Introducing Christophe Buisson's 2005 Red Burgundies
Christoph's devotion to making the best wines from his small plots requires hand picking and careful grape selection in the vineyard. This is time consuming (and costly) but makes for better grapes.
2005 Red Burgundies - Peerless Perfection! Nothing touches the quality of this vintage in the last 20 years.
"At the risk of throwing another log on an already raging fire, I'd have to say that 2005 is potentially the greatest red Burgundy vintage I've yet tasted from barrel." Steve Tanzer International Wine Cellar
"Red Burgundy 2005: to be treasured" Decanter Magazine The fire was crackling a few feet from our table at la Buzerotte, a romantic little eatery just up into the hills from Beaune. An enormous house pooch was lying smack in front of the door and occasionally looking up wistfully in our direction hoping for a miss between the fork and the mouth. A Christophe Buisson St Romain Sous le Chateau rouge was shimmering in our glasses. It was an inaugural taste and things were going very well. The Pinot Noir was rich, round, and concentrated.
Part of my importing job is continuously identifying new growers who are doing great things with their grapes. Every time, I go to a wine region, I stop off and say bonjour to my existing growers, but I always save time to find one or two new growers. I find these growers by reading a lot of wine publications and asking and drinking around and checking out who's on the local restaurants' menus.
Christophe is one of a small group of young growers in Burgundy who did not inherit his job from his father. Christophe's father was a mason. Christophe has always wanted to be a winemaker since he was a little boy. He created his Domaine all by himself, parcel by parcel and it is clear that he enjoys what he does. The Domaine is now 7 hectares (about 17 acres). He prefers the biodynamic approach which calls for no herbicides and pesticides and even considers the lunar position when making certain wine making decisions.
Christophe hand harvests and meticulously picks out only the best grapes for the final wine. He sorts first in the field before the grapes are hauled to the winery in petites caisse-palettes (little boxes). No longer is it considered preferable to dump large quantities of grapes in on top of each other in big dumpsters. The skins will be damaged and the skins impart important tannins to the juice. Then, the grapes will be sorted again on a table tri back at the winery. NO BAD GRAPES get into this wine which means exceptional pureté et fraicheur of fruit.
One of my favorite Buisson wines is his bang-up Savigny-lès-Beaune. Are you familiar with this wine? His parcel of vines is located in a tiny vineyard called les Moutiers Amet which runs alongside the premier cru vineyard les Narbantons. The Rhoin River Valley runs right through Savigny-lès-Beaune and this little geological intrusion creates two different types of Savigny-lès-Beaune. The southern side of the River nearest to Beaune makes the richest and most concentrated wines with an earthy gout de terroir. This is the style of Buisson's Savigny. On the other side of the River, the wines are also delicious, but lighter in style.
My other favorite Buisson red is St Romain. I've been looking for a St Romain rouge for quite some time. I am a huge drinker of St Romain blanc, but the reds always struck me as being a little too "see-through" and "delicate". I was particularly excited to taste a Buisson St Romain because one had just received 5- stars (a perfect score) from La Revue. After tasting it, this past September, I can understand why.
St Romain is one of the highest elevations in Burgundy. It is way up the road and with the high elevation comes cooler temperatures, but an interesting chalky soil which adds delicacy, pungency, and character to the wine. Buisson is a lucky man because his grapes come from a vineyard called, Sous le Chateau. This slope is very steep and faces east and therefore gets a blast from the morning sun which covers the entire vineyard. This is a substantial, beautifully balanced St Romain which will taste like black and red cherries and age well for about 5-8 years depending upon how cool your cellar is.
Both of these Buisson wines are from the 2005 vintage which has already established its greatness about a hundred times over.
So I'm glad I connected with Christophe Buisson. Not only is he a really talented wine maker, but he's also an incredibly nice guy. I'm sure it all stems from the fact that he is getting to do exactly what he's always wanted to do with his life. Cynthia Hurley
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