Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 141

IMPORTED NEW RELEASES
Bright with lemon-custard freshness, this is
a wine with clarity and salty mineral tones
to direct toward pan-roasted fish. § Grand Cru
Selections, NY
227655

92 | Dom. Pierre Richard

$29

2014 Côtes du Jura Les Marnes ^ Cool and
luscious, this chardonnay follows a chiseled line of acidity, as if formed by smashing
together stones. It's round enough that the
rockiness provides balance to the quince-like
fruit. The finish is clean, smoky and beautiful, especially in the company of hamachi
sashimi. § Savio Soares Selections, NY
228063

92 | Rijckaert

$24

2015 Arbois (Best Buy) ^ Heady and rich
up front, this wine's round, fleshy texture
comes up against nervy energy that keeps
it tight and fresh. There's some smoky oak
adding almond tones to the flavor and needing a year or two to integrate into the wine.
Then serve it with arctic char over wild mushrooms. § Massanois Imports, NY
227667

91 | Domaine Rolet

$22

2013 Arbois Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ A wild
and funky white, this is more Comté than
chardonnay. There's some fresh golden-apple
flavor at its center, surrounded by chalkiness
and scents of cheese rind. Ornate and oxidative, this wine's intensity and elasticity make
it compelling. § Michael Skurnik Wines, NY

F R A N C E RE D : B URGU N DY
228522

90 | Dom. de la Vougeraie

$45

2015 Bourgogne Terres de Famille Pinot
Noir ^ A powerful and serious red Burgundy,
this is a blend from two parcels in Gilly-lèsCiteaux, near the domaine's base in Vougeot, and two parcels in Beaune. It layers
rose scents and flavors of cranberry and
anise over substantial tannins, the structure
sophisticated and firm. § Boisset Family Estates,
St. Helena, CA
227917

88 | Louis Chavy

$15

2016 Bourgogne Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^
This is pretty good pinot noir for $15-with
red fruit and some of the green stemmy notes
that lift it out of the jello mold of so many
inexpensive Bourgognes. Tight with cranberry notes, this may be too lean for some
California pinot noir drinkers, but it will
please people looking for a fragrant, lightbodied red. § Saranty Imports, Stamford, CT

COT E DE NUITS
CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY
228615

91 | Frédéric Magnien

$118

2015 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Borniques ^ The 2015 vintage catapulted this
Chambolle into richness, lending it more
volume than you might expect from the village's wines. There's heft to the luscious fruit
and animal notes to the tannins, yet it's still
graceful and elegant. Then, after giving a
glimpse of what it may become in ten years'
time, the wine shuts down with air, demanding that you wait. § North Berkeley Imports,
Berkeley, CA

CHARMES-CHAMBERTIN
228923

93 | Dom. Gérard Raphet

$190

2015 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
Cuvée Unique ^ Raphet farms four parcels in
this grand cru, two-thirds of his holdings in
Charmes, the other third in Mazoyères. The
vines are between 50 and 60 years old, growing in thin soils close to the limestone rock.
This 2015 is a sleek wine with density of flavor and an herbal, earthy funk in the tannins
that will need a decade or more to resolve.
For now, it's a resonant and ripe expression
of Gevrey, the flavors driving on for minutes,
hinting at the char on the edge of roast beef
and the lusciousness of just-ripe black cherries. § North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA

CLOS DE L A ROCHE
228507

94 | Jean-Claude Boisset

$291

2015 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru ^ Grégory
Patriat makes the wines at this negociant
firm, and a number of his 2015s are remarkable, including this selection from a grand
cru on the Gevrey side of Morey-St-Denis.
Treated to 100 percent new oak, this vintage
took it in and returned a wine with floral
refinement, the oak turning its power toward
elegance. The fruit reaches a near-tropical
ripeness, edged in herbal notes, somehow
feeling zesty and cool. The contrast is fascinating, sustained over the course of several
days, predicting a complex evolution ahead. §
Boisset Family Estates, St. Helena, CA
228628

93 | Dom. Gérard Raphet

$215

2015 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée
Unique ^ One-third of Raphet's vines in this
grand cru date to the 1920s, when the family
established its domaine; the others are more
than 40 years old. It may be the combination
of old-vine intensity and a ripe vintage, but

this wine bursts with energy, as flowery and
trippy as a Peter Max poster, almost purple
in its chunky black-fruit density, powerful
in its earthy, feral tannins, dynamic and layered. Not a wine to approach in its youth, this
is balanced and complete, needing time to
mellow and evolve. § North Berkeley Imports,
Berkeley, CA

CLOS DE VOUGEOT
228532

93 | Dom. de la Vougeraie $221

2015 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru ^ Most of
this wine comes from a parcel near the top
of the vineyard, at the corner just below the
alley that leads to the entrance of the Château
du Clos de Vougeot; a smaller portion comes
from the base of the vineyard, both parcels
farmed under biodynamics since 2001. This
is more powerful than many wines from this
large grand cru, potently reduced so that it's
more feral animal and tar than fruit for now.
Underneath that dark funk there's a youthful floral note that lasts, waiting to emerge
more fully as the wine resolves with age. § Boisset Family Estates, St. Helena, CA
228612

91 | Remoissenet
Père et Fils

$325

2015 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru ^ Sleek and
seductive when first opened, this has the
amplitude of the vintage underlain by firm,
mineral-inflected tannins. Those tannins feel
tense and iron-hard, the fruit lasting on notes
of red-apple skin that imply the delicacy at
the heart of this wine. And then it retreats,
turning toward its oak, closed off. Claudie
Jobard tends an acre of vines at Clos de Vougeot, planted between 40 and 60 years ago,
farmed under biodynamics. If this wine's
initial beauty is any indication, it should
develop well over the next six to eight years. §
North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA

COTE DE NUITS-VILL AGES
228625

90 | Dom. Philippe Livera

$50

2015 Côte de Nuits-Villages ^ Sleek and
plump, this wine's bright fruit gives it a New
World feel, then the structure comes up with
air. A day later, the wine's ripeness feels harmonious, its brawniness gone, replaced by
a lasting perfume. Decant it for roast duck. §
North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA

GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN
228624

92 | Dom. Philippe Livera

$88

WINE & SPIRITS

141

2015 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Village ^
Damien Livera farms 70-year-old vines at
this lieu-dit right beside his cellar. That celAPRIL 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2018