The golden slopes of Vosne-Romanée offer some of the most enchanting Pinot Noir from unrivaled, uniquely complex soils; it is here that the surrounding premier crus deliver some of the most unforgettable experiences in the world of wine. However, the vineyard of “Aux Boudots,” also labeled as Les Boudots, is not just another premier cru; it is widely considered to be the greatest of all Nuits-St-Georges’s premier crus. Technically within the boundary of Nuits-St-Georges though on the demarcation line with southern Vosne-Romanée, famous Burgundian expert, Clive Coates believes,“it is more true to say that Boudots is much more of a Vosne than a Nuits.” With brown limestone, fine gravel and clay mixed with oolitic rock over pink Comblancien limestone, the incredibly complex soil of Boudots also boasts more in common with the greats of its northern neighbor than its home-on-the-cusp in Nuits-St-Georges. As Coates remarked, “there is an elegant, potential silkiness here which is alien to Nuits,” but captures the mesmerizing quality of the great sites of Vosne.
This special vineyard, along with most of Aurélien Verdet’s parcels, are organically farmed and manually harvested. Aurélien’s father was actually an early proponent and frontrunner of the organic movement in Burgundy during the early 70’s. According to Jancis Robinson, “One wouldn’t imagine that fruit coming from such varied sources would find such uniform themes of expression. But that is the case, evidence that this young winemaker knows what he is doing in the field and in the cellar. Aurélien says nothing is done by rote. Everything is done by feel, by taste, by intuition, by the phases of the moon and as the wines from each parcel and from each vintage demand.” As a result, his wines boast a clean, individualistic expression of every vineyard site and this wine is no exception. Utilizing indigenous yeasts, Verdet vinifies slowly and gently for thirty days with up to ten days of cold maceration. The wines are aged in very specific French oak with only a third new oak to allow the character of the varietal and its terroir to truly shine; the oak is barely detectable, as it should be.
This incredibly velveteen Pinot Noir hails from the 2010 vintage, which is one of the best in the last few decades and is absolutely built to age gracefully. Simply put, this is a vintage to collect. The current release price of this wine is drinking well above its quality; with such sparse quantity, wines of this caliber from these special pockets will only continue to rise in price with worldwide demand. The 2010 Verdet “Aux Boudots” wine exhibits a deep color with dark ruby moving to garnet and orange on the rim, which is consistent with a quality Pinot Noir approaching its fifth birthday. The nose blossoms with a beautiful display of aromatics that are fresh and elegant without any of the tarnishing funk that many examples of high end Burgundy can possess; this wine delivers the elusive perfume of great Burgundy that we all perpetually seek. Akin to a brilliant Vosne-Romanée, the nose offers fresh strawberry, black cherries and black raspberries alongside ample red and purple flowers and rose petals, laced with exotic spices, black truffles, wet forest floor and clay and myriad delicate baking spices. For a Pinot Noir, this palate is near full-bodied, incredibly dense and is about as broad as a Burgundian comes with ample richness, viscosity and seamless, elegant tannins that are typical of great Vosnes. The palate evolves to boast wild, freshly picked berries, wet leaves, wild flowers and an euphoric experience of concentrated fruit with the perfect balance of minerality and savory that is so divine it almost cannot be translated into the written word. This wine is best left in a cold, dark place for the next five to seven plus years when all its beauty will fall perfectly in line around its fifteenth birthday. This is a wine you share only with your best friends as a reward for your immense patience. Although it is exquisite now, I feel it is a shame that some of the world’s greatest wines are consumed before they are allowed to show their full potential. If you decide to purchase more than one bottle, by all means, open one now. Just allow the wine to breathe in the bottle, without decanting, for two to three hours and serve at 60 degrees in large Burgundy stems with a traditional Burgundian meal like Boeuf Bourguignon. For proper guidance you cannot go wrong with Julia Child’s legendary recipe.
