Burgundy Clubs: October 2026

Hello Burgundy Drinkers,

This is the first release of the "Grand Cru" club and also a particularly strong 1er Cru club release. Note that "Grand Cru" is in quotes, because the wines will not always actually be grand cru, though I will be sourcing true Grand Crus when possible for this new tier. 

I can't believe we're into cool(ish) weather and football season already - also the best season to drink Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Nebbiolo, and almost every other wine.

This month's releases feature producers that deserve to be in your cellar - which is really why I started the Burgundy Club in the first place. Not all producers are created equal, but Burgundy is home to more ultra top-tier producers than any other wine region, arguably. Still, the majority of wines from Burgundy aren't at the level that I'm looking for with these club selections, and I hope that becomes more apparent over time. 

Burgundy "Grand Cru" Club

White Wine: Hubert Lamy Saint-Aubin "La Princee" 2023

Hubert Lamy himself passed away in 2022, but his son Olivier has been pushing the domaine forward since joining his father in 1995 and gradually taking the reins. I first heard of the wines in 2016 when I was working at Flatiron in Manhattan, and they were sneaky good value white Burgundies. They still are remarkably good, but the reputation and price have grown, and most years we get less than a case total across the wines we are offered.

We were lucky to get enough of this village level Saint-Aubin Blanc to include a bottle for all members in this new club. Crazy as it sounds, I'd drink a village level from a producer of this level over a 1er Cru from a lesser producer any day.

This wine come from a blend of some old and some middle aged vines in ten different plots around the town of Saint-Aubin. It's meant to be a snapshot of this great & perpetually underrated village stuck in a combe between Puligny and Chassagne. Olivier focuses heavily on high-density planting, which sounds like it would produce higher yields but in practice does the opposite, and essentially-organic though not certified farming. High-density planting increases competition among vines and drastically lowers yield per vine. The top bottlings from this domaine are exclusively sourced from their highest density parcels, and prices for those special wines can get silly. 

Stylistically, Olivier is known to pick a bit early to retain acidity, press super gently, and use very little new oak. It can be a little quiet at first, but time or air gives the Lamy wines a chance to show off their intense mineral qualities atop the pear & apple backdrop that makes white Burgundy amazing. 

Red Wine: François Mikulski Volnay 1er Cru Santenots du Milieu 2024

Another name that most Burgundy fans will instantly recognize, Francois Mikulski is a great Meursault white wine producer, but he makes some pretty awesome reds too.

This wine is, in fact, from Meursault, not Volnay. Santenots lies within the commune of Meursault, but Pinot Noir from the designated Santenots vineyards is entitled to the Volnay 1er Cru appellation, while Chardonnay remains Meursault. Note that there are other vineyards with Santenots in the name in surrounding du Milieu, but this site in particular is the best of that bunch and is just across the boundary from Caillerets and Chevret, two amazing Volnay 1er cru. 

Still, this is Burgundy, and the wines from the Santenots show a little more depth and muscle than the classic Volnay thanks to a touch more clay in the soils. Don't expect a big wine, though.

2024 is a great vintage for lovers of classic, delicate red Burgundy. I had kept hearing it was like a better 2021, but I wasn't convinced until recently when more wines of this level have started being released. They are relatively light in color and alcohol, but high in perfume, almost across the board. 

While this is a fully destemmed red, there still is an appealing savory quality to the wine which could make one wonder, and the new oak though reported at around 30% is barely noticeable. Volnay really shines in cooler vintages and this one is no exception - don't feel bad popping it young, but it will reward some short term cellaring if you're patient. 

Burgundy 1er Cru Club

White Wine: Maison Gautheron d'Anost Ladoix 1er Cru Les Grechons 2024

Some of you may have already seen our offer on this producer and bought some bottles. I held this one back specifically for this club.

Maison Gautheron d'Anost is a young micro-négociant project from Bastien Gautheron, working with small parcels and growers across the Côte. Les Gréchons, down in Ladoix, shows a surprisingly rich side of his otherwise precise, low-intervention style.

Ladoix is one of three villages that owns a piece of the Corton & Corton-Charlemagne Grand Crus, and this site has a lot in common with the latter. This site is at the top of the hill adjacent to the hill of Corton and at a similar altitude. The top of ring of the Corton hill on all sides including the east is where the best white wines are found, so calling this site "baby Corton-Charlemagne" is not at all an exaggeration. 

Only two or three barrels were made this vintage depending on the source, so fewer than 1,000 bottles were produced, and we have every bottle that made it to Colorado. While both 2024 and his style of relatively minimal intervention winemaking tend to lean towards crisp, lower alcohol whites, this one shows a surprising weight, and I'm not mad at it. 

Red Wine: Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy Bourgogne Rouge La Nouroy 2020

We go from a baby Corton-Charlemagne to a toddler Gevrey-Chambertin. This wine comes from a tiny plot of less than 1 acre downslope of the Gevrey appellation. This means the soils are deeper and the wines are cheaper, but it's a great source of value in today's Burgundy where even village Gevrey-Chambertin wines usually start in three figures. 

The domaine dates back to the late 1800's and is now run by Gerard Harmand and his son, Philippe. They farm only pinot noir in and around Gevrey, and the stereotype of Gevrey as a bigger style of Burgundy certainly fits here; their wines tend to show darker fruits than many other examples with a noticeable use of new oak and relatively high tannin. This wine is no exception, although they don't use new oak being a more entry level wine. 

The 2020 vintage gave us wines unlike any other vintage I've seen in Burgundy before or since. Clear, sunny skies in a warm, dry year produced Pinot Noirs that can be more similar to Syrah from a few hundred miles south in the Northern Rhone. This one is just starting to lose that youthful purple fruit note in favor of secondary, spicey aromatics. Drink it soon and don't give it two days once open; it blossoms quickly and fades with too much time. 

That's it for this release - see you on the blog for the village level club in November!