Xavier Durand is one producer whose wines absolutely blew me away. His 14s have all the ebullient fruit that I and all of you loved in his 12s but also just insane precision and cut. He has employed more biodynamic principles in his 14's and only bottles, racks and picks when the moon is right. Whatever he is doing it is working as the wines are so brilliant in 14. These are easily better than his 12s. This is the part now where I get on a pedestal and say vintage is not as important as one thinks. 12 was Xavier's 3rd vintage and he was still learning and developing his philosophy. He is a much better winemaker now in 14 than he was for 12. They are just much more precise and clean and especially show the brilliant minerality of this vintage.
Up first is the brilliant 2014 Xavier Durand Ladoix which can be had for $24.99 per bottle on a 4-pack. The 2012 Ladoix was one of the best values we sold in the 2012 vintage and the 2014 is even better and no this is not hype it is better. Big fruity nose with so much earth, spice and mineral. Terrific texture as many of these 14's have. Fruit intermingled with stones and the requisite 2014 depth, precision and cut. Incredibly long and complex with a very mineral finish. This is scary how well this drinks now but has the spine to age 5-8 years but will be at its best upon release and over the next 2-3 years. This will be one of the best values of the vintage.
Next up is something that is quickly becoming a Fass Selections favorite, the 2014 Xavier Durand Nuits St. Georges "Les Charmois" for as little as $39.99 a bottle. The 2012 was just a hedonist's dream with so much fruit and depth. The 2014 is an OMG wine in that it has those thrilling levels of fruit that 2012 has but also insane cut and precision. Big and very deep nose that goes on and on. The fruit is brighter in the 14 than the 12 but what outrageous depth. So sappy, long, complex and mineral. The prices on both went up a couple bucks as quantities are low and '13 was really down and Xavier is getting famous.
Many of my Burgundies are in a particular style that is acid/terroir driven and they typically need hours/days open or years in the cellar to really show themselves. The wait is worth it. But sometimes I don't like waiting. I'm an impatient neurotic NYC Jew. Waiting is known to give me anxiety. Sometimes I want to open a young Burgundy that is full of fruit and a dash of earth that I can drink after a 10-15 minute aeration. I also want it to have all the things that my other Burgundies have but without having to wait forever. That is why I absolutely adore the wines of Xavier Durand. I feel with Xavier Durand, his wines will be as popular as Murat one of these days, who is the most popular producer in all of Fass Selections. I am chomping at the bit to get these and sink my teeth into them as they are, to hijack a John Livingston Learmouth term, "WOW" wines. Not wow as in wow, this is completely mind blowing but wow as in this is "what one wants." So British. I love it. They are full of incredible and dense fruit, bordering on the darker cherry side. It is dazzlingly pure and sweet fruit and all framed by Xavier's meticulous and judicious use of new oak. He is the master of new oak of all my producers. You don't know it is here. After every wine when I tasted with him back in March, he would tell me the new oak % and I would gasp as I never even expected these wines to have new oak, but they do and sometimes 25% but you cannot tell. Like Dujac or Rousseau he gets amazing material for the oak to suck up. You cannot tell it is there. Like a great chef with salt, where salt is needed in every dish, you don't know it is there and when there is too much it ruins the dish/wine. I point this out because for Xavier being so young and being able to get this amazing quality fruit while being this skilled with oak is just phenomenal. Also he has about some of the fairest prices in all of Fass Selections. Today I am offering two outstanding Burgundies from Xavier Durand that will test the QPR barrier. The quality to price on these is about as good as it gets because of a number of factors. Not the A++ terroir, so that discount is in effect, young winemaker discount is in effect, the I buy direct discount is in effect and combine all three of these and you have some serious values here. It's kind of unfair that I know how these taste and you don't. I'm still not used to it to be honest. Knowing how all these wines taste and you, the client, not knowing till months, years down the line depending on when you crack them.
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