For weeks, SommSelect team members have had calendar alerts scheduled for today at 9:00 am. Under normal circumstances, everyone on the payroll enjoys advanced purchasing privileges, but there is nothing normal about today. I anticipated interest from our subscribers would be intense, but, what I hadn’t counted on was the hysteria inside my own office! We opened one bottle for the team a few weeks ago (a mistake I won’t soon repeat with such a limited wine), and immediately, everyone wanted a case. And so, my colleagues will be getting in line behind SommSelect subscribers this morning.
And for anyone curious why there is so much fuss over a lesser-known Côte de Nuits village like Marsannay, my explanation is simple: this is not typical Marsannay. Today’s bottle is my personal favorite wine from region-defining Domaine Bart. Not to mention that this site, “Les Longeroies,” is almost universally expected to be crowned one of Marsannay’s first-ever Premier Crus (along with “Clos du Roy”) in the near future. So, this is truly a “best of the best” wine, not to mention a unique and exceptional value: Can you name another top wine in any Côte de Nuits village, produced by a specialist in that respective village, for $42? This bottle is a bulletproof investment opportunity for your cellar, a one-stop master's degree in elite Côte de Nuits terroir, and most importantly, a devastatingly delicious wine. But again, inventory is so scarce that we must restrict subscribers (and SommSelect team members) to a maximum of 6 bottles.
Before launching into the nuts and bolts of why today’s wine is so special, I want to stress just how delicious it is. When I opened that bottle several weeks ago, my goal was to conduct an educational tasting. But, as is sometimes the case with especially outstanding wines, everyone soon became more interested in drinking this wine, versus analyzing and discussing its context. Keep in mind, I had also trotted out three other $100+ bottles—a Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru; one of the biggest names in Chambolle-Musigny; and an objectively great Vosne-Romanée. The unofficial theme of the tasting was “Don’t Judge a Burgundy by Its Price Tag.” While I wasn’t initially sure if the message sunk in with my colleagues, I was heartened to see that the only empty bottle on the table at the end of the meeting was today’s 2017 Marsannay “Les Langeroies,” the wine from least prestigious village and by far the least expensive wine on the table. Mission accomplished!
Pierre Bart is the current generation and beating heart of Domaine Bart. Bart’s grandmother is from the same family as Côte de Nuits icon Bruno Clair, and she brought an impressive collection of vines to the table when Domaine Bart was first established in the mid-1900s: small but priceless parcels in Grand Crus Bonnes-Mares and Chambertin Clos de Bèze. Over the years, the Bart family acquired vines in Chambolle and Gevrey, and with them, the capacity to produce an impressive pantheon of powerful, new oak-aged, quite expensive reds that faithfully represent the diversity of top Côte de Nuits terroirs. Still, I feel—and many fellow Burgundy-obsessed sommeliers I know concur—that Domaine Bart’s strongest suit remains their impressive holdings in Marsannay, and perhaps especially in the vineyard that produced today’s wine: Longeroies.
Marsannay lieu-dit Les Longeroies is an ancient (many 50-100-year-old vines here, which is an eternity in the Côte de Nuits) vineyard with limestone, red clay, gravel, and sandy soils. Longeroies is a combination of the words longe,” meaning “long and narrow,” and “roie,” meaning “furrow,” or a long narrow trench made in the ground by a plow. Sitting at 900 feet elevation with southeast aspect, it is a near-perfect vineyard site to express Marsannay’s unique northern terroir. Most of Pierre Bart’s Marsannay bottlings are vinified in steel and/or neutral oak in order to preserve their freshness and fruitiness, but Longerois is not a fruity, simple wine. On the contrary, it is supremely elegant, layered, and complex—so, it is Bart’s only Marsannay aged partially in new oak (30%), just like his Premier and Grand Crus, and for me, it stands heads above other similarly priced wines in the region.
Bart’s 2017 Marsannay “Les Longeroies” announces its arrival with a bushel of dark cherry and red berry fruit with subtle spice and French oak. But, shortly behind this initial torrent of aromas, the real treasure awaits: a slowly unraveling floral character and deep limestone-kissed Côte de Nuits soil character. There’s a firm minerality that recalls top-tier Gevrey-Chambertin that marries beautifully to the wine’s more Chambolle-like polish and freshness. For $42, it’s an exceptional Côte de Nuits red. I suggest enjoying it in two ways: First, decant for one hour and serve at 55-60 degrees in large Burgundy stems. This wine is singing today and is an ideal companion to seared duck breasts or braised rabbit. Still, I speak from ample experience when I say that Bart’s wines are a dynamite addition to one’s more economical Burgundy holdings. I am certain this wine will evolve and open up gloriously over the next 15 years, and I encourage you to join me in adding 3-5 bottles to your cellar. Win now, or win later—either way, it’s a win, and an extremely generous value! Enjoy!
