Burgundy 1er Cru Club: June 2026

Hello Burgundy People!

Yes it is definitely now summer, but that doesn't stop anyone from enjoying great bottles of wine! My favorite thing about Denver summer is the perfect evenings with a glass of $195 Chardonnay while listening to the soothing sounds of RiNo.

This month features the best white wine in this club so far and a really killer, underrated Beaujolais to balance out the budget. 

White Wine: Domaine Comtesse de Cherisey Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru La Genelotte 2020

Blagny is a small hamlet with just a handful of buildings placed high on the slope near the border between Puligny and Meursault. On our November 2025 trip to Burgundy we drove through the village and didn't see another soul. It's also a good place to test uphill manual transmission skills. 

There are a handful of crus which can use the name, and confusingly, some of the wines are red from this area sandwiched between the best two white names on the Cote. Cherisey, though, has been switching from Pinot Noir to Chardonnay over the years including in Genelotte, which is a premier cru that they own it its entirety. Most of it now makes white wine but there is a small corner of red in the 4.72 Hectares which are farmed. It's on the Meursault side but bordering Puligny on its south boundary with a slightly north of pure east aspect.

This is a good thing in 2020; an extremely solar vintage where whites could be faulted as flabby. In the glass there's no flab here, and it's hard to believe that it comes from such a warm vintage. The wine also shows almost no age and could sail on for many more years. If opening this year I'd recommend a decant or slow-ox by opening the bottle early. Upon first pour it shows the match-stick reduction that Burgundy-heads live for, but I personally like to see that blow off and show some more fruit, which it does over time. There is oak here but it's playing a supporting role, and overall this is textbook, ageable white Burgundy near the top of its class. Conveniently, the wine drinks just as expected, showing both the hazelnut richness of Meursault and the liquid rocks of Puligny. 

Red Wine: Jean-Paul & Charly Thevenet Morgon La Roche Pilee 2022

To balance the budget out from that absolute banger of a white we are going to journey south to Beaujolais for the June red. 

Thevenet is one of the original "gang of four" members from Beaujolais which were chosen and imported by Kermit Lynch in the 1970s. At the time, chemical farming was the trend, and wines were all about quantity. These four producers did the opposite; going organic way before it was cool, and arguably setting the stage for minimal intervention winemaking which is as strong as ever today. His son, Charly, has since joined the official name and is now the true leader of the estate. 

The Roche Pilée is a newer addition to the winery coming from a site on the hills above Ville-Morgon. The name meaning "crushed rock" is appropriate, as this shows a ton of the savory component that sets a Beaujolais like this apart from the more commercial producers who are pumping out swimming-pool loads of banana scented swill. This is much more serious Beaujolais, and one that makes me think that there is still value to be had in this region when the quality is this high. 

The wine undergoes partial carbonic fermentation and then 8 months in concrete to help round it out. Concrete is the new cool aging vessel for a reason: it gives the wine some development that it needs to add complexity, but doesn't cost the wine its freshness. Have this with a slight chill and some good 'ole American hot dogs for the 4th of July and you won't regret it. 

That's all for June - next 1er cru club release is August. Happy summer!