Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 64

FOCUS: BURGUNDY
92 | Maison Evenstad

$150

2016 Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Les
Vignerondes ^ This vineyard is north of the
town of Nuits, on the hill above Vosne. It is
the raciest and leanest of the Evenstad Nuits
recommended here, emphasizing brisk mineral tannins and scents of game. Even as the
flavors are dark, cool and earthy, the wine's
lightness and vibrancy keeps drawing those
flavors forward. This should be fascinating to
watch as it ages. § Evenstad Estates, Dayton, OR
278039

91 | Dom. Aurélien Verdet $140

2017 Nuits-St-Georges Hauts Pruliers ^ This
has the polished elegance and black-cherry
depth you might expect from Nuits, presented with a sense of gentleness and delicacy. Tannins awake the finish with the mineral brightness of sun on limestone, building
on the silky texture, integrating into the
cherry flavors. It's a mouthwatering young
Burgundy that's open and ready for dinner
this fall, especially with roast game birds. § Terlato Wines Int'l, Lake Bluff, IL
278040

91 | Dom. Aurélien Verdet $210

2017 Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots ^ The pedigree of this site shows in the
silken power of this wine, its tart red-berry
and star-anise flavors exploding in gentleness. There's enough fat to the fruit to handle
the numbing feel of the tannins, wrapping
them in rose-garden scents of earth and flowers. As its tight structure relents, the wine
reveals more of its youthful energy, ending
on a wild woodland sweetness. § Terlato Wines
Int'l, Lake Bluff, IL
278005

90 | Patricia Raquin

$86

2017 Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains ^ Evoking springtime in its scents of
peonies and roses, then cool summer in its
crushed-raspberry flavors, this is a soft, gentle Nuits with a finish that keeps driving the
flavor, creating a deeper, firmer impression
in the end. Its freshness responds well to air,
and the wine should develop well with a few
years in the cellar. § Kysela Père et Fils, Winchester, VA

VOSNE-ROMANEE
278095

94 | Domaine
Aurélien Verdet

$225

2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux
Monts ^ This is all vivacity, its energy
unleashed as soon as you open the bottle.
Enticing floral spice pours out of the glass,
and muscular tannins keep the fruit racing
forward. It's all motion until a day later,
when the lights go out and it turns to black,
64

WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2020

earthy, still gracious in texture but without
any access to the initial layers of complexity.
Built for the long haul, this is a savory Vosne
with plenty of meat to its structure. Cellar it. §
Terlato Wines Int'l, Lake Bluff, IL
278064

92 | Pierre Meurgey

$151

90 | Domaine Bertagna

$155

2017 Vosne-Romanée Aux Communes ^
It takes a village-in this case, Vosne-to
separate the grand cru vineyard of La Tâche
from the humble parcels at Aux Communes,
just above the D974, the main road heading
north from Nuits-St-Georges. Meurgey produced a lovely, red-fruited Vosne from the
site, fragrant with rosy freshness, gripping
with youthful tannins. It's brisk, without a
lot of weight, harmonious and lasting. § Banville Wine Merchants, NY
278016
2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux
Monts ^ Clean and elegant, this Vosne has the
bright crunch of green-peppercorn spice, its
cherry scents lean and lasting. Dark tannins
lend the wine some chocolatey depth and
a hint of oak sweetness. Give this a year or
two in the cellar before decanting for grilled
lamb. § Taub Family Selections, Boca Raton, FL

C OT E D E N U I TS - V I L L A G E S
278063

92 | Pierre Meurgey

$61

2017 Côte de Nuits-Villages Aux Montagnes ^ Located at the top of the hill in Comblanchien, at the southern end of the Côte
de Nuits, Aux Montagnes rises up a steep
limestone slope. Meurgey purchases fruit
from 41-year-old vines for this wine, which
plays well above its pay grade. It scores strawberry freshness, black-mission-fig richness
and lush red-rose-scented fruit-floral and
untamed, as if there's a cool wind blowing
through the fine dusting of tannins, defining
the shape of the wine, clarifying its dark, perfumed beauty. § Banville Wine Merchants, NY
278531

90 | Maison
Roche de Bellene

$48

2018 Côte de Nuits-Villages Vieilles Vignes ^
"Bitter in the most delicious ways," said one
of the panelists, pointing to the cherry-skin
flavors and herbal notes of thyme. It looks
south, to the Mediterranean, with its sourplum density of fruit and fresh-herb acidity.
The concentrated old-vine fruit will take well
to a few years of bottle age. § Loosen Bros. USA,
Salem, OR

C OTE DE BE AUNE
BEAUNE
278094

94 | Domaine Chanson

$122

2018 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches ^
The Clos des Mouches rises up the hill at
Beaune's southern border with Pommard.
Chanson's parcel is midslope, the pinot noir
vines facing southeast on rocky limestone
and clay soils. This 2018 silenced the panel
with its immediate elegance, bright and rosy,
the flavors focused on juicy blackberry ripeness before deepening into layers of dark,
mineral-rich tannins. Gracious as a young
wine, this is tightly built and needs bottle
age to fully reveal its complexities. § Vintus,
Pleasantville, NY
278594

94 | Remoissenet
Père & Fils

$85

93 | Domaine Chanson

$69

92 | Domaine Bouchard
Père & Fils

$50

2017 Beaune 1er Cru Teurons ^ Remoissenet
owns this five-acre parcel in Teurons, farming
vines from three plantings, one now 50 years
old, the others nearing 75 and 100. They
combine in a Beaune that argues for grandcru status in its substance and stature. Its
intoxicating scent has detail and precision,
an integrated expression of ripe sour cherries, complete with their pits and their skins,
rising to higher notes of woodland raspberries and their seeds. Plush tannins give the
wine an immediate textural appeal while
the freshness of those tannins, when tasted
four days later, remains earthy and delicious.
This has the stamina to age for a decade and
likely still appear quite young. § North Berkeley
Imports, Berkeley, CA
278082
2018 Beaune 1er Cru Clos du Roi ^ North
of the village of Beaune, close to Savigny,
with an alluvial subsoil of galets, this vineyard produced a rich, ripe 2018. It's an exciting young Burgundy, with the fruit of a New
World pinot noir and the earthy detail of the
Côte d'Or. The wine feels bright even if all
its fruit is dark and its tannins herbal, needing five years to develop into an epic Beaune. §
Vintus, Pleasantville, NY
278059
2013 Beaune 1er Cru Monopole Clos de la
Mousse ^ Bouchard has owned this 8.3-acre
vineyard in its entirety since 1872. Situated
directly above the village of Beaune, the parcel produced a markedly concentrated and
lusciously ripe 2013, a grand red wine with
staying power. Woodland mushroom notes
and black-peppercorn spice add to the com-

Wine & Spirits - October 2020

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