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Domaine du Clos Frantin, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru “Les Malconsorts”

Burgundy / Côte de Nuits, France 2017 (750mL)
$199.00
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Domaine du Clos Frantin, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru “Les Malconsorts”

Of all the vineyards in Burgundy considered “misclassified” in some way, the Premier Cru “Les Malconsorts,” in Vosne-Romanée, may be the most egregious example: It is effectively adjacent to Grand Cru La Tâche, 400 meters from Romanée-Conti, and 600 meters from Richebourg. And while the Bichot family’s Domaine du Clos Frantin produces luxurious reds from five Côte de Nuits Grand Crus (including Richebourg, Échézeaux, and Chambertin), the wine they tout as their “paragon” is their bottling from Malconsorts.
This is my roundabout way of saying this wine is as pedigreed as red Burgundy gets—and yet a quick price check of competitive wines from this site will reveal just what an exceptional value Bichot’s version is. Today’s 2017 has the opulence, the profound mineral depth, and the soaring aromatic range we expect from the very best red Burgundies. It’s the kind of wine you place on a table alongside other great wines of the world and it seems to just levitate above the others, lodging itself in your memory in a way very few wines can. Never would I suggest that a $199 bottle of wine is “cheap,” but when you consider the company it keeps—like all-star producers Dujac, Cathiard, Hudelot-Noellat, and de Montille (who all charge multiples more)—let’s just say it’s worth every penny. As is usually the case with wines of this level, very little is made (about 8,500 bottles a year), meaning we have very little to share: We can offer up to three bottles per customer today until the inevitable sellout!
One explanation for this 2017’s exceedingly fair price may be the deep history and grand scale of the Albert Bichot operation—a multi-generational Burgundy dynasty that dates to the 14th century. Albéric Bichot, who took the reins of the firm in the mid-1990s, oversees a collection of six individual wine estates stretching from Chablis down to Moulin-à-Vent in Beaujolais, which control 100 hectares of vineyards in total. And of all those hectares, the 1.75 the Bichots own in “Les Malconsorts” may well be the most prized of all: Produced by Bichot’s Domaine du Clos Frantin, based in Nuits-Saint-Georges, the Malconsorts bottling comes from 35- to 40-year-old vines in that perfectly exposed, gently sloping site. It is as much a flagship of the estate as any of the five Grand Crus it produces, and in 2017—a generous vintage in every respect—the wine is every inch the paragon the Bichots proclaim it to be.

In describing their Malconsorts bottling, the Bichots don’t dwell on the Premier-versus-Grand Cru question but do share some fascinating information on the likely roots of the vineyard’s name. “The name ‘Malconsorts’ suggests that this land must once have been at the origin of disputes between mauvais consorts (bad partners),” they write. “The prefix Mal- would indicate that they conducted themselves inappropriately over land that they owned jointly.” 

Bichot’s version is typically aged 14-18 months in 20%-30% new French oak before bottling, which imparts an attractive baking spice note to a wine otherwise characterized by beautifully concentrated cherry fruit and pulverized rock minerality. In the glass, it has a deep ruby hue moving to garnet and pink at the rim, with exotically perfumed aromas of red and black cherry, tangy blackberry, damp violets, pekoe tea, turned earth, and warm spices. It is nearly full-bodied, with the kind of polished, fine-grained tannins you’d expect at this elite level—it is already quite a luscious and mesmerizing glass of wine now, provided you give it time in a decanter to blossom, but its impeccable balance and considerable concentration bode well for the long term, too. When you taste a wine like this, it’s easy to understand why people become such heart-and-soul fanatics for Burgundy: This combination of elegance and power is so rarely achieved elsewhere! Whenever the time comes to uncork one of these treasures, try the sumptuous duck breast recipe attached here. That will be a meal to remember! Enjoy!
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Country
France
Region
Burgundy / Côte de Nuits
Sub-Region
FranceVosne-Romanée / 1er Cru Les Malconsorts
Soil
Limestone & Clay
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Pinot Noir 100%
Alcohol
13.0
OAK
20-30% New French
TEMP.
60
Glassware
Large Burgundy Stem
Drinking
2020-2037
Decanting
2+ Hours
Pairing
Pan-Roasted Duck Breast

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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