Ten feet from Grand Cru Romanée-Saint-Vivant. Twenty inches from Grand Cru Echézeaux. Burgundy’s game of inches has never resonated stronger than it does in today’s tremendous bottle of 2014 “Les Suchots.”
Proprietor Gérald Cacheux owns two distinguished parcels that are literal inches and feet from the rarest, most painfully priced vines in the world. Still, this distinguished terroir—even in the classically perfect vintage of 2014—must be skillfully transferred into the final wine, and that’s where Gérald Cacheux enters. His handcrafted wines are the epitome of fragrant, emphatically powerful, site-specific Pinot Noir with limitless cellar potential. So, a recap: Premier Cru “Les Suchots” shares borders with three of Burgundy’s most prestigious Grand Cru appellations (Echézeaux, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Richebourg) and Cacheux’ vines are within mere feet of two of them. His two parcels, however, only amount to
1.9 acres, and that means terribly small quantities for all of us. At six per person and the best price in the nation, this is going to fly out of our warehouse. Hurry!
You may be unfamiliar with the Cacheux family, but that wouldn’t be a blunder on your end—this young (for Burgundy) estate was founded in 1966 and only consists of 7.5 acres that are divided throughout Vosne-Romanée. Don’t mistake their tiny share of vine holdings as a mark on their pedigree—this fourth generation Cacheux family own some serious Burgundian dirt! Most notably, a half-acre in “Les Beaux-Monts” and less than two in today’s “Les Suchots.” Their two tiny parcels in the latter are sustainably farmed without one ounce of “-cide.”
After meticulously sorting and hand harvesting at Grand Cru-level yields, their Pinot Noir was immediately de-stemmed and transferred into open-top tanks for a completely natural fermentation—essentially, wild yeasts that exist all around us (on grape skins, in the winery, etc.). Afterward, the wine was sent into 50% new French barrels for 18 undisturbed months and was then bottled without fining or filtration. This is the flagship wine of Domaine René Cacheux.
The 2014 release of “Les Suchots” is a masterclass on voluptuous, intensely complex red Burgundy. That said, it is a brooding red that deserves to be locked away in solitude for an extended period. Throw it in your cellar for several years of alone time, or, if you’re inclined to open it sooner, decant it for 2-3 hours before even reaching for those large Burgundy stems. Regardless of when you drink it, the wine will certainly flaunt its elite class and seriousness. It pours a concentrated, dark ruby core that emits powerfully intoxicating aromas. Black cherry liqueur, plum skin, and currants fight for the spotlight, but as they do, savory notes of black tea, underbrush, herbs, damp rose petals, crushed stones, and clay emerge from stage left with a wonderful blend of integrated spices and camphor sliding in from stage right. Even after a long decant, there is so much raw power and structure on the medium-plus palate. There are baskets of polished dark fruit to be had, but what really shines is the wine’s rustic, earthy core that is bolstered by the firm tannins at play. This is a slow-building, muscular Pinot Noir that showcases the superb polish of premium Burgundy fruit. Whether drinking now or in 10 years, serve just above cellar temperature and prepare the attached slow-roasted leg of lamb for an extra-special evening. Enjoy!
