Clos-de-Beze

Glowing purple with an impressive density of fruit, though the detail is yet to emerge. Super-stylish, very graceful, yet the weight of fruit builds gloriously on the palate to a very noble finish with great persistence. It is all about the elegance. Superb. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

The 2013 harvest is the latest ever recorded at Burguet, starting 9th October, in the cold more than the rain – there was even some frost one morning. They have three separate sorting stations, though rot varied by sector. Vinification was normal, a long time in tank but a gentle approach. The 2013 is particularly, and consistently, successful chez Burguet.

This was our pick between the Clos de Bèze and the Chambertin this year. Middleweight, this has bright, elegant fruit on its refined nose. The wine is attractive, floral, graceful through the middle, then comes up nicely behind. Notably floral, and very persistent.

“A vintage of pure happiness,” enthuses Nicolas Potel. He rightly retains enthusiasm for Burgundy as a whole and his own wines in particular, though his life has been made more difficult by the explosion of prices for grapes on the open market. However these cuvées make sense to us: we tasted a wide range and picked out the plums.

This wine is one of the paler wines in the cellar, yet with a haunting quality of soft red fruit. It is very pure, refined and exceptionally long with the floral perfume returning at the back of the palate. This is a classic rendition of Clos de Bèze, completely unforced. Drink 2025-2038.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Two changes to note in the Faiveley style this year: the diminution of new wood, a trend they plan to develop further, and the use of 25 percent whole bunches in the vinification for 2015, whereas previously it was very rare to use any. They maintained their practice of punching down rather than pumping over, and the combination of these points leads to wines which are more rugged and structured than their recent vintages. The harvest was completed between 2nd and 11th September.

A glowing deep purple, an initial barrel toast soon departs and fruit rushes in. There is a great sense of harmony, enhanced by ultra-concentrated cherries, flamboyant at the front, rich through the middle, perfumed and timeless at the back. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Faiveley use three picking teams. Two started in the white wine vineyards on 28th September and were finished in four days. Then it was all hands to the red grapes. In general the harvest came in healthily, the hard work all year round in the vineyards paying dividends. We were once again very impressed.

Brilliant purple, very dense, with a wealth of concentrated red fruit on the nose, this starts quietly then builds enormously to the back of the palate. It’s suave and delicious, with a classical, peacock's tail finish fanning out at the back.

Erwan Faiveley believes that 2014 would be regarded as a great vintage – if only 2015 had not come along to trump it. He feels that the changes which have taken place in the cellar since 2007 have had a discernible effect on the quality of Faiveley wines, while similar qualitative changes in the vineyard are only now bearing fruit. Here, balanced but restricted yields are the key.

Excellent mid red with a density of fruit on the nose, this is very stylish. Beautifully balanced, with lively red fruit. The acidity is wonderfully integrated, lively and lovely. Very persistent. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Frédéric Barnier is pleased with the wines in his cellar despite having to cope with a very difficult year, with high disease pressure through the summer, then a cold and damp September. He began picking on 23rd September, for the whites, but felt that it was essential to wait for the reds. Even so everything was picked by 5th October. Frédéric notes that it took time for colour and tannin to emerge.

Imperial purple robe. The nose stands up to be counted, with some intense raspberry notes. Statuesque but light on its feet, easily in balance with the final tannins.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director

Maison Roche de Bellene Production has recently moved to a new facility on the outskirts of Beaune, which is making life much easier for the Roche de Bellene team. The philosophy stays the same: work with excellent grape sources and get the wines out into the market at competitive prices. The reds have had an excellent following for many a year now, while recently the whites have shown the same impressive price to quality ratio that makes this such a good address.

The Burguets have a contract to purchase grapes from a very particular plot each year and this 2010 is majestically seductive from the first sniff. There is a huge mid palate here, with plenty of detail emerging through the weight of the fruit.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

Alain Burguet has now officially retired and made way for his sons Eric and Jean-Luc who have been working with him for a decade or more. One result of the change of generation is that we can now get prices of the new vintage in time to be offered En Primeur, so this impressive domaine is included in our brochure for the first time this year. The vineyards have always been really well managed and from 2011 will be farmed organically too.

The 2013 Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru has an attractive mulberry and candied orange peel, touches of wild heather lending a bit of wildness. The oak is nicely integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins: masculine with very fine tension on the black pepper-tinged finish that just needs to muster more flesh and corpulence. That may develop in bottle, of course.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Dec 2014

Strong fermentation aromas dominate the nose though underneath the funk it's possible to discern a good level of ripeness and the classic spiciness of a classic Clos de Bèze. The big-bodied and muscular flavors are not without elegance as is the very serious, brooding and powerful finish that completely coats the palate on the balanced and hugely long finish. This is a clear, and dramatic, step up.
Allen Meadows - www.burghound.com – 30th January 2010

Spicy, exuberant flavours with nice purity and sweet spices in the persistent finish. A very well made Clos de Beze that focuses on intense fruit and vibrant flavours. The finish has a salty minerality. Only 300 cases produced in 2012.
Jeannie Cho Lee - Master of Wine

Beautiful, graceful pink-purple colour and a sublimely seductive bouquet. An amazingly graceful expression, with beautiful refined raspberry fruit, a lovely pepperiness from the stems but the fruit returns in an exceptionally persistent finish. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

This is our first vintage with Domaine Bart, who makes wines of lovely understated grace and elegance. They had decent yields in 2013, just 10% below a full crop. Overall they have good colour and acidity with a fresh and cheerful fruit.

The Faiveley family has the biggest holding in Clos de Bèze, spread over three parcels. A wine of wonderful complexity with layer upon layer of fruit and tannin. There is plenty of structure here but everything is very tightly-wound and the wine will need time to open up and reveal its potential. The tannins are incredibly fine and delicate. Drink 2025-2038.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

At 115 hectares, Domaine Joseph Faiveley is one of the biggest domaines in Burgundy. The company has been based in Nuits-St Georges since the days of Pierre Faiveley who founded the business in 1825. His son Joseph gave his name to the family business, to be followed by the first François, Georges who helped found the Chevaliers du Tastevin, Guy who developed the business in the Côte Chalonnaise, François who has retired and now his son Erwan, born in 1979. The change of generation has dynamised the business: there’s been a notable expansion of vineyards, including Domaines Annick Parent, Monnot and Matrot- Wittersheim in the Côte de Beaune, as well as Dupont-Tisserandot (Gevrey) and Billaud- Simon (Chablis). Old-style Faiveley wines could be massively tannic at the expense of the fruit. From 2007 the wines are much fresher and fruitier, yet with real intensity. Harvest began on the 22nd September in the Côte de Beaune, taking an unusually long three weeks to ensure everything was fully ripe. In terms of frost damage, the Côte de Beaune was worst-hit, along with some Gevrey parcels, but where there was no frost damage, the yields were good. Stylistically, the red wines have seen slightly less whole-bunch than in 2015, and the wines continue in the new, more elegant style. The feeling is that 2016 reds are fresher and crunchier than 2015, while Erwan suggests that the white wines have the potential to be better than 2014.

Production was at 23hl/ha, yielding only 10 barrels, which is half the usual amount. These aren’t Bouchard’s vines, but the grower is clearly dedicated and produces great fruit, following some selected biodynamic principles. It’s very expressive and pleasurable and, although the house style is to offer a luxurious experience, there is no shortage of complexity here either. Drink 2026-2040.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

Bouchard Père & Fils can trace its origins back to 1731 though it is no longer family- owned. In 1995 Champagne entrepreneur, Joseph Henriot, acquired the company. The wines are made by technical director Frédéric Weber in succession to Philippe Prost. An impressive gravity-flow winery on the Route de Savigny, the Cuverie St Vincent, was completed in 2005, enabling them to process all their wines with optimum efficiency. Bouchard’s total holdings comprise 130 hectares, including 12 hectares of Grand Cru and 74 hectares of Premier Cru, which makes them the largest vineyard owners in the Côte d’Or. Philippe Prost had an individual take on the vintage. His view is that the high levels of rainfall at the start of the year (themselves contributory to the frost damage) saturated the soil to such a degree that high levels of minerals were unlocked and subsequently taken up by the vines. It is useful to get the view of a producer who covers the whole region. He also observed that there were much smaller berries in the Côte de Beaune than the Côte de Nuits and that, on the whole, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were picked at almost the same time. He also offered a thought on bâtonnage: Bouchard prefers to roll their barrels to move the lees, and not to open the bung and stir. This preserves the CO2 in the wine which means less SO2 is necessary.

These were the last grapes to be picked and the wine typically takes longer to express itself in both barrel and bottle, as though it moves at a more serene pace. The nose is glossy with spicy oak and a touch of reduction, while the palate is rich, supple and suave with sophisticated tannins. As good as this is at present, there is definitely more to come and it will age beautifully. Drink 2025-2035.


Frédéric Weber explained that the dry conditions in the summer left some parcels suffering from hydric stress, which necessitated a change to the usual picking order. As a result, harvest began on 4th September in the Côte de Beaune for reds, with whites following from 8th and then the Côte de Nuits reds from 12th, finishing with Clos de Bèze on 20th. The season was otherwise very straightforward and Frédéric feels the vintage has given whites with good balance and surprising power, and reds which are rounded with delicate aromas and flavours.