Drinking this wine is a master class in how a light-bodied wine can have a big impact. It is a bright, perfumed red from the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, an appellation comprised of higher-elevation vineyards above the Premier/Grand Cru sweet spot on the slope, and yet it delivers everything you could ask for in red Burgundy—not least of which is persistence.
This wine sticks with you, over-performing in the manner of the undersized pro athlete who refuses to be denied (I’m thinking of guys like basketballer Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, who, at 5’3”, could not only dunk but played 14 seasons in the NBA). The tiny, out-of-the-way vineyard this wine hails from is farmed biodynamically by Thiébault Huber, a rising-star vigneron based in Volnay who has infused this modestly priced, outlier Burgundy with some serious breed. Huber is a charismatic and thoughtful producer with a deft touch with both reds and whites, and, as always, we know we’re in good hands when a ‘lower-tier’ bottling delivers like this one. That’s what great producers do, and Huber-Verdereau is one to keep an eye on—this is a ‘by-the-case’ candidate built to deliver immense pleasure over the next several years.
Huber is from Alsace, and had originally planned to become a sommelier; the Verdereau part of his domaine name came from his maternal grandfather, who was a vigneron in Volnay who retired in 1974 with no one in the family to take over his vineyards. The family held onto them, renting them out to others, until Thiébault eventually made his way to Volnay and re-established the domaine in 1994. He had worked in Alsace with Marcel Deiss and with Jean-Marc Bouley in Burgundy before striking out on his own, and his first order of business was to convert the vineyards to organic, and eventually biodynamic, farming. Today, Huber has about 9.5 hectares of vines spread across numerous appellations, including Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault, Pommard, and the home base in Volnay. The vineyards are now Demeter-certified biodynamic.
And don’t let the generic-sounding ‘Hautes-Côtes de Beaune’ moniker fool you: this is a single-vineyard bottling from a steep, 1.5-hectare parcel of 45-year-old vines in the village of Bouze-Les-Beaune (just south of Savigny-Les-Beaune). Most of the hautes-côtes vineyards have more of a marly soil composition, but this one is rich in limestone and, interestingly, planted to 10%-15% Pinot Beurot (a.k.a. Pinot Gris), which pops up in more than a few Burgundy vineyards and usually ripens at the same time as the Pinot Noir. The pinkish-grey Beurot (Gris) comprises a small percentage of this wine, which helps account for its light color, and the two varieties were fermented together in tank before aging for 12 months in a mix of 500-liter Allier oak barrels (10% new) and concrete vats.
In the glass, this 2014 Hautes-Côtes de Beaune is a bright, reflective crimson in the glass, with a highly perfumed nose of red and black cherry, red currant, blood orange, dried rose petals, underbrush, and a hint of black pepper. It is light-bodied and high-toned, more violins than cellos, with lots of length on the finish. It is a refined, elegant Pinot that will respond nicely to a slight chill, not to mention a few years in the cellar: I think the sweet spot for this wine will be 3-5 years down the line, when it’s had a chance to soften and broaden into quite the silky seductress. If you’re enjoying a bottle now, decant it about 45 minutes before serving in Burgundy stems at cellar temperature—around 55-60 degrees will really accentuate its red-berry fruit and floral aromatics. This, to me, is a super-versatile style for food, with a solid mineral underpinning lending it savor. Pair it up with a simple wild mushroom risotto for a pitch-perfect taste of fall. It’s a terrific find—check it out!
