La Route du Vin

Domaine Chorey les Beaune's 2005 Small Production White Burgundy Wonder The Vineyard Borders Corton-Charlemagne (for about 30% of the Price)

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Chateau de Chorey just outside Beaune in Burgundy

Benoit Germain is the brilliant proprietor and winemaker here. He is energetic, intelligent and his knowledge about Burgundy is encyclopedic and each time I visit him I get a history lesson.

And, the other thing I get to do is taste his superb Pernand Vergelesses. It is one of my favorite white Burgundies. It is viscous, and rich with minerality and honey and lively, fresh, citrus fruits. It is pure and zaftig and reasonably priced. It drips with flavor.

"2005 - An Excellent Vintage that is Highly Consistent from Top to Bottom

As always, let's cut straight to the chase: in my strong view, the best 2005 whites from the Côte d'Or are not only excellent but MUCH better than they've been given credit for to this point. Moreover, it's a highly consistent vintage, again from top to bottom though as in every vintage, there are always some less successful wines. While the 2005 white burgundies from the Côte d'Or can't quite match the brilliance of their red counterparts, at least not in most cases, it is an accomplished vintage is its own right and the wines absolutely deserve a place in your cellars as they're concentrated yet elegant, powerful yet balanced and most have the stuffing to age at least over the medium term and in a few cases, the long term. Allen Meadows Burghound

There is a village in the Cote de Beaune of about 350 people, nestled to the side of the famous Grand Cru hill of Corton, which few people talk about and much fewer visit. Its name is Pernand-Vergelesses (don't pronounce the "d" and the "g" is soft). They make a Chardonnay there that I've been devoted to for the last twenty years. Devoted to because it reminds me of those glorious, exhilarating, but pricey Burgundy whites like Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet which I can't afford to drink on a regular basis.

Paul Garaudets Puligny Montrachet 2006

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Early Morning Harvest in Puligny Montrachet (Claes Lofgren)

It was a simple beet salad with goat cheese and walnuts and some scallops with persilade, suddenly catapulted into a world class dining experience by Paul Garaudet's 2006 Puligny Montrachet.

I think it's the best Puligny Montrachet I've tasted from Paul and It got me thinking about Burgundy and why the wine and the region are so compelling.

Burgundy is a small ancestral gaggle of villages with this amazing collection of different terroirs i.e. all these vineyards right next door to each other or down the road, with unique soils and exposures and micro-climates putting out distinct wines with personalities that come right from the earth.

When you become involved in Burgundy you can't escape its charm and the powerful urge to find out more and more about each of its wines. It becomes a challenge in the most gratifying way to get to the bottom of Burgundy and each delving is usually paired with seriously great meals and like-minded Burgundy lovers who, of course, are some of the world's most interesting people.

Did you read Eric Asimov's column in the New York Times recently? He was interviewing David Chan, a violinist and Burgundy lover. David talks about how music is like Burgundy.

"Great composers are like great vineyards. Both require a particular sort of selflessness to bring them to life. If you seek to only be yourself, that's what you get, but if you seek to faithfully bring the composer to life that will happen, and your personality will enter the picture because you're performing the task. I think the same thing happens in wine. If you try to faithfully capture the terroir, inevitably you enter the picture, whereas if you're not careful, it results in a house style."

2006 Bourgogne Rouge from Bernard Bouvier - The Best Bourgogne Rouge You'll Ever Pour in Your Glass!

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Bernard at his Domaine, corkscrew in hand.

"Bernard Bouvier personifies the generation of winemakers who are bringing new blood to Burgundy." -La Revue du Vin de France

La Revue has already called him one of the most talented winemakers of his generation. He is one of the new generation of winemakers who has melded the best of the thinking of previous generations to modern vinification techniques and vineyard practices and technology.

"At their very best, the Côte de Beaune '06s are classic burgundies that mirror the finest wines from the Côte de Nuits. This is to say that they are exceptionally aromatic and elegant with the best transparency to the underlying terroir since the 2001s, all wrapped in admirably persistent finishes with fine detail and a more pronounced sense of minerality than most vintages possess. They really are gifted in terms of their transparency, indeed the finest examples are what I would call crystalline and because they are moderately concentrated, neither light nor dense and moderately ripe, neither surmature or under ripe, there is relatively little to get in the way of this clarity, save of course for clumsy or inept winemaking." -Allen Meadows, Burghound

Bernard's first vintage was in 1986. Chemical treatments are banned and yields are held to a minimum. Bernard does not fine or filter his wines. They are rich and intensely flavored and authentic expressions of the terroir.

If you are after a great expression of French Pinot Noir at a refreshingly sane price (and who isn't these days?), you cannot ignore Bernard Bouvier.

Bob and I knew that we had happened upon an extraordinarily talented winemaker when we tasted his wine about two years ago in several great restaurants in Burgundy. He is not an easy-going fellow and it took some time to gain his confidence, but it has all been worth it.

Chateau La Roncheraie Cotes de Castillon, Bordeaux 2005 Very, very talented wine maker delivers in this wonderful vintage (at an everyday price)

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The right bank vineyards around Cotes de Castillon

Most of the big name and high rated 2005 Bordeaux have been delivered to cellars for the long slow wonderful life of great vintage Bordeaux.

But what about tonight. Great vintages make great wine at all price levels and that is where Chateau La Roncheraie comes in.

La Roncheraie is a pure, rich, fruit driven Bordeaux experience that is ready to drink now - oh it will improve and mature for a few years but today, this weekend it is delicious. After all it is a 2005, from a very talented winemaker and from the maybe best value area in Bordeaux: the Cotes de Castillon, right next to St Emilion.

And, I am speaking of both of their cuvees - the Sereine with its bright, popping, deep fruit and the Prestige with its smooth, rounded structure. Franck and Laetitia Toquereau are making some magnificent wines. There is just no denying it!

We all are waiting for our famous Bordeaux 2005 classified growths to mature and mellow. Bordeaux 2005 has been called "The Best Vintage Ever" by critics (and is now priced to prove it). Believe me these are worth the wait but right now it is time to start enjoying the best made, smaller estate 2005s. They are much more ready to drink now and priced for everyday drinking. La Roncheraie (as low as $17.99 a bottle), made by Franck Toquereau is one of the best examples of these wonderful "petit chateau" wines.

My mind flashed right back to the moment not too long ago when I was lunching at Hostellerie de Plaisance - that exquisitely beautiful little gem of an eatery in St Emilion owned by Gerard Perse of Chateau Pavie. The dining room hangs over the village with a panorama of vineyards and hillsides. The décor is opulent, but in an ethereal, not ponderous way.

Couly Dutheil Cuvee La Baronnie Madeleine 2005 Wine Spectator "Smart Buy" and more.

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The Couly-Dutheil Chinon vineyards during harvest
A new (and last) supply of the wine Wine Spectator Rated 92 in their Best Values of France issue.

This is what they said about Couly Dutheil's Chinon Special Cuvee 2005 "Rock solid, with ripe, structured layers of plum, black currant and black cherry offset by sweet olive tapenade, mineral and aged tobacco. The long, iron- filled finish shows impressive depth. Should age nicely. Drink now through 2010. The Wine Spectator Sept. 30, 2007

News The Wine Spectator named this wine as the Best Value in France and at the top of the "Outstanding Wines Values from around the World . Wow!

It is a special wine and made in a special way. It is only made for the best vintages and 2005 qualifies in every way . The family conducts a blind tasting to identify a parcel of a vineyard or a blend of parcels that will be named Chinon Baronnie Madeleine . The family looks for a style which represents the "feminine ideal" e.g. richness and elegance - round, charming with complex tannins that will have good ageing potential.

The grapes for Cuvee Baronnie Madeleine always come from the best plots where the vines are the oldest. The vineyard work at the Domaine is based upon strict biodynamic principles. There is a manual harvest and very intense grape selection. Yields are well below the average for the region. The juice is aged in barrel. All of this yields a silky and seductive wine.