me. Lucky to have mags of the premier cru!
How was night two on the Bertheau? Why aren’t they producing the Bourgogne anymore?
On day 2 (and 3), in the same vein. gorgeous fruit, not much in the mineral department at this stage. I was still quite impressed.
As to the Bourgogne, François said it is a pain to farm and vinify…I will keep on pushin’ to encourage him to continue making it.