The Great Burgundy Thowdown of 2018 (Blind Group Tasting of a Young Fass Star Versus the Landed Gentry)

Durand Came Into His Own in 2016
2016 Xavier Durand Ladoix
 - Blew Away the 2014 Domaine Petitot Ladoix Vieilles Vignes (Which was $48 in NYC)
 - Soaring Aromas, Big, Big Cherries
 - Beautiful, Juicy, Deep, Oh So Deep
2016 Xavier Durand Aloxe-Corton "Les Boutieres"
 - Blew Away the 2014 Joseph Drouhin Aloxe Corton (175% the Price)
 - Incredibly Complex and Structured

Homer wrote the Odyssey and now I'm writing the Fass Selections Odyssey with Xavier Durand. We

offered Xavier's 2012s some of his 13s, his 14s and I did something I've really never done before, I skipped his 15s. He's a young winemaker first of all and his 14s were by far his best wines yet. You have to hang onto these Burgundy producers as you do not know when they will flower. The wines can be very very good and then all of a sudden they are on another level and stay there and usually get higher. Look at a young Burgundy producer like an NFL Quarterback prospect. Some, but very very few are incredible out of the gates. Most sit behind someone more experienced with a clipboard and take notes until their time comes. Did anyone really see Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers for who they were going to he back in the day. Of course not. It's highly unpredictable. Alex Smith was meh for 7 years after being drafted #1 and then all of a sudden he became really good and has been for almost 6-7 years now. He has been good as long as he was mediocre.

Young Burgundy estates are like young NFL QBs. It is literally impossible to predict and even the experts cannot predict it. But you keep them because getting a young talented NFL caliber QB is still the hardest thing to acquire in sports. I can safely say as a wine importer now for 5 years acquiring a top notch Red Burgundy estate is incredibly difficult. Likely more difficult than getting that QB. But if they have some talent you keep them, because the reward is high and the risk is minimal. If there was a hypothetical Burgundy Draft I don't think Xavier Durand would be drafted in the first 3-4 rounds. Tom Brady was a 6th round draft pick. #199. All the experts thought there were 198 players better than Tom Brady that year. I'm not saying Xavier Durand is Tom Brady, but what I am saying is that the set of circumstances that led to Tom Brady being overlooked is similar to the set of circumstances for why Xavier Durand has been overlooked. For completion's sake, the 6 QB's drafted ahead of Tom Brady in the infamous 2000 NFL Draft were Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Marc Bulger and Spergon Wynn. In order to illustrate to the list that Xavier Durand with his 16s and 17s that I just tasted in January is something closer to Tom Brady rather than Spergon Wynn I arranged a small blind tasting with 2 friends and customers who also happen to live in my building. I went locally (in NYC) and found two bottles from producers that were here via the 3-Tier System that were as close to possible as the two 2016 Xavier Durand bottlings I will offer today. We did it blind, took notes, averaged our scores and took price into account as well.

Up first I've got the 2016 Xavier Durand Ladoix for $29.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack. This is one of the best value Red Burgs period. And against a wine much more expensive with much older vines it absolutely wrecked it.  We we blind tasted the 2014 Domaine Petitot Ladoix Vieilles Vignes which J bought for $48 a bottle. I chose 14 as that vintage is the most similar to 2016. There's not much Ladoix out there so had take what I could get. I had a reasonable expectation this wine would be good. I remember liking some 09s from Petitot. Anyway, the wine was absolute dreck. I was sickened. I would not pay $5 for this bottle of wine. We all agreed it was hollow, watery, had middling fruit, was innocuous and shrill. It got worse with air. And the finish was dirty and short. "The food sucked and the portions were small!" For $48 this is what Ladoix is at retail in NYC. Blech. Xavier killed his 16s. He told me it all clicked. He did not kill his 15s. While the lower end bottling were good the higher end bottling were a bit hot and messy. But the 16s and now the 17s this past January were stunning. It totally clicked for Xavier. He admitted it himself. He's a young winemaker and he's changing things up (new labels much more modern and easier to read in 2016) and vastly improving vintage to vintage. I loved his 14s but his 16s are in a class by themselves. The nose on the 2016 Xavier Durand Ladoix is sick. Beautiful dark and sappy Pinot fruit with exuberant spice. Even in Xavier's very cold cellar the aromas were soaring out of the glass. Big, big cherries and so many exotic spices. So clean and so lifting. I mean it blows the $48 garbage out of the water. Just an insane nose. The palate is even better. Beautiful, juicy and deep. So clean. My god has he cleaned up his act. The 16s here are super clean. Balance in this wine is exceptional and there are just stunning inner mouth aromas. Incredibly juicy and mineral finish. Insane acids. Just sick. This wine blows away anything Xavier has ever made. And needless to say the random $48 Ladoix I sourced to see what else is out there. 


Up next is the second blind wine and as many know the higher up one goes on the Burgundy ladder the harder you fall. Today I have the 2016 Xavier Durand Aloxe-Corton "Les Boutieres" for $39.99 a bottle. First of I have to say Aloxe Corton is the most underrated appellation in all of Burgundy. It needs time but the quality is there. It reminds me of Pommard/Pernand hybrids. Anyway, I bought the 2014 Joseph Drouhin Aloxe Corton for $65 to see how it was, blind, against little old Xavier Durand 2016 I just had a few weeks before. The Drouhin, which was thankfully better than the Petitot Ladoix, but not much better. It was just anonymous, light, diffuse, regular, and just plain old boring. Light red fruits. Decent balance and just ok. If I paid $20-$25 I'd be like meh. Not bad. I paid $65 and there was smoke coming or my ears. I was pissed for two reasons. I just spent $65 on a wine that sucked and that there is a hell of a lot more Drouhin Aloxe that is drunk than they is Xavier's and Xavier's 16s (and not to mention 14's) smoke the Drouhin 14 Aloxe-Corton and it's 2/3 of the price and from a specific site, Les Boutiers. The 2016 Durand Aloxe-Corton "Les Boutieres) is a mindblowing wine. This is maybe the best Aloxe I've ever had and I've had a surprising amount. The nose smells like this wine will be much deeper structured than the Ladoix. The nose has layers. The flowers and cherries are lovely with a hint of sweet oak that is so subtle and so well integrated. He's using 40% new wood on this. The palate is stunning. Very complex and structured with wonderful depth and rich and very ripe tannins. There is a sick density to this wine and unreal sweetness of fruit and it's more black than red due to some very low yields. It's sap city. I love the seamlessness of Xavier's wines in 2016. There is stunning harmony between fruit, tannin, acid and the tannins, like a tsunami have parts of it all. The finish is stunningly long and there is such grace and serenity to his wines now. It's like he has reached a winemaking Nirvana. 

2016 Xavier Durand Ladoix - $31.99 ($119.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)

2016 Xavier Durand Aloxe-Corton "Les Boutiers"- $41.99 
($159.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)