Burgundy Wine

Expert Review - Vintage 2022 

Allen Meadows of Burghound: writes 91 Points | A markedly floral-suffused nose speaks of cool and fresh black pinot fruit, rose petal, violet and crushed anise hints. There is excellent drive to the moderately dense medium-bodied flavors that conclude in a relatively powerful, serious and dusty finish that also displays sneaky good length as it returns just as it seems to be dying away. Worth considering. 

Uncover the vibrant character of Burgundy through this expressive Pinot Noir from Domaine Lignier-Michelot. The 2021 Bourgogne Rouge delivers a captivating blend of red berries, floral notes, and a hint of spice, all wrapped in a silky texture with a long, lingering finish.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2021

Neal Martin of Vinous writes | The 2021 Bourgogne Rouge, contains 50% whole bunches, doesn't need much aeration to reveal quite juicy blackcurrant and bilberry scents; somehow, it's quite steely. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannins, nicely structured and rather bold for a Bourgogne Rouge, with a sweet cassis finish. Modern in style perhaps, but certainly well crafted. (Drink between 2024-2028).

Allen Meadows of Burghound writes | An even fresher, and much more floral-infused, nose blends both black berry fruit and violet with a spicy top note. Here too there is a beguiling texture to the vibrant and solidly concentrated medium weight flavors that possess excellent depth and persistence for a wine at this level. Warmly recommended. (Drink starting 2024).

Jasper Morris MW of Inside Burgundy writes |  50% whole bunch vinification. Quite a dark centre to the colour. Despite the relatively early picking date, this clearly has ripe fruit on the darker side. Some tannins at the back but not vegetal, and with adequate acidity. Drink from 2024-2026.

Winemaker Description 

This vineyard is east-south oriented in the village of Chenove. The soils are dark brown, dry and contain marls and clay with stones and gravels helping for a good drainage. 

The Clos du Roy vineyard may be the first parcel to get the premier cru appellation in the near future.

The Marsannay Clos du Roy will match very well red roasted or grilled meat. With time, it will also match marinated meat, stews and most cheeses.

From the start, Maison Louis Jadot has always accorded equal importance to each of Burgundy’s appellations, from Grand Crus right through to regional wines. Our aim is to express the true nature of Burgundy through our wines, a terroir that can be both proud of its past and optimistic about its future. In order to produce wines that celebrate their terroir, Frederic Barnier works with a team: Cyril and Audrey. Together they have a large part to play in determining the success of our enterprise. Each influences the creation of our wines with their own particular set of skills, whether technical or commercial, thereby ensuring that Maison Jadot has a bright future ahead of it. 

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2022

William Kelley of the Wine Advocate writes 90-92 Points | Notes of cherries, red berry compote, orange zest and peony preface the 2022 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru La Dominode (Domaine Louis Jadot), a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and lively wine with good depth at the core and a mouthwateringly saline finish.

Neal Martin of Vinous writes 90-92 Points | The 2022 Savigny-lès-Beaune La Dominode 1er Cru is a notch more intense on the nose than the Clos des Guettes, but side-by-side, I find the latter imbued with greater charm. The palate is well-balanced with slightly powdery tannins, attractive and quite plush black cherry and mulberry fruit. It gains weight towards the finish but retains its smooth and sleek texture. Like the Clos des Guettes, this will be difficult to resist in its youth. 

Winemaker Description 

Origine: Clay-limestone soil, with a very shallow depth of soil. Gentle slope.
Surface area: 0.234 ha. Situated below the Roche de Solutré, facing due south. Very precocious terroir.

Method of culture The vines are cultivated biodynamically.

Wine making Harvesting is entirely manual. After decanting, the musts are transported daily to Puligny-Montrachet for fermentation and ageing, under the watchful eye of Domaine Leflaive's technical team.

Vinification takes place in vats, and ageing lasts from 15 to 16 months.

Pressing: Long, gentle pneumatic pressing, 24-hour decanting, followed by settling and racking.

Fermentations: 100% in oak barrels.

Aging: After 12 months in barrel, the wine is aged for 6 months in vats, where it is prepared for bottling.

Winemaker Description 

Lucie Cotoux relates that the domaine picked their 0.44 hectares of Champgains in three hours since there was so little fruit on the vines. The concentration however was superb with focused citrusy fruit plenty of mineral and white floral notes and a bit of spice. The texture shows a lovely density and weight and a long powerful finish?this is a very distinctive wine that should show well fairly early and continue to improve for at least a decade. (Drink between 2025-2045).

Winemaker Description 

The Ramonet estate is one of the legendary estates of the Côte de Beaune. The grandfather, Pierre Ramonet, a talented winemaker, already sold his wines across the Atlantic before World War II and in French starred restaurants. Noël and Jean-Claude Ramonet continued his work, while putting the terroirs in the right direction thanks to better control of yields.

The two brothers come and separated, by mutual agreement. Noël just wants to work his vines and deliver his grapes to his brother Jean-Claude who will be in charge of winemaking and marketing. For wine lovers from this world famous estate, there will be no change. Just two labels, that of the Ramonet estate and that of the Jean-Claude Ramonet wine merchant. Jean-Claude will also take care of part of the vineyards of the Girardin estate, bought by the Bordeaux resident Philippe Capdouze, founder of Ficofi (an ultra-select club for the sale of great wines). Its whites remain a benchmark in Burgundy.

Expert Review - Vintage 2021 

Charles Curtis, MW of Decanter Magazine 96 Points | In 2021 the domaine protected this site above all from frost but still lost half their crop despite being surrounded by the also well-protected vines of Domaine Leflaive. Accessible almost even now the aromas of green apple and passionfruit coconut butter and baking spice are almost opening even now. There is a lovely freshness and silky texture yet this is a powerful wine with impressive length and density at the end. This should open in five years and continue to improve for at least twenty-five more. (Drink between 2027-2050).

Our Professional Review

Bart of 67Wine.com writes | Beautifully sculpted and finely detailed, this delicious village white Burgundy has a terrific bouquet of white orchard fruits, wildflowers and lemon zest. There is lovely mouth presence with layers of flavor highlighted with mineral complexity and perfectly balanced acidity. This is a wine that presents itself in the glass with elegance and sophistication, and will accompany fine dining gracefully with finesse and savoir faire!

Winemaker Description 

Tasting note

Aromas of hawthorn, acacia which evolve with age to ambre, honey and spices. A harmonious and pleasant body on the palate.
Food pairings

Ideal with the pastas and risottos with seafood, the cheeses such as the blue cheeses.

Our Professional Review

Bart of 67Wine.com writes | Pale golden colored with a fresh and lively bouquet of lime blossoms and tropical fruits highlighted by a note of  toasty oak. Creamy and complex in the mouth with a delicious exotic richness and beautiful balance. Food friendly and drinking perfectly now!

Winemaker Description 

Pale lemon in colour. On the nose aromas of lime and tropical fruits are married with a well integrated toastiness from the oak. Deliciously mouthwatering on the palate with a creamy texture from the lees ageing. As you would expect from this producer, the wine has a Côte d’Or sensibility and exceptional balance.

Expert Review - Vintage 2020

James Suckling 91 Points | Fragrant nose of violets, cherries, wild strawberries and some nutmeg. Hints of hazelnuts, too. Lovely creamy tannins, with a medium body and silky finish.

Winemaker Description 

The character of Pinot Noir in the Pernand-Vergelesses Rouge is marked by red fruit notes and a fairly supple tannic structure. Ideal with meats with relatively strong flavors such as roasted veal, leg of lamb, game birds and grilled pork.

Winemaker Description 

Located in Ladoix-Serrigny (between Beaune and Nuit Saint-Georges, on the “Route des Grands Crus”, just next to Aloxe Corton, the Maratray family own 19ha of vines, producing 19 differents wines.

Bourgogne Côte d'Or offers all the characteristics of the great white wines of Burgundy at a much more modest price tag. Fine and opulent, the 2023 Bourgogne Cote d'Or from Maratray Dubreuil offers a beautiful roundness and its persistence is particularly remarkable.

Energetic and lively with detailed citrus and orchard fruit notes. Careful ageing in oak barrels gives extra body and a discreet hint of toasty vanilla leaves a very pleasant note on the finish.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022

Winemaker Description 

Expert Review

Burghound Allen Meadows 93 Points | Much more layered aromas are comprised by notes of wet stone, citrus confit, Granny Smith apple and pretty spice wisps. The dense but sleek and highly energetic larger-bodied flavors display impressive power and length on the compact, austere and impeccably balanced finale. This is excellent and a wine that is built to repay extended keeping.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022

Burghound 90 Points | An attractively spicy nose freely offers up aromas of dark pinot fruit, Savigny-style earth, violet and an interesting hint of white pepper. There is slightly better verve suffusing the lightly stony middleweight flavors that also possess a caressing but punchy mouthfeel on the lingering finale that is noticeably finer thanks to the fine-grained tannins. This too could be approached young though at least a few years of cellaring should be beneficial.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022

Allen Meadows of Burghound | Ripe and very pretty aromas of both red and dark currant, violet, newly turned earth and a hint of crushed anise lead to rich, generous and round medium weight flavors that possess both fine volume and mid-palate density, all wrapped in a dusty, long and balanced finale where only a trace of rusticity is present. This always seem to outperform relative to its level chez Tollot and 2022 only adds to that reputation.

Winemaker Description 

The Tollot family represents a long lineage of winegrowers dating back to the late 1880s when François Tollot began planting vineyards in Chorey-lès-Beaune. Today, cousins Nathalie, Jean-Paul, and Olivier Tollot are in charge. The wines of Tollot-Beaut are well-known for their serious but pleasing style across a range of appellations from Bourgogne to Grand Cru.

The village of Aloxe-Corton sits at the foot of the Corton hill and is known for giving good-value red Burgundy that performs above its village-level status. A good Aloxe-Corton (pronounced Ahh-losse) will show some of the same structure, weight, and complexity found on the Grand Cru above.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022

Allen Meadows of Burghound writes 91-93 Points | There is an interesting hint of white pepper to the cool and exceptionally pretty aromas of exotic tea, anise, violet and lavender. I very much like the caressing mouthfeel of the medium weight flavors that possess moderate austerity and excellent persistence, Lovely.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022 

Wine Spectator 92 Points | A ripe style, displaying pineapple, mango, peach, orange peel and toasty oak flavors. Juicy and broad, this shows power and length. A bit funky, yet there's a lot to like here. Drink now through 2028. 125 cases made, 10 cases imported.

Winemaker Description 

Observing careful cultivation and vinification techniques, Domaine Matrot wines offer purity of fruit and terroir-driven character. The beautifully textured 2021 Meursault is made from a blend of grapes from 12 different plots, which creates a classic representative of village Meursault. A lovely bouquet of peaches, pears and golden apples fills the glass with creamy elegance, with a lovely touch of citrus fruit on the detailed finish. Excellent purity, precision and expression of place.

Expert Review - Vintage 2021 

Allen Meadows of Burghound | ...a discreet touch of wood can be found on the pretty aromas of mineral reduction, zest and a similar floral top note. There is a bit more volume and richness to the solidly concentrated medium-bodied flavors that flash evident minerality on very clean, bone-dry and nicely complex and persistent finale. This is a quality Meursault villages.

Expert Reviews

Vinous 93-95 Points | The 2020 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru has a quintessential nose for this vineyard, quite flamboyant yet still with that Rousseau sense of control and elegance, a melange of red and black fruit, touches of wet stone and undergrowth. The palate is medium-bodied with a supple entry, fine weight and density, veering more towards the red fruit profile with a dash of black pepper on the finish. This was once the weak card in Rousseau's pack. That is the case no longer. Drink 2026-50. Neil Martin.

Wine Advocate 92-94 Points | The 2020 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru wafts from the glass with aromas of sweet red berries, rose petals, raw coca, warm spices and orange rind. Medium to full-bodied, rich and concentrated, it's taut and vibrant, with a more tightly wound, reserved profile than the Mazy-Chambertin and Charmes-Chambertin. William Kelley.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022

Alain Meadows of Burghound writes 95 Points |  Here too the beautifully layered nose is decidedly cool with its more citrus-suffused aromas of green apple, wet stone and crushed fennel. The more refined, if slightly less concentrated, medium weight flavors flash an almost pungent minerality on the beautifully textured, bone-dry and sneaky long finale. This chiseled effort will need at least a few years of cellaring first as it's quite tightly wound today.  - Burghound 95 ♥️

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2022

Charles Curtis, MW of Decanter writes 94 Points | This emblematic premier cru is a lovely introduction to Domaine Leflaive, with hints of passionfruit, pomelo, coconut milk, spice and smoke. The texture is lush with extract, but there is enough acidity to bring everything into balance. Although this 2022 doesn’t show the same intensity or concentration of the other premier cru wines, the combination of ripe fruit and smoky reductive notes make it a tempting wine for mid-term cellaring.

Allen Meadows of Burghound writes 92-94 Points | There is just enough reduction to push the fruit to the background though a whiff of floral character can be discerned. On the palate there is both more volume and concentration to the beautifully textured middleweight flavors that are also appealingly vibrant and particularly so on the complex balanced and impressively long finale. This is notably better than it usually is and a wine that should amply repay a decade or so of keeping. 

Neal Martin of Vinous 91 Points | The 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Clavaillon 1er Cru is much more backward and rocky on the nose; sea spray and crustacea come through with aeration. The palate is fresh and malic with plenty of energy. It is a little spicy towards the finish with a persistent peppery aftertaste. The palate was more expressive on the day that I tasted it though it seemed just a couple of paces behind Leflaive's other Premier Crus. Cellar for two or three years.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022 

Charles Curtis, MW of Decanter 94 Points | This village-level wine is a reliable benchmark for the commune. It reflects the sunny character of the vintage with its ripe stone fruit and citrus notes, yet offers depth and complexity as well, with saline hints, flint and fresh white flowers. The texture is silky and approachable. It’s drinking now, but with enough substance to hold for five to 10 years.

Vinous 92 Points | The 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Village has a nicely detailed bouquet of green apples. It's a touch spicier than the Bourgogne Blanc with a trace of walnut coming through with aeration. The palate is nicely balanced with a keen line of acidity sour lemon hints and again that spice that lingers on the aftertaste.

Allen Meadows of Burghound 90-92 Points | A markedly more floral-suffused nose features notes of cool Granny Smith apple citrus and a touch of mineral reduction. The caressing delicious and plump but agreeably energetic medium-bodied flavors possess solid depth and persistence on the balanced firm and highly refreshing finale. This is also excellent for its level and a wine that should drink well after only 3 to 4 years of keeping but age gracefully for a decade. Recommended.

Critic Notes

Charles Curtis MW writes:  hint of exotic Asian spice. The palate has a deft balance between density, moderately firm tannins, and a lively freshness that leads to a pleasantly lingering finish—lovely wine. The grapes come from the domaine holding of just under a half-hectare located under Clos de la Roche; they are partially destemmed and carefully fermented before ageing in mainly used casks. Age five years before opening.  Drinking 2028 to 2055.  - Decanter 95

Neal Martin writes:  The 2022 Morey-Saint-Denis Les Millandes 1er Cru has one-third whole bunches. Brambly red fruit, sous-bois and light chalky scents on the nose that feels quite strict at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins. There’s mainly black fruit here, plus cedar and graphite, rather "serious" towards the finish. Fine, but it will require bottle age.  Drinking 2026 to 2042.  - Vinous 90-92

Allen Meadows writes:  A discreet application of wood sets off the softly spicy and earthy aromas of violet, lavender plum and red currant. The powerful and markedly more concentrated broad-shouldered flavors exude a subtle minerality on the succulent yet very firmly structured finale that exhibits excellent length. Patience will be necessary but it should be well-rewarded in time as this is packed with development potential.  Drink 2024+  - Burghound 93

Critic Notes

Charles Curtis MW of Decanter writes 96 Points | The Clos de la Roche from Arlaud is from the lieu-dit Mochamps; the parcel runs from the road up to Domaine Ponsot. 20% of the grapes are fermented as whole clusters, and the wine is ageing now in cask, 20% new. The wine is charmingly aromatic, with a ripe, peony-scented cherry fruit and earthy notes. The texture is silky, round, and velvety; there is more aromatic expression but less depth than the Charmes-Chambertin. The wine should start to open in five years and will continue to improve for a further twenty.

Vinous 95-97 Points | The 2022 Clos-de-la-Roche Grand Cru has all the tropes you expect from this vineyard, with exuberant wild strawberry, raspberry confit and blood orange scents bursting from the glass. The oak is very well-integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins and darker fruit than the Charmes-Chambertin, with impressive precision on the finish. This is extremely promising.

Allen Meadows of Burghound writes 93-96 Points | Note: from a .43 ha parcel in Mochamps; 75% from 25+ year old vines and the remainder are from 40+ year old vines. A discreet application of wood sets off the herbal tea and markedly floral-inflected red currant-scanted nose where a background touch of freshly turned earth lurks. I like the sense of energy and volume to the bigger-bodied and more powerful flavors that manage to be both denser and super-sleek, all wrapped in a moderately austere and very tightly wound finale that delivers simply superb length. This is flat out terrific and a wine that should amply reward extended cellaring, indeed I would suggest not even thinking of opening a bottle before 10 years have passed."
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Expert Reviews

Allen Meadows of Burghoud writes 94-96 Points | As with several wines in the range, there is a subtle touch of wood evident on the ripe and ultra-pure floral-inflected nose of violet, lavender, rose petal, exotic tea and red cherry scents. There is impressive concentration to the middleweight plus flavors that brim with dry extract that imparts a seductive mouthfeel as well as buffers the borderline robust tannins shaping the hugely persistent and strikingly powerful finish. This is brilliant but it's also very much built-to-age so buy it and forget it.

Critic Notes

Allen Meadows of Burghound writes 92-94 Points | Sweet Spot: A slightly more elegant nose combines notes of red cherry and raspberry with discreet touches of earth and discreet wood. The slightly finer and succulent middleweight flavors possess very good verve while exhibiting very fine depth and persistence on the first, dusty, youthfully austere and built-to-age finale. Once again, patience strongly suggested as this should make for a beautiful bottle in time. 

Expert Review

Burgound Allen Meadows| This is also quite ripe with similar aromas of poached plum, cassis and earth. The succulent, caressing and seductively textured flavors possess a bit more volume before culminating in a bitter pit fruit-inflected finish that offers better length and depth. This is a lush Chorey that could easily be enjoyed young if desired.

Expert Review - Vintage 2022

Burghoud Allen Meadows 93-96 Points | An expressive, ripe and airy nose features the relatively primary essence of plum liqueur, kirsch, spice and earth notes. The strikingly intense and sleek larger-bodied flavors possess only average concentration yet there is impressive power on the moderately austere and beautifully long finish that tightens up noticeable as it sits on the palate. I suspect that this will flesh out and add richness with time in bottle though like several wines in the range, this is going to require extended patience.