Kermit Lynch said many years ago that if one is looking for the best values, one must look where others aren’t looking. Never has that been more true than in Burgundy today (for all of the obvious reasons). In the recent under-the-radar red Burgundy thread, Dan Bailey chimed in with the likes of Jean-Marc Pillot’s lovely Chassagne-Montrachet Clos St. Jean (from 110 year-old plus vines) and Jeremy Holmes identified Jean-Marc Vincent’s beautiful Santenay cuvees and others.
My aim is to begin a thread where members post their notes regarding off-the-beaten-path red and white Burgundies, the likes of Maranges, Santenay, red Chassagne-Montrachet, Blagny (particularly rouge), Aloxe-Corton, Pernand-Vergelesses, Ladoix, Fixin, Marsannay, Givry, etc. All the better if the poster is able to share some further insight into the domaine.
I will start things off with the 2011/2012 Domaine Jean-Marc Morey Santenay Cornieres. My local Rosenthal rep sent me a sample of the 2011, but, sadly, I was slow to get to it. It has everything one could possibly want in a $30ish red Burgundy - a lovely aroma of dusty red fruits and spice, with purity, intensity, precision and freshness on the palate. It registers cool, and the tannins are sweet and easy. The 2012 is in the same mold, but has more density to the core. If you see this wine anywhere for near $30, my recommendation is that you buy it. I saw some e-mail high-fivin’ among Rosenthal personnel regarding the 2011 of this wine, and it was for very good reason. I wish that I had more stacks to sell. Unlike some Chassagne-Montrachet producers, Jean-Marc Morey takes his reds seriously, although his best red may be his Santenay Grand Clos Rousseau (TN to follow).
Disclaimer: I sell Jean-Marc Morey wines and likely the others I will post about in this thread.
I get to try only a small fraction of what you guys do but my favorite $30 red Burg producer 2010-2012 is Michel Juillot in Mercurey, imported by Weygandt. Sweet and easy is a great description of my impression of the Morey Santenay Cornieres, whereas the Juillot wines have more acid, structure, and flavor intensity, especially the 1er crus, at the expense of a touch of lean/green. I think this may be more of a personal preference along a continuum of generosity and fruit to austerity and precision. BTW by $30ish I mean usual street price not special buys or closing out back vintages (e.g. just ordered some '13 H-N Chambolle village at $39 where some folks will claim it is a $30 wine but clearly not IMO).
Keep these suggestions coming, this is a great topic…am always looking for satisfying Burgs to try that approach a daily- or at least weekly-drinker price point.
Interesting note on the JM Morey reds. I bought 07, and 09, and 10 Beaune Greves from JM Morey and at about $40 a bottle, they are great QPR wines, and will probably last for several more years. I had the 09 last week and it was earthy with good fruit and a nice Burgundian nose of spice and mushrooms.
2012 Jacqueson Rully 1er cru “La Pucelle” blanc - terrific. This is one of the reasons I’m convinced it’s almost never necessary to spend more than about $30 on a chardonnay, as this has pretty much everything I want out of the grape. Crystalline on day one, cut like a jewel with a chalky, dusty minerality that impacts the texture as much as the taste, all briny oysters on the finish, holds up well in the fridge for days putting on weight and getting deeper, more brassy tones while still featuring that chalky freshness.
This recommendation illustrates one of the challenges with this thread. I respect Keith’s tastes and immediately went to see where I could source this wine. No vintage of it is currently selling at a wine-searcher.com participating retailer in the United States. Living in Maine, it looks unlikely that I’ll ever see a bottle. Bummer. Pass the Jadot.
Huh, there were at least a few Jacqueson bottlings in the recent Flickinger sale, but yeah, currently wine-searcher (amateur edition) only shows one red @ MacArthur, in the whole US.
Not sure if it is the same one, but there is still a wine from the same producer on MacArthur’s web site.
Look, most Burgundy is small production wine. It is not Jack Daniels and will not be in every liquor store in America. I love wines from big producers like Jadot, Drouhin and Bouchard, but I hope that people will continue to post on small producers.
I bet that within a year a new vintage of these and every other small producer will appear, they will be grabbed up by people who know and love the wines and people again will have to wait for the next vintage to arrive. This is true with most good small production wine from everywhere in the world.
Completely agree. To the extent people know, however, it might be helpful when talking about a very small producer to also say something about how/where it was found and any info on availability. In this example, the MacArthur info was very helpful; I order wine from them regularly.
Lovely 2007 Jean-Marc Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet Macharelles 1er on the weekend. Showed a lick of oak, open knit '07 personality, but good richness and supple texture. Not a big fan of 07 vintage, but I am pleased that I have 3 dozen of Pillot Chassagne rouges from the vintage for mid week consumption.
Olivier Lamy’s 2013 Bourgogne Blanc ‘Les Chataigners’ is from a vineyard that is just outside of St.Aubin. It drinks like an excellent St.Aubin. It is steely, nervy, rocky and sharp. There are citrus, blossom and mineral notes and the wine has great cut and good persistence. A Chablis lover’s Cote de Beaune
Thank you, Jeremy. I did not know that Lamy made such a wine. I have never seen it over here (and quantities of his St.-Aubins continue to dwindle). It seems that Lamy has pretty much everything dialed in.
Had the 2013 Jean-Marc Vincent Santenay 1er Cru Gravières last night. So delicious with plush cherry fruits and great rocky detail. The stems influence gives off ethereal whiffs of rose petal on the nose. Beautiful balance and a thoroughly engaging wine. If it was from Chambolle it would be three times the price.
