Burgundy 1er Cru Club: August 2026

Welcome to the dog days of August. This month's 1er cru club release features one of the top producers of Chardonnay in the world along with a grab bag of top red producers. 

The biggest challenge for this club is that many wines I'd love to feature simply don't make it to Colorado in the quantity I need, so for that reason there are five different reds which have been randomly assigned - all of which are top tier producers and too limited to use as a single feature. Expect more of this format going forward - I'd rather keep quality super high than have to settle for a wine that has enough quantity to make it easy on us. 

First, the white. 

White wine: Etienne Sauzet Hautes Cotes de Beaune Jardin du Calvaire 2023

This is Sauzet's outlier: a domaine built entirely on Puligny-Montrachet grand and premier crus making a wine from the highest, steepest parcel they farm, up at 450 meters at the top of a path literally called the route du Calvaire for how brutal the climb is. It's farmed biodynamically (organic since 2006, biodynamic since 2010, certified in 2013), hand-harvested and hand-sorted, then fermented on native yeasts in stainless steel for about three weeks before most of it goes into big old 22-hectoliter foudres. Barely any new oak touches this wine.

What you get is Sauzet's usual precision at a fraction of the price of anything with Puligny on the label: green apple, lime, a floral lift, and real tension from that altitude and the limestone underneath it. It's not trying to be Puligny in miniature, but instead is leaner than the village and premier cru bottlings, which lean richer and rounder. That's the beauty of Burgundy - the hidden gems mingling in the same cellar as the storied terroirs with centuries of fame.

Red Wines:

Five producers, five very different reads on Pinot Noir. Every member's getting a random pull from the case, paired with the Etienne Sauzet white. Here's what you might end up with.

Sylvie Esmonin, Gevrey-Chambertin 2023

Sylvie farms just six hectares in Gevrey, including one of the five parcels of Clos Saint Jacques, and this is where you taste why people wait for her allocation. Dark berry fruit, violet, a hit of spice, and enough structure to remind you it's Gevrey and not some softer neighbor. She works in about 30% whole bunches, which keeps the wine from feeling heavy even with all that concentration. This is the most "natural" of the five, but in a clean, classic way. 

Robert Chevillon, Nuits-Saint-Georges Vieilles Vignes 2022

Chevillon is about as unshakeable a name as Nuits-Saint-Georges has, and the Vieilles Vignes is the honest, no-detours introduction to why. Old vines, full destemming, moderate new oak — nothing fancy, just black cherry, blackberry, a streak of tar and mineral, and tannins with real grip. He pulls fruit from both the north and south sides of the village to make this classic that shows a little bit of north side elegance mixed with south side rusticity. 

Jean Fournier, Gevrey-Chambertin 2023

Laurent Fournier runs one of the more quietly serious biodynamic domaines in the north of the Côte de Nuits: Ecocert since 2008, minimal intervention, massal-selection Pinot. The result is precise yet dense Burgundy. There's no doubt that this wine comes from Gevrey with its depth and age-ability. It's worth seeking out Fournier's excellent whites from Marsannay as well, one of which was featured in this club earlier this year. 

Joseph & Philippe Roty, Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Prieur Bas 2018

The Roty brothers are 11th generation and borderline obsessive about old vines — theirs average around 65 years, some of the oldest in Burgundy. Clos Prieur Bas sits just below the 1er Cru Clos Prieur Haut, and it shows: real tannin, real structure, built for the cellar, not the Tuesday table. This one's already got a few years on it and is starting to unwind. 2018 is a great vintage to be drinking now for those who like a little more weight on their Pinot. 

Bruno Clair, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Jarrons 2023

Clay-limestone, northeast-facing, planted in the '80s: Les Jarrons is a site that gives you finesse over force. Bruno Clair's hand is light here: partial whole-cluster, gentle extraction, and the result is silky tannin, red fruit, and a faint mineral, floral lift instead of a fist. Despite the "lesser" appellation here this is the wine I'd personally choose to drink of the five on most nights of the week. Note that Bruno Clair makes an old vine wine from the same cru but uses the other name, La Dominode, for that even rarer bottling (we have 2 in stock as I write).