BEST OF BURGS (AGAIN)

Hey,

Hope you all had a good weekend. Mine started a little chaotic. Doing a double shift on Friday to help out my colleagues at the bar, the joys of the wine bizz. Thankfully things settled down, and by Sunday afternoon I was knee-deep in a lovely spring tasting hosted by one of our suppliers.

Off the clock so the spittoon was very much surplus to requirements. The sun was out, the vibes were buzzy, and the wines were showing beautifully. Maybe a full moon does have some wine-y magic to it? I’ll get into what I tasted soon, but first, we had a hefty drop of high-end Burgundy land last Friday, the real joys of the wine bizz!

We’re kicking off with some 2023s from Jessica Litaud. Farming biodynamically down in the Mâcon, there’s something incredibly special coming out of this tiny cellar. Gentle pressing and extended élevage in old barrels give these wines a real purity and concentration that feels almost Jurassic. No surprise then that Jessica spent formative years with Ganevat before heading home to take over the family vines. This 2023 release might be her best yet. These are outrageously good, and well worth the price tag.

I cracked into her Aligoté pretty much as soon as it landed. Expectations were high, but it still managed to exceed them. There’s so much fruit weight here, I had to double check I hadn’t opened one of the 1ers. Served it blind to a couple of industry pals, and they didn’t even think Aligoté. They we’re too busy arguing over which Grand Cru they were drinking. Safe to say, if that’s the starting point, we’re in for a hell of a ride.

Mâcon-Vergisson ‘La Roche’ is ripe but full of tension. Good intro to the house style.

Mâcon-Solutré-Pouilly is a bit more fruit-forward but still packed with verve.

Les Pommards is starting to show that nutty, saline character.

La Maréchaude, newly granted 1er Cru status, and it shows.

Sur La Roche, the prime site, and if this were further north, it’d be Grand Cru for sure.

Les Crays is cream of the crop. Exotic, succulent, saline, and savoury.

Quantities are tiny, so move quick. 

From one queen doing magic in a humble appellation to another! Camille Thiriet is also changing the game, but this time in the Côte de Nuits-Villages. Alongside her partner, she farms exceptional fruit around Comblanchien, an underrated area she believes has soils that can rival 1er Cru vineyards. Her mentor? None other than Bernard Noblet, retired chef de cave at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Unsurprisingly, demand has gone through the roof…

Things kick off with another Aligoté that is very much off the charts. Then come two elite Chardonnays here and here before we enter red wine territory. This is the one to crack open now. The rest of the lineup? Baby Burgs atm, but give them time and they’ll be seriously special. You can very much see the potential. Once again, we’ve got a tiny allocation so don’t hang about.

Also we’ve got less than a handful of tickets left for tomorrow’s tasting. The Met Office is promising the weather will remain sunny, no thunderstorms either. They’ll be big pours of primo Chard and Pinot, plus the Saffa’s always bring the good chat. Honestly, I can’t think of a better way to break up the monotony of the midweek slog. C u there.

Fionn
xxx