We’ve devoted lots of space and time to the 2014 vintage in Burgundy, pronouncing repeatedly how much we love these wines—whites and reds alike. The whites generally received more press hype, but I’ve been especially enamored with the reds, which have tended to be overlooked because of the blockbuster 2015s that followed them.
We offered the 2015 vintage of Frédéric Esmonin’s Ruchottes-Chambertin a few months ago, and did not hesitate when a tiny parcel of the 2014 subsequently became available; whereas the 2015 is downright hedonistic, the ’14 is more classically structured, built for long aging in the cellar. It has what I think characterizes the best quality of the ’14s—perfect balance—and that, more so than power, is what gives a wine longevity. As we noted when we presented the ’15, this wine is not exactly “cheap”—unless, of course, you peruse what other producers charge for their Ruchottes bottlings, at which point Esmonin’s looks like a steal. And I have to say, it is: This is a polished and profound expression of this tiny, 3.25-hectare Grand Cru vineyard, and the rarity of the wines from this cru only amplifies the value offered by this one. We do not, of course, have very much—we can offer up to 3 bottles per customer until it sells out.
Domaine Frédéric Esmonin’s parcel of the Grand Cru vineyard “Ruchottes-Chambertin” sits directly below the parcel owned by Domaine Armand Rousseau, one of Burgundy’s most hallowed properties (and whose own Ruchottes-Chambertin will run you north of $500—if you can find it, that is). Regardless of who’s selling it, a wine from Ruchottes-Chambertin will not be cheap, because it is, by definition, extremely rare—the entire Ruchottes-Chambertin vineyard spans just 3.25 hectares, with multiple properties bottling wines from it (including other heavy hitters like Roumier and Mugneret-Gibourg). Esmonin’s comes in at about a third of the price of those others, but the quality is there: this is luscious, aromatically complex, top-flight red Burgundy in every way.
Located in Gevrey-Chambertin and focused almost entirely on wines from that village, the Esmonin family has only been ‘domaine-bottling’ its own wines since 1991. Previously, André Esmonin sold grapes (and wine) to some of Burgundy’s most respected négociants, including Jadot and Leroy. André continues to assist his son, Frédéric, at this tiny property, whose vineyard holdings total just four hectares—albeit four well-positioned hectares, which include pieces of the Grand Crus Ruchottes- and Mazy-Chambertin as well as three Premier Cru sites. Their vines are very old (40+ years in the Grand Crus) and production is, as you might expect, very small: overall, they bottle around a dozen different wines, none of them in significant quantities. The Esmonins farm sustainably, practicing that most French of approaches known as lutte raisonnée (“the reasoned fight”). Their wines are clean, concentrated, and modern, with a healthy (but not excessive) percentage of new oak used for aging; one distinguishing feature of Esmonin wines is their drinkability in their youth. Even in a more “classic” vintage like 2014, this wine is already approachable, especially after breathing some air.
This 2014 from Esmonin is textbook Grand Cru red Burgundy—a truly regal red wine, succulent and deeply perfumed in a way that few other reds of the world can match. In the glass it is a deep ruby with hints of magenta at the rim, with aromas of red and black cherry, blackberry, black tea, forest floor, and some oak-derived notes of baking spices. Lush and nearly full-bodied on the palate, its tannins are marginally firmer than those of the 2015, but it is by no means shut down or unapproachable—just likely to be significantly better with some time in the bottle. You could certainly enjoy a bottle tonight—decant it about 60 minutes before serving in large Burgundy stems at 60-65 degrees—but I think this wine’s best self will be revealed a few more years down the line, say 2022-2025. I’m going to keep it classic here and recommend one of my “old faithfuls”—
boeuf bourguignon—because, quite frankly, that never gets old. Cheers!
