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Domaine Gérard Raphet, Morey-Saint-Denis, “Vieilles Vignes”

Burgundy, France 2015 (750mL)
$59.00
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Earth
Body
Tannin
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Domaine Gérard Raphet, Morey-Saint-Denis, “Vieilles Vignes”

Sometimes, my job is to tell you what the wine’s label does not, and I can’t think of a better example than this wine from Gérard Raphet. If you’ve been a SommSelect subscriber for a while, you’ve seen this name before: Raphet wines are fixtures on this site, because they epitomize the artisanal winemaking ethos we so deeply appreciate.
Raphet’s importer, North Berkeley Imports, describes it as “Burgundy lover’s Burgundy,” and we couldn’t put it any better. This wine is an exclusive barrel selection for North Berkeley (as indicated by the “Cuvée Unique” moniker on the label) culled from two Premier Cru vineyard sites in the village of Morey-Saint-Denis: “Clos des Ormes” and “Millandes.” Average vine age is 60+ years, as noted by the “Vieilles Vignes” hat-tip, but otherwise the Raphets leave it to you to discover what an incredible over-achiever this wine is. You’ve got to appreciate their humility: forget the bells and whistles of the Burgundy-labeling hierarchy and focus on the wine, and what you get is a top-tier collectible for your cellar at an unbeatable price. You also get a 2015 red Burgundy that is powerful, yes, but not overblown and inky like many of its hot-vintage contemporaries. It is, in fact, one of the most balanced, perfumed 2015s I’ve tasted—a no-brainer addition to any well-curated cellar—but we only have a small allocation.
The Raphet domaine, as I’ve noted before, represents the ultimate in farmstead-scale winemaking: Passed down through multiple generations and boasting stands of 100-year-old Pinot Noir vines, this is still a tiny operation, with a simple cellar underneath the family home. Gérard Raphet, who took over the domaine from his father in 2005, manually works the vines with the help of his wife, Sylviane, and their daughter, Virginie. Theirs is the old-school lutte raisonnée, or ‘reasoned fight,’ approach—a methodology that calls for only organic products in the vineyards, unless under extreme circumstances in difficult vintages. Gérard and his team use traditional cultivation methods and harvest only by hand. The grapes undergo strict sorting before fermentation with natural yeasts, and then the wines are put in French oak barrels (roughly 15% new) for between 12 to 18 months. This “Cuvée Unique” is a selection of older-vine fruit from “Clos des Ormes” (a Premier Cru just downslope from the iconic “Clos de la Roche” Grand Cru) as well as “declassified” fruit from the “Millandes” Premier Cru (just downslope from “Clos Saint-Denis”).

But it doesn’t say any of that on the bottle, which goes a long way in explaining why it isn’t twice as expensive. It certainly tastes expensive, and it most definitely has the structure for long, graceful aging. In the glass, this 2015 is a reflective garnet-red, but don’t let the lighter hue fool you—this is heady, complex, concentrated red Burgundy. The aromatics meld perfectly ripe black cherry, raspberry, and strawberry with more earthbound ‘forest floor,’ dried flower, and wild mushroom notes. These sensations are confirmed on the medium-bodied palate, which is firmly structured and lifted in a way may ultra-ripe, rich 2015s are not. As with all of Raphet’s reds, it is both elegant and perfumed and sneakily muscular. If you are enjoying a bottle now, decant it about an hour before service at 60-65 degrees in large Burgundy stems. What I’m really looking forward to is how this wine performs on or around its eighth birthday. I predict magic, and, perhaps needless to say, there aren’t many red Burgundies that deliver this wine’s anticipated longevity at this price point. It really is a no-brainer, just a beautiful red Burgundy through and through. Pair it with the attached Emeril Lagasse recipe for truffle-stuffed chicken—and let me know what time to show up!
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Country
France
Region
Burgundy
Sub-Region
FranceMorey-Saint-Denis
Soil
Limestone & Clay
Farming
'Lutte Raisonnée'
Blend
Pinot Noir 100%
Alcohol
13.0
OAK
15% New French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2030
Decanting
60 Minutes
Pairing
Truffle-Stuffed Chicken

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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