Winemaker Notes
Nice dark garnet color with brown to mauve shades. Complex bouquet associating perfumes of jammy red fruit, fig, peony with a hint of chocolate. A harmonious and deep palate with beautiful maturity and dense but fine tannins. An attractive wine.
Pair with meat dishes in white sauces and poultry.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2021 Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune Premier Cru du Château delivers unbridled power with remarkable restraint, never tipping into excess. Layers of savory spices, smoked meats, and tart red fruits add complexity and depth. Pair it with a garlic- and rosemary-infused roast leg of lamb. (Tasted: June 22, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bursting with aromas of raspberries, sweet spices and deep soil tones, the 2021 Beaune 1er Cru du Château is medium-bodied, ample and charming, with lively acids, melting tannins and a saline finish. This high-quality, comparatively accessible bottling is always reliable, though I confess I'd love to see some of the great parcels that go into it as standalone cuvées.
Barrel Sample: 89-91 -
James Suckling
An intense sage aroma is married to bright red berry fruit - redcurrant, raspberry and cranberry - plus a healthy dose of well-crafted tannins on the medium-bodied palate. Good length with some interesting savory character at the finish. Just about drinkable now, but a bit more time in bottle would help. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
While the city represents the epicenter of wine production in Burgundy, the term, “Beaune” also refers to the specific sub-appellation of the greater Côte de Beaune, whose vineyards climb up the pastoral slopes that border the city to its west. Originally founded as a Roman camp by Julius Caesar, the city of Beaune eventually became the seat of the dukes of Burgundy until the 13th century. Today it is home to top négociants such as Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, and Bouchard Père et Fils.
The appellation, dominated by Pinot Noir plantings, represents a lovely and charming place to begin to understand red Burgundy. Its sandy soils create light and supple, floral driven Pinot Noir. These wines are designed to be enjoyed within five to 10 years. The vineyards of Beaune span a broad swath of Premier Crus from Savigny-lès-Beaune to its border with Pommard.
Chardonnay acreage here has been increasing here in the more recent years.