March 14, 2024 - Burgundy

The WAC Wine Club is proud to present for our March tasting an exciting exploration of French wines, from southern Champagne, heading east to Chablis and then to the Côte d’Or in Burgundy, specifically Côte de Beaune.

Pierre Gerbais Champagne Brut Nature L’Audace NV

A truly unique Champagne, the NV L’Audace Brut Nature is 100% Pinot Noir showing hints of exotic fruits, slight lemon peel bitterness and dried herbs. and opening fresh and mineral on the nose. This wine is bright and tightly crisp, yet these Pinot Noir wines from this southern region of Champagne show a remarkable complexity of flavors, are full-bodied, very pure and salty on the palate. The soils are Kimmeridgian, though there’s a sector where the limestone-clay mix is nearly identical to what you find in the Côte d’Or. Sometimes we forget how close Beaune is to Champagne, especially the Aube. If you grow up in the Aube, you actually live closer to Beaune than to Reims.

2013 Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru "La Forest"

Carefully crafted by Vincent Dauvissat who ages this wine in Nevers oak in less than 10 percent new barrels, its beautiful form is apparent from the moment it’s poured-- bright, pale yellow with hints of dried yellow orchard fruit, flavors of chamomile, fennel seed, almond, and distinctly cool with stony tension. It tastes umami-rich and feels perfectly balanced, hinting at oyster shells on the nose - sappy, chewy and concentrated but quite dry.

2014 Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru “La Forest” 

Premier Cru Chablis from the region’s left bank does not get much better than this. These wines are bright, pale yellow with a lovely perfumed lift to aromas, very Les Clos-like with flavors of pear, apple, anise, dried flowers, flinty minerality, citrus peel and a gently smoky top note. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, elegantly textural and racy, with a deep but tight-knit core, tangy balancing acids and a long, searingly saline, mineral finish.

Domaine Vincent Dauvissat - There have been largely only two Chablis camps among collectors: Raveneau and Dauvissat. Both superb, Dauvissat is the more traditional, classic Chablis style that every new producer seems to aspire to. 

Since Vincent Dauvissat joined his father René in the 1970s, the Dauvissat label has been a beacon of quality to every drinker and collector. Blessed with enviable holdings from Petit-Chablis through to the Grand Crus of Clos and Preuses, Dauvissat crafts wines of inimitable quality and longevity. Premier Cru La Forêt, (otherwise known as “Forest”), has a similar outlay with the classic Kimmeridgian soils and cool climate, generating the same sort of density and honeyed essence that the Grand Crus possess. 

2010 Louis Latour Volnay En Chevret 1er Cru

One wine critic after tasting this wine exclaimed, “Now, this is Burgundy!” Originating in the village of Volnay, south of Beaune and next to Pommard, the “En Chevret” is a parcel of vines located below the main road through town.  The 2010 color is intense dark ruby red with a mouth-watering bouquet of plums, strawberries, licorice, peppermint and pear.  The winery recommends pairing this with game and mature cheeses and they suggest veal with cream and morel mushrooms.

 
2015 Domaine de Courcel Pommard Grand Clos des Epenots 1er Cru

The Domaine de Courcel is a 400-year-old winery producing wines from seven different locations, all based in Pommard.  Le Grand Clos des Epenots is the largest plot in the vineyard and is located north of Pommard, at the start of the slope with ~60 year-old vines.  The wine is a deep ruby red color, offering aromas of blackberry, violet, kirsch and licorice.  This red unfolds nicely, leaving a complex finish that introduces an accent of bittersweet chocolate.