Not that you really need this reminder, but great wine is all about real estate: location, location, location. Domaine Frédéric Esmonin’s parcel of the Grand Cru vineyard “Ruchottes-Chambertin” sits directly below the parcel owned by Domaine Armand Rousseau, one of Burgundy’s most hallowed properties.
Regardless of who’s selling it, however, a wine from Ruchottes-Chambertin will not be cheap, because it is, by definition, extremely rare—the entire Ruchottes-Chambertin vineyard spans just 3.25 hectares, with multiple properties bottling wines from it (including other heavy hitters like Roumier and Mugneret-Gibourg). Given all that, it’s safe to say that Esmonin’s 2015 from Ruchottes, while not exactly “cheap,” is nevertheless an absolute steal—about a third of what the others mentioned above will cost you. And make no mistake, the quality is there; this is luscious, aromatically complex, top-flight red Burgundy in every way. The vintage, too, is exceptional, lending the wine depth and more early drinkability than is typical. What a great “get” (too bad we couldn’t “get” more)! We can offer 6 bottles per customer until it sells out.
Nevertheless, I would hesitate to lay this wine down for 20 years; as ‘young-drinking’ as the 2015s are, Grand Crus like this one clearly have the underlying structure for aging. In the glass, Esmonin’s 2015 Ruchottes is a dark-hued ruby moving to magenta at the rim, and the aromas are indeed seductive: black cherry, blackberry, damp violet, underbrush, baking spices and turned earth all float from the glass and carry over to the lush, fine-grained palate. There’s amazing purity of fruit and, even at this young age, the oak is well-integrated. After about an hour in a decanter it is velvety and extremely perfumed, with a woodsy note that roots it in Gevrey. Should you take your limit on this wine—as you should—open one now as a preview and lose the remaining five in your cellar for a while. Serve your “preview” bottle at 60-65 in Burgundy stems next to a real-deal Julia Child preparation such as sauté de boeuf à la bourguignonne. All I can say is, mais oui!