Sexy Burgundy Duo
Burgundy. A region with a proud soul, hard-working vignerons and profound taste. Nowadays, the sad reality is that there are two possibilities to fine tune your palate to the nuances of Burgundy reds:
You are filthy rich with a good taste.
You work in the wine industry at a high end level with good connections and freedom.
Given the almighty handicap that you are in second of the two groups, you pay two extra prices for your privilege: deep curiosity and devotion.
I’ve heard too often that Pinot Noir is a bitch in the vineyard and I drank too often overoaked and overripe Pinots in the past. My understanding about Pinot:
An unfathomable cat with encoded majesty and pride. A variety that opens the gates of heavens in the diligent hands of a humble winemaker. But also the same variety that turns it’s back to the wanna-bees and the false priests.
As I’m picking up new Burgundies onto our wine list before Christmas, I came across two beauties:
Boris Champys ‘Bignon’ 421 2020
Two totally different characters. Boris Champy was the first to take on the challenge of Demeter certification in the region. His style is rather restrained with really subtle oak and lively texture. The wine bears the somewhat disgracing appellation denomination: Hautes-Cotes de Beaune. Might be technically true, but not justified.
Clayey red soil, 421 meters in altitude, de-stemmed grapes, only 15% new oak foudres. The wine delicate, fruit-driven with a fantastically balanced texture and only a supporting oak. Please drink it a little chilled from a really big glass. This wine is a definition of ‘intellectual party wine’. In general, acidity is a rather overlooked component of a red wine, well not with this one. One feels the linear texture and the aromatic richness built around it. The tannins do bite a bit because of the age, but do not show any greenness or unbalanced sensation. Dreamy red wine with spicy edge, energetic drink flow, ever-showing fruit curtain, developing finish.
Chandon de Briailles ’Les Laviéres 1er Cru Savigny-les-Beaune 2017
The Premier Cru ‘Les Lavières’ is located in the direction of Pernand-Vergelesses. The domaine owns 2.61 hectares in the core of the 17.66 hectare vineyard. The vines are about 50 years old and face south-southeast on a soil composed of a mixture of sandstone, sand and marl with ferruginous oolite in the upper part and reddish brown crumbly limestone in the lower part.
The nose has changed the game already. The oak is a bit more present and the vine shows a bit more red fruit-driven with animalistic edge spiced with some dried herbs.
The underground of is almost pure limestone in Les Lavieres, where the winery owns over 50 years old and biodynamically cultivated vineyards.
The wine is broader than the first one, shows more maturity and a more definitive spice layer from the wood. The texture is less linear, more creamy, although it’s dancing with mouthwatering acidity and floats with 12,5% alcohol. The experience shortly described: pleasant tannin bite, sour cherry, pepper-spice, spice-driven finish with a definitive mushroomy aftertaste.