Burgundy Club: February 2025

When I was in wine school back in 2008 and couldn't afford to drink white Burgundy I didn't know what I was missing. Once one of my older and wealthier friends came over with a village level Puligny, and just the smell was a revelation. I hope every white wine in this club provides a similar experience!

For this month's release every member is receiving the same white wine, and it's no slouch despite being a "humble" village level. 

White Wine (both levels): Genot-Boulanger Beaune En Lulunne Blanc 2022

Beaune is the largest wine town of the Cote d'Or and is considered the capital of Burgundy wine. The 21,000 or so residents reside downslope of the Cote which has a large area of premier cru vineyards with village level grapes found above and below. We are journeying about as far as we can from the city here and driving up a side valley on the southern border where Beaune meets Pommard - the sliver of vines in the southwest corner of the appellation as seen here where the giant red arrow points:

En Lulunne is named after a spring that's just across the road on the Pommard side with what appears to be a campground surrounding it. The vineyard itself is bordered by forest on 3 sides and has a gentle south-east facing slope. Genot-Boulanger owns a solid chunk of the middle section and in 2003 they grafted what was Pinot Noir over to Chardonnay. This process leaves the roots the same age (planted 1986) and depth while the vines are young growth with a new grape variety, so it could be debated how old exactly the vines are.

The decision to switch this vineyard to white was a good one, as it shows that classic Cote-de-Beaune opulence-meets-acidity that is so rarely replicated in Chardonnay anywhere else. The vintage was warm and generous, which for me makes whites that drink better on the younger side than cooler years which require bottle age to calm down the acidity and show some roundness, such as 2021.

The domaine itself is run by a couple, Aude and Guillaume, and it was Aude's great-grandfather who originally founded the domaine in 1974. Their holdings are extensive, spanning 30 different appellations, all of which they farm themselves and produce at least 26 different wines from. For having such an impressive array of vineyards the domaine is still in its youth and continues to improve and grow in fame every year.

The wines are picked based on acidity instead of sugar to make sure never to lose the focused acid that great Chardonnay needs to counter its natural richness. Their whites see 15% new oak maximum, part of a growing trend of lower use of new oak in Burgundy, which I think is the correct response to naturally richer wines from a warmer climate.

Red Wine (village level): Domaine Tortochot Morey-Saint-Denis 2019

Pinot lovers rejoice! This month we finally have a couple of older wines for both club levels. Domaine Tortochot has a new face in the last decade with Chantal taking over her father's domaine and making vast improvements quickly. She's gone from fully destemmed to about 25% whole cluster on the great lineup of red wines which includes a sliver of Grand Cru Chambertin.

I first tasted this producer with her 2020 Gevrey and was shocked at the elegance extracted (or not extracted?) from such a dark fruited vintage. The 2019 Morey shows a more classic warm vintage character with ripe bing cherry and rhubarb notes that I can't get enough of in red Burgundy. She has also acquired organic certification in the last few years, though it was likely an easier task than for Genot-Boulanger as her holdings are much smaller. It's unclear where this Morey village wine is sourced from exactly, but remember that only top level wines are even allowed to display village names in Burgundy, and Morey itself is a relatively small area of perfectly situated vines in between Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny both in geography and in style.

For those who haven't had a great red from 2019 yet, a warning that this vintage has an addictive quality and so far it hasn't seemed to slump into a "dumb" phase at all as they begin to show some age.

Red Wine (1er Cru): Philippe Gavignet Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Pruliers 2010

While 2019 was an outstanding warm vintage, 2010 in contrast was an outstanding cooler vintage. The wines from 2010 are so dark and intense that I'm sure most would assume it was a warmer year, but the rare cooler years which also come with ideal weather to slowly ripen the fruit without issues of rot are the most special.

I was thrilled to find a properly stored case of this wine to offer to the 1er Cru club as aged Burgundy is so rare to find and all too uncommon for most wine drinkers to enjoy. The wine is solidly in its developing stage, showing more savory notes than fruit, but still with the backbone of lovely red fruit notes that I want before the wine ends up tasting like mushrooms and forest floor with no fruit remaining.

When you open this wine do not assume it will last a 2nd night, as the haunting aromas displayed by aged Burgundy are typically fleeting. I also would recommend not decanting the wine, but that is up to the preference of the drinker.

This producer I had never come across before finding this case, but this will be a fun one to try to find when traveling through Nuits. According to Jasper Morris, Philippe and his children make "supple, attractive wines from destemmed fruit, offered at sensible prices". Their entire domaine is within the sprawling Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation with Pruliers being one of three 1er crus they farm.

The town of Nuits bisects its own vineyard area leaving a distinct northern and southern section. Typically the wines from the north, which border Vosne-Romanee, show darker fruit and softer tannins much along the lines with Vosne, while those from the south are firmer and more red fruited. This vineyard is in the southern half and is indeed known to make relatively tannic, powerful reds. The location of the vineyard is seen below:

That's all for this month's release - I hope you all enjoy the wines and I'd encourage you to open and enjoy the reds soon without fear that they aren't ready. The white, on the other hand 😬😬