Wine & Spirits - October 2021 - 70

Burgundy
90 | Dom.Xavier Monnot $90
2019 Beaune 1er Cru Les Cent-Vignes ^
A generous Beaune, this is sunny and ripe
with juicy cherry flavors and powerful smoky
tannins that take it from a bright middle to
a more somber finish. Give it cellar time to
open up and the joyous fruit may win out. §
Winebow, NY
cHASSAGNE-MONTRAcHET
89 | Vincent Girardin
$51
2018 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Vieilles
Vignes (BEST BUY) ^ This grows at a parcel of
60-year-old vines on deep, clay-limestone
soils, well-suited to resist the heat of recent
vintages. It comes off rustic in its barnyard
scent, brightened by raspberry and juicy redcurrant
flavors. With air, the funk diminishes,
and the elegant freshness of the wine
comes to the fore-suggesting a decant for
slow-braised meats. § Vineyard Brands, Birmingham,
AL
POMMARD
90 | Dom. Jean Monnier $84
2018 Pommard 1er Cru Grands Epenots
Clos de Citeaux ^ The vines are 40 years old
in Monnier's 8.5-acre monopole Clos de Citeaux,
producing a wine of black-velvet richness
in 2018. It's sunny and concentrated,
with floral crabapple and strawberry notes
emanating from the darkness. Cellar it to
serve with duck breast, seared rare. § Artisanal
Cellars, White River Junction, VT
SANTENAY
91 | Domaine Jessiaume $45
2019 Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravières ^ The
structure of this wine takes on the bold ripeness
of 2019, sweet, almost unctuous with
notes of game and coffee-scented tannins.
There's also a more delicate side, touching
on tart cherry and floral strawberry notes.
The wine needs a few years to integrate, and
for the nuanced complexity to come to the
fore. § Adrian Chalk Selections/MS Walker, New
Rochelle, NY
90 | Dom. Philippe Colin
$60
2019 Santenay ^ Concentrated with fragrant
cherry-skin and pomegranate notes, along
with the bitterness of stone-fruit pits, this
wine has a plush texture encouraged by the
chocolate richness of its time in oak. Round
and satisfying now, this will develop more
layers of flavor with a year or two of bottle
age. § Cape Classics, NY
70
90 | Vincent Girardin
$49
2018 Santenay 1er Cru Le Beauregard ^
More about earthiness than fruit, this is a
muscular Burgundy with a single red line of
flavor. The tannins are gritty and powerful,
the wine welling up behind them, needing
bottle age to push through. § Vineyard Brands,
Birmingham, AL
SAVIGNY-LES-bEAUNE
92 | Domaine Chanson
$74
2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru La Dominode
^ Facing northeast at the middle of the
slope, this vineyard is well positioned to
resist some of the recent heat and drought
in Burgundy (see Jasper Morris's essay in
this issue on how climate change is impacting
the region). The wine is a fascinating connection
of the sun and the earth as they meet
in the ripeness of fruit: all the near-explosive
intensity doesn't diminish the detail of its
sour-cherry flavors. Their tartness checks
the sweetness, creating light within all the
extract. § Vintus, NY
91 | Vincent Girardin
$53
2018 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Marconnets
^ This concentrated Savigny has just
enough oak presence to give a sense of luxury.
It may capture your attention like an elegant
peasant, one who's come into riches, buzzing
with energy, serious in tone. The tannins are
earthy and vegetal, holding the richness to a
dry savor. § Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL
87 | François Martenot
$35
2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Cabottes
(BEST BUY) ^ This is a simple, generous pinot,
easy and lush, feeling vibrant in the middle,
then warm with weighty dark-cherry flavors
in the end. § Advantage Int'l, Doral, FL
VOLNAY
tion. Girardin produces this wine from the
fruit of 65-year-old vines, fermented without
added yeasts and aged 14 months in barrels
(20 percent new). The wine teases with beautiful
earthen richness, layering red-currant,
star-anise and barnyard notes in a vibrant
weave. The tannins add a sanguine, ironlike
note, adding complexity to the texture.
A Volnay for the long haul, or, if you decant
it now, for grilled lamb with wild anise over
the coals. § Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL
93 | Dom. Xavier Monnot $120
2019 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes ^
Xavier Monnot farms two acres in Clos des
Chênes, one acre planted in 1936, the other
in 1978. Those old vines produced a dark and
meaty Volnay in 2019, perfumed up front,
then calming to red cherry succulence in a
firm finish. The wine seems to harness the
heat of the vintage and direct it into potential
energy, well worth following over the next
five to ten years. § Winebow, NY
HAUTES-cOTES-DE-bEAUNE
90 | Domaine
Thevenot-Le Brun
$20
2019 Hautes Côtes de Beaune (BEST BUY) ^
Here's an impressive value from the heat of
2019: From the village of Fussey, at an altitude
of 1,500 feet, the fruit fermented in tank
with ambient yeasts, then half of the lot aged
in oak barrels. And it tastes like an earthy,
high-altitude Burgundy: a light complexity of
floral strawberry and raspberry notes touching
the saturated, tart and resinous fruit. It's
a hearty red with a breezy disposition. For
steak frites or other bistro fare. § Monsieur Touton
Selection, NY
COTE CHALONNAISE
MERcUREY
88 | François Martenot
$30
2019 Mercurey Les Chaponnes (BEST BUY) ^ A
simple, gracious Burgundy with floral strawberry
scents and darker, cherry-skin flavors,
this ends tannic in its peppercorn spice. For
duck sausage. § Advantage Int'l, Doral, FL l
94 | Vincent Girardin
WINE & SPIR IT S Oc TO b ER 2021
$72
2018 Volnay 1er Cru Les Santenots ^ Santenots
is at Meursault's northern border, its
pinot noir falling under the Volnay appella
http://www.vineyardbrands.com/producer.aspx?id=79
Wine & Spirits - October 2021

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