For many years I have said that wine is all about relationships. It is not always what you know but who you know and exploring the wine regions of the world you build lifelong relationships with many wonderful people in the wine world who only serve to enhance your life and love of wine. One such gentleman is Stevie Bobes of Wine Ambassadeur from Beaune, France who I have introduced you to before. Even with Covid-19 raging across the land Stevie traveled to Amelia Island as well as Greenville, SC to present to me and my La Chaine des Rotisseurs friends an evening of Bourgogne wines to taste and evaluate. Having now known Stevie for many years I knew this was going to be a once in a lifetime event. Stevie's knowledge of the Bourgogne region is second to none and you can never go wrong buying Stevies wines. He travels the vineyards daily discovering new and exciting new vineyards that frankly are making some of the best and best value wines in the region. For one thing, many of his wines are low production, and wines you will never see in the USA as few if any are exported. Please enjoy reading about the wines Stevie presented to us and you may contact him at https://wineambassadeur.com/. Also, he does organize upscale trips to the Bourgogne region arranging for lodging, meals at the top places, and vineyard visits where no one else goes. Again feel free to contact him. Interestingly all of these wines including the Reds come from the Cote de Beaune which is primarily a white wine production area. In case I did not mention it these wines are available for purchase from Stevie in limited quantities or until gone and he ships directly to your door.
Sparkling Cremants
Crémant de Bourgogne ‘Terroirs', Louis Picamelot D91
Winemaker Notes A lemon gold color, with a rich but discreet foam. Note the fine balance between the fruity aromas coming from the grape varieties and the toasty aromas following the aging in the bottle; a lovely alliance between vinosity and crispiness. Enjoy as an aperitif but also with butchery or shellfishes. Decanter 91 points Lovely complex almond, pistachio, peach, and fresh bread characters with a vivid and incisive freshness and an elegant finish.
Crémant de Bourgogne 'Jeanne Thomas', Louis Picamelot
Dedicated to Jeanne Thomas Picamelot, Louis' wife, this cuvée is said to combine a feminine elegance and strong personality. We can but smile and nod in complete and utter agreement. 'Happy wife, happy life' comes to mind. This is a vintage-dated sparkling wine, but we tend not to focus on that. Produce of mostly Chardonnay with a slight admixture of Aligoté, all hand-harvested from the Côte Chalonnaise, Côte de Beaune, and Côte de Nuits. Vivid green-gold in color with generous and persistent tiny bubbles and aromas ever so fresh and inviting, suggesting white flower, citrus zest, and fine wine-friendly limestone rich soils; full and round, powerful, yes, and eventually sumptuous on the palate, this wine both refreshes and satisfies. Picamelot themselves recommend it as a perfect Crémant pour le gastronome (it works especially well at the dinner table, that is).
Crémant de Bourgogne ‘Reipes' blanc de blanc 2015, Louis Picamelot D91(2014)
This wine from a well-tended single vineyard site above St Aubin in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune has a muted but enticing scent of plant sap and spring vegetation. The palate is a little bigger than the nose suggests with some appley wealth behind the sheer green notes: long, vivid, mouthwatering. Decanter 91 reviews of 2014 vintage. No review for 2015
White Wines
Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru « Climat du Val » 2018, Domaine Roy
Auxey-Duresses is one of the best value wines area in Bourgogne. This wine was on the dry side but with good acid structure making it food-friendly. It was well balanced and had a good balance of mineral and fruit.
Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru « Hammeau de Blagny » 2018, Domaine Moissenet-Bonnard
The Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru "Hameau de Blagny" is a rich wine with beautiful minerality, a pale yellow color, and luscious notes of almond paste, vanilla, hazelnuts, and white flowers. In the mouth, it is well-balanced, with a long, complex finish on notes of peppermint and citrus fruits. Its full personality will be developed in 2 to 3 years. My wife and I particularly enjoyed this wine buying a case of it. We like most Puligny wines as we do favor the mineral characteristics of Puligny though this wine had a strong presence of fruit, you have to ask yourself if you don't taste fruit what are you tasting as wine is at its basic grape juice. So we found the wine a perfect balance of minerals and fruit.
Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru « Clos Saint Jean » 2013, Au Pied de Mont Chauve RP 90
The 2013 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jean, which sees 10% new wood, offers subtle tropical tones with hints of blackberry leaf on the linear bouquet that soon loses its inhibitions. The palate is well balanced with a fine line of acidity. This is a delicate and poised Clos Saint-Jean that tapers on the finish at the moment, but it should drink nicely over the next decade. The Picard family owns the beautiful Chateau de Chassagne-Montrachet and its magnificent vaulted 11th and 14th-century cellars. The Domaine is run by Francine Picard, who's grandfather, wine merchant Louis Felix, set the wheels in motion in the 1950s. Francine's father Michel started to buy vineyards in the 1970s and in 1997 he purchased the dilapidated chateau.
Red Wines
Beaune 1er Cru « Clos du Roi » 2018, Domaine Giboulot
From K&L On The Trail blog: "Jean-Michel Giboulot took over the family business in 1982 and has put together one of the best bang-for-your-buck portfolios in all of Burgundy over the last three-plus decades. His wines from Burgundy's Savigny-lès-Beaune appellation are known as great values, and both the reds and whites are equally strong. Giboulot's wines straddle the line between traditional and modern, with reds that have crunchier fruit and fine tannins, but plenty of ripeness and purity.
Pommard 1er Cru « les Charmots » 2018, Domaine Parigot
A palette of red and black fruits (blackberry, blueberry, gooseberry, cherry kernel, ripe plum). Leather, spicy and wild notes are also present. This was my favorite red but my preference from this rejoin for red has always been Pommard. I found the wine very well balanced which is a plus for me. Great acid and tannin balance.
Corton Grand Cru « Clos du Roi » 2018, Domaine Dubreil-Fontaine V 92 Antonio Galloni
One of the great wines of the evening and how can you go wrong when it came from the "kings" vineyard which is what Clos du Roi. Domaine Dubreuil-Fontaine was established in 1879; five generations later, it is managed by Christine Gruère-Dubreuil and her husband, Nicolas Gruère. Superb winemaking tradition and an intense love of their land have enabled the estate to rise to epic status, using the family motto, “Pleasure and passion carry on…” as a guideline for success. This family has spent over a century chasing perfection, and that fact is beautifully evident in each new vintage from this unforgettable estate. This 100% Pinot Noir pours a gorgeous ruby red into the glass. It possesses ripe fruit aromas of raspberry and currant on the nose. A wonderful mineral backbone runs throughout the wine, but its silky tannins glide over the palate and create its soft, delicate style. The mid-palate displays red fruit, earth, and light chocolate flavors with a great, intense structure to the body and a long, smooth finish. It is the epitome of Corton Clos du Roi!
