Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A specialty of Chanson, this small premier cru gives a perfumed, dark and tannic wine. The dense, firm structure gives a dramatic base to the ripe black fruits, balanced acidity and a touch of wood that smoothes the wine. Drink from 2018.
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Wine Spectator
Cherry compote, raspberry and floral aromas and flavors highlight this supple red, which is well-integrated and firmly structured, with fine length and the potential for aging. Best from 2016 through 2024. 350 cases made, 100 cases imported.
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Wine & Spirits
This big, supple, oak-driven wine has enough energy to sustain its substantial weight. Tethered by deeply rooted tannins, the wine’s flavor keeps juicing up from underneath those tannins, bringing its grand intensity into balance. Check on this eight to ten years from the vintage.
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.