Youth Movement

No matter how much you know about a single producer, it’s always incredibly helpful to taste the wines to be reminded of their greatness. When I attended La Paulee earlier this month, I revisited two producers that I have been quite fond of for over 5 years, and I have witnessed significant growth in their quality, as well as the rapid market awareness of their brands. Shame on me for not jumping on these sooner, but today I will put my money where my mouth is and tell you that if you love Burgundy and you’re not buying these wines, you’re missing out on something truly special.

Camille Thiriet is an incredibly talented woman who has taken humble appellations and made the wines speak well beyond their boundaries. Mostly known for her various Cotes Nuits Villages bottlings, they are wines that will rival the quality of well-known names, including 1er Cru bottlings from those same producers. Sadly, her production remains incredibly small, but fear not, as we have our first 2022 offering! This Bourgogne Rouge easily matches the quality level of countless village wines from big names and over-delivers for both the price and the humble vineyards it comes from.

Guillaume Lavollee had bigger dreams for Genot-Boulanger than the three generations before him. For the last 15 years, he and his sister have made significant changes in the vineyards spanning 30 appellations. That’s no small task, but the hard work has paid off, as they are producing wines of exceptional purity and precision. The wine that floored me recently was the Aloxe Corton (averaging 50+-year-old vines) in today’s offer that defies the vintage and is a must-own wine. This is a bottle to share with friends so they can become believers too. The Pommard Clos Blanc is a captivating wine thanks to old vines (planted in 1966) and the care taken in the vineyard. It’s a rich wine with a brilliant future ahead. I have long been a lover of their Chambolle Musigny as it is pure silk in a bottle; just the way you would expect! I would confidently put this in a blind tasting of other great Chambolle wines, and it will certainly hold its own. We close with the Beaune Greves, a wine that Jadot may have made famous, but Guillaume has perfected as they have the most prime parcels in the vineyard that allow for an expressive and powerful wine that shows great terroir to match. Thankfully, these wines are not submitted to the critics because if they were, we certainly would not be able to put together such an offer today!