I recently had a call from a customer looking for some White Burgundy, but specifically a few bottles that he could drink now, not anything very old, but with a bit of age, you know what I mean, ready to drink. Taking a look through our offerings I found a number of wines to fill his wish, and a few stood out as wines that I should be discussing with customers regularly.
We have bought and sold many cases of Sylvain Langoureau’s wines from about 1998 on, so I was very excited when in Spring of 2015 Jean-Marie des Champs took me to visit Sylvian Langoureau at his Domaine. The Langoureau winery sits in the hamlet of Gamay, just between Meursault and Saint-Aubin. They farm just 25 acres, with holdings in Saint-Aubin, Chassagne, Puligny and Meursault. He uses very little new oak, preferring a combination of steel and oak that has been previously used.
To get right to the point, I love this guy’s wines. Specifically the Saint-Aubin’s. When you look at the way the vineyards of the Cote de Beaune are laid out, Saint-Aubin is actually an extension of Montrachet, bordering Puligny and Chassagne, just up the hill. This terroir is easy to overlook in the understanding of the BIG THREE appellations, but Saint-Aubin is making wines as good as any of the others, and Langoureau is one of the most successful. If you love White Burgundy you should be buying Langoureau, high quality, also very fairly priced.
Sylvain Langoureau Saint-Aubin “1er Cru En Remilly” 2014- $39.99
This is THE wine at this Domaine as far as I am concerned, it is the wine we have bought many times over the years. En Remilly is the closest vineyard in Saint-Aubin to Le Montrachet. The 2014 is a great example of wine delivering extremely high quality but without breaking the bank. Ripe pineapple flavors and classic butter/mineral texture, perfect balancing acidity and a very long finish…this is absolutely delicious! I love how dry it is and also how well-balanced. We have had it at home a couple of times, but most recently with a Chicken Fricassee dish and the pairing was just perfect.
He describes 2014s as “a vintage that gave us correct yields as we had no hail issues, thank goodness. I did a relatively little bâtonnage and limited the new wood to no more than 20%. I really like the style of the ’14s because while everyone always says that a given vintage will be good young and old I really do believe that 2014 gave us wines that will in fact fulfill those promises!”
” As the scores and commentaries suggest this Domaine should be added to those of Lamy, Prudhon, Bachelet and Marc Colin for high quality domaines based in or near St. Aubin. If you don’t know the wines I strongly suggest you check out an example. (En Remilly tasting note) An interesting and layered nose combines notes of smoke, citrus peel, wet stone and fresh pear scents. There is once again good volume and richness to the generously proportioned medium weight flavors that coat the palate with dry extract while delivering very fine length on the balanced, clean and saline-inflected finale. Lovely stuff that should be approachable young if that’s your preference. 91 points. Outstanding! Top Value! 91 points” Burghound.com
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