Some things are worth the wait. Today may be our first taste of Julien Cruchandeau, but we’ve been hearing about these wines for years now: It all started with the Burgundian cognoscenti whispering that a young winemaker in the hills of the Côte de Nuits was quietly producing some of the most exciting wines in the region—Pinot Noirs that were earning prominent features at hip bars in Lyon and Paris, and catching the attention of some very serious winemakers and importers.
Of course, we immediately started inquiring about how to get some for the SommSelect faithful. Every year, we have been told by the importer, “we’d love to...if we had enough!” This wasn’t some lame attempt at a marketing ploy—one look at Cruchandeau’s annual production and it’s immediately clear the man hardly makes any wine. Luckily, we were able to taste this fresh 2018 the moment it landed, and all we can say is that years of anticipation were justified: The wines are incredible, as advertised. With tension, pure snappy fruit, and structural density that dramatically transcends its humble appellation, “Les Valançons” is an incredibly sophisticated red Burgundy performing way above its price point. Yes, it was worth the wait, and then some—we locked up every bottle we could so that you can, too. Don’t miss this!
To call Julien Cruchandeau the next rock star of Burgundy is a bit too on the nose, given that he’s a former professional musician (okay, electronic music, not rock, but you get the point). While playing massive music festivals by night, he was also studying enology by day, then working as a winemaker, then in 2003 started purchasing tiny parcels of land in the upper slopes (hautes côtes) west of Nuits-St.-Georges. The Hautes-Côtes de Nuits has been a hotspot for the last 10+ years in Burgundy (you may have noticed the multiple offers we have put out recently). There are for a few reasons for this region’s recent prominence: (1) the land is inexpensive by Burgundy standards; (2) the area used to be unreliable for achieving ripeness, an issue being made moot by global warming; (3) the combination of the first two reasons have led the most exciting, talented young winemakers without family vineyard land to set up shop there. Julien started with a tiny plot of Aligote in the Bouzeron AOC and, in 2010, slowly accumulated small parcels of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyard land around the Hautes-Côtes, even managing to obtain small parcels in Nuits-St.-Georges and Puligny-Montrachet. While he has grown his domaine to be large enough to sustain and fund itself (no more moonlighting as a sound engineer as he did in the early days to pay the bills), the operation is still small, even by Burgundy’s standards.
Julien works his vines sustainably, eschewing herbicides and pesticides, focusing on the overall health of each vineyard’s ecosystem. As a result, he achieves relatively low yields and an impressive concentration of flavor. His half-hectare plot in the vineyard “Les Valançons” is located in the village of Chevannes on a very steep slope facing south/southwest. It sits at a fairly high altitude of 380 meters and is a dense combination of clay and limestone with very little topsoil. Upon harvest, Cruchandeau de-stems a portion of the fruit and does a cold maceration for up to 10 days with frequent pumping over. After fermentation the wine is aged in barrel for 15 months, with 20% of those barrels being new.
The 2018 vintage in Burgundy was one of the warmest on record with very little rainfall. The resulting wines are generous, offering both early accessibility as well as the ability to age. For “Les Valançons,” the vintage yielded a wine with deep color and amazing depth. From the moment it hits the glass, there are heady aromas of black currant, wild strawberry, Mirabelle plum, black cherry, blackberry compote, and hibiscus. Like many of our favorite red Burgundies, there is a remarkable tension on the palate between mouth-coating, dark-fruited ripeness and a sizzling mineral core. The wine manages to be both luxurious and bright at the same time. I recommend at least 30 minutes in the decanter to allow for all of the various aromas to open up before serving it in Burgundy stems at around 55 degrees. At this price point for red Burgundy, I highly recommend getting a few bottles to have for the holidays (and beyond) as this would be a great complement to a Thanksgiving meal.
