Beaune
The wines of Beaune are usually on the lighter side, especially if from the flatter vineyards on the Pommard side, or the sandier soils towards Savigny. The sturdiest wines with the greatest depth of flavour come from the steeper slopes overlooking the town itself. Beaune is also home to several of the region’s best known merchants such as Maisons Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin.
The wines of Beaune are usually on the lighter side, especially if from the flatter vineyards on the Pommard side, or the sandier soils towards Savigny. The sturdiest wines with the greatest depth of flavour come from the steeper slopes overlooking the town itself.
The Hospices de Beaune charity auction on the third Sunday in November is one of the highlights of the year. The Hospices building, known as l'Hôtel-Dieu, is well worth visiting. Beaune is also home to several of the region’s best known merchants such as Maisons Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin.- 128 hectares of village Beaune and 52 hectares of Côte de Beaune
- 322 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards. The finest vineyards include Les Grèves, Clos des Mouches
- Recommended producers: Germain, Devevey, Domaine des Croix, Jadot, Drouhin, Camille Giroud.
- Recommended restaurants: Ma Cuisine (not least for the wine list), Le Conty
Prices:
Bottle
£26.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl37cs
Jasper Morris MW - Wine Buyer
Bottle
£33.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl75cs
Bottle
£39.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl9cs
Despite the ravages of hail over the last few vintages, Jean-Yves has successfully converted his vineyards to organic, and is certified from the 2014 vintage. Though Meursault, Beaune and Volnay suffered once again from the weather, Rully saw a respectable harvest. Jean-Yves reports healthy fruit, with not especially high sugar levels. The reds remind him of 2010, while there is more flesh to the 2014 whites than popular vintages such as 2004 or 2007.
Bottle
£39.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl3cs
David Croix started picking here on 11th September, two days before he began at Camille Giroud. This was a much easier harvest than 2013, as there was much less hail than the previous vintage. The wines have an elegance and freshness to them that appeals enormously, and yet does not hide their impressive concentration.
Bottle
£39.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl17cs
Nicolas and David Rossignol began the harvest on 22nd September, picking over eight days. Yields were up, the grapes were ripe, but some sorting was necessary after a little hail in Beaune and some Suzukiengendered rot in the lower vineyards of Gevrey-Chambertin. They are very pleased with their new Pellenc de-stemmer which leaves the berries intact, while continuing to use a percentage of whole bunches as well.
Bottle
£39.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl46cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
The domaine is now in organic conversion, which Jean-Yves says has reduced the amount of disease in the vineyard. Rully and Beaune were spared the worst of the hail, but his Volnay and Hautes Côtes vineyards were the worst hit, and he was not able to source his usual Chassagne-Montrachet grapes. So, there are short rations, but as it turns out, excellent quality. During vinification the reds developed wonderful colours without any need for extraction and the two Rullys are absolutely delicious this year.
Bottle
£39.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl45cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
Quantities were down a further 15% on the previous two vintages. However Nicolas Rossignol reports that there were no problems in vinification, and they have added a further refinement this year with a new state-of-theart de-stemmer, which leaves the individual berries whole as it takes them off their stems. Given the natural concentration of the fruit in 2012, there was no need to seek much extraction. Once again this domaine offers superb quality at reasonable prices.
Bottle
£39.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl24cs
Jasper Morris MW - Burgundy Wine Director
“It was difficult at the start and difficult at the end but OK in between”, says Nicolas, who began harvesting on 6th October. Younger vines flowered better, giving more volume than 2012, and only the Beaune vineyards were hailed on. There were no grave problems with rot, and they avoided heavy extraction as the colour came easily enough. Nicolas noted that cool vintages such as 2013 are best for terroir definition, and certainly the hallmark of his wines this year is elegance, and precision.
Bottle
£42.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl52cs
Bottle
£43.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl25cs
Étienne de Montille began picking whites on 10th and reds on 13th September, relatively early. Despite the hail (worst in Pommard than Beaune, Volnay less) yields were slightly improved compared to 2013. The fruit was clean with small berries, and beautiful clusters, so they were able to continue with their usual programme of whole-bunch vinification in most instances. The details are given for each wine. They will be long lived wines.
Bottle
£45.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl60cs
Jasper Morris MW,Berrys' Burgundy Director
Bottle
£45.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl18cs
Bottle
£47.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl51cs
David Croix started picking here on 11th September, two days before he began at Camille Giroud. This was a much easier harvest than 2013, as there was much less hail than the previous vintage. The wines have an elegance and freshness to them that appeals enormously, and yet does not hide their impressive concentration.
Bottle
£49.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl3cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
This great domaine has grown even further with the acquisition of some vineyards, such as Meursault Perrières, to enhance the white wine range, vinified by Alix de Montille. The reds continue the progress seen in recent years from the team led by Etienne de Montille with the assistance of cellarmaster Brian Sieve. All the top wines are vinified with 100% whole bunches which defines the very perfumed style of the domaine’s wines
Bottle
£49.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl38cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle
£49.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl8cs
This Beaune is entirely de-stemmed and is a great success this year. Fine ripe red fruit dominates, but it is elegantly poised and cleverly balanced once again, with fine acidity and a real vivacity coming through at the end.
Jasper Morris MW - Burgundy Director
Etienne de Montille thinks he has made brilliant 2011s and we are inclined to agree with him. They have freshness, balance, low alcohol, good acidity, excellent fruit and wonderful tannin integration. Picking began on 27th August and continued through to the 9th September as individual vineyards ripened. The fruit has attractively ripe flavours while rarely getting beyond 12.5% alcohol and Etienne chose to include slightly fewer stems than in recent vintages, except for the top Cuvées. Certain wines are available in magnum and double magnum formats, please contact us if they are of interest to you.
Bottle
£49.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl14cs
These are concentrated wines at Domaine de Bellene this year, and the vintage reminds Nicolas Potel of 1991. The wines came in with correct sugar levels, around 12.5 percent, and perfect acidities; they were vinified for a full month with minimal intervention, using whole bunches for the senior wines. The wines were due for bottling in early December.
Bottle
£49.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl63cs
Production of the Dominique Lafon wines has now moved to large cellars at the Château de Bligny, providing much better working conditions than previously. As a result of the hail, there is unlikely to be any village Volnay or Beaune Épenottes for us to offer. However, Dominique has found an excellent source of Beaune Vignes Franches this year to make up part of the shortfall. This cuvée apart, all the vineyards are managed by the Les Héretiers du Comte Lafon viticultural team, using the same methods. Starting this year, the wines will all be bottled using Diam30 corks.
Bottle
£52.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl11cs
Bottle
£54.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
The 2013 vintage was another very difficult vintage to manage, with a heavily reduced crop after the hail, but unlike in 2012 Dominique has at least been able to make all his appellations. The wines were at a backward stage when tasted in October but with really exciting potential.
Bottle
£57.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl3cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
2012 is the fifth vintage of Dominique Lafon’s own private domaine. As elsewhere quantities are tiny – indeed we shall have no Premier Cru Volnay Les Lurets to offer this year, as the small production has gone back to the owners to cover their fixed rent according to the fermage agreement. We only have a handful of cases of the other wines, excepting the superb Bourgogne Blanc, which escaped the hail. We anticipate a redesigned label for the 2012 vintage.
Bottle
£59.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl5cs
Bottle
£65.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl7cs
The wine displays an attractive pale purple colour, with a beautiful ripe pinot nose, explosive, sumptuous and glamorous. The dark red cherries are balanced by a fresh note of acidity, and a little tannin. It has excellent weight on the palate and no sign of the new oak in which it has been raised.
Bottle
£79.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl5cs
Bottle
£79.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl44cs
With a clear, bright, pale colour, this is very elegant. With a little touch of liquorice, it is quite classy. This really broadens out on the palate, with a lovely citrus touch and a future nuttiness. Promising, with volume waiting to develop.
Bottle
£97.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl2cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
In response to the very small concentrated berries which characterise the fruit in 2012, Philippe Prost, head winemaker, has opted for more whole bunch fermentation this year, up to 25% per cuvée. The wines are exceptionally intense, so a little leavening by the inclusion of some stems makes sense. The white wines are bursting with energy, clearly amongst the successes of the vintage.
Bottle
£105.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl3cs
This wine, from the fabulous 2009 vintage, is only just starting out in life. The sunshine character of ’09 is such that the wines are enjoyable from the start, but will age brilliantly.
Domaine de Bellene is the private domaine of Nicolas Potel, established in Beaune since 2007. The title pays homage to the ancient pagan god Belenos, after whom Beaune takes its name.
The domaine is based in some marvellous old cellars, renovated to an ecologically admirable standard (‘Haute Qualité Environnementale’), on the Dijon road out of Beaune. The vineyards are being converted to organic farming, with some biodynamic elements and now cover 22hectares. The wines are made using a high proportion of whole bunches which helps build the structure of the wine to support the generous fruit.
David Croix started picking here on 11th September, two days before he began at Camille Giroud. This was a much easier harvest than 2013, as there was much less hail than the previous vintage. The wines have an elegance and freshness to them that appeals enormously, and yet does not hide their impressive concentration.