One thing about the great vintages of Burgundy these days is that the level of commerce rarely is in line with the level of excitement. The juicy 2015 vintage is a prime example of how it works, and perhaps something of a trifecta of things that can go wrong. First, while very successful, the crop was small. Second, because the crop was small and demand was high, the prices on some wines got to the point of silly. Even with that, if you were a high-end collector and were willing to pay the substantial ‘ticket price’, you still might not get many opportunities to snag many cherries because the unattractive ‘bundles’ of various producers wines, and the risk associated with selling every level of those bundles kept a lot of usual purveyors from offering the wines at all.
If you are looking to buy some legendary label at the current, astronomical market price, the going is tougher than ever. If you are looking for good wine to drink, that is doable. Incumbent in great, ripe vintages is the success from top to bottom, and the possibility of finding some pretty fine juice at whatever price range you are willing to pay. To that end, let us recommend the Regis Bouvier Gevrey Chambertin 2015.
This is a terroir filled example of this famed village with the additional benefit of a ripe fleshy vintage. There are Burgundies that need to be contemplated because they are not forthcoming with their statement. Here that juicy cherry-leaning-to-black currant fruit unfolds and engages pretty quickly. Classic spice for Gevrey, with savory flecks of earth and mineral, this is an ambassador for the genre. If you are a fan of Burgundy that doesn’t seek status of a famous label, only deliciousness, this is a fine choice. If you want to show someone what Burgundy is about who doesn’t necessarily have a lot of experience, this juicy 2015 will serve you well. For us, Regis Bouvier has been a regular source of truly likable, reasonably priced, honest Burgundy for a few years now.
The bulk of his holdings lie in Marsannay, a natural place to look for value in a warm vintage. But this .55 hectare parcel of 45 year-old-vines gave him some plump, ripe, fine juice in this vintage from a more ‘prestige’ address. This is the kind of Burgundy that makes friends, with the early drinkability that the 2009s had, but plenty structure underneath if you want to give it a few years. Folks in Oregon and California make comparisons to Burgundy, and there are a number of good Pinot Noirs that carry price tags a lot higher than this one. Our point is that, if you want something that tastes like really good Burgundy, how about actual Burgundy? Options like this where the typicité, profile, the accessibility and the sensible pricing all happen together aren’t easy to find even in the best of times. Here’s a tasty one…$49.98