2017 Is An Incredible Vintage in Burgundy
Julien Cruchandeau Finally Has a Decent Sized Harvest
Two Great Value Wines from a Young Star
2017 Cruchandeau Bourgogne Haute Cotes de Nuits "Les Cabottes"
- Gorgeous Fresh, Fruited Nose with Cherry and Spice
- Pure, Pure Pure Pinot Noir Fruit
- Clear, Crunchy and Delicious
- A Rare Opportunity to Buy a Brilliant but Drinkable Pinot
- Man This Is So Delicious I Could Drink a Bottle in 5 Minutes
NV (2017) Julien Cruchandeau Cremant de Bourgogne Rose
- Stunningly Delicious Cremant Rose for Under $20
- Sweet, Juicy, Bright Pinot Fruit
- Super Fine Bubbles and Intense But Drinkable
On my recent visit to Burgundy this past February I tasted through a lot of 17's in barrel. And there were lots of barrels of 17 as this is the first normal quantity vintage in a while. Winemakers across the Côte d'Or were very very happy with their bountiful harvest. The wines were glorious. 1999 and 2002 come to mind but it really reminds me of 1999 for reds and 2002 for whites as there is acidity. Lordy, there is acidity.
2017 Vintage Report
In 2017 vineyards that were ravaged by frost in 2016 had abundant yields while vineyards that had no
frost in 2016 had extra tiny yields in 2017. It's a odd little quirk of the vintage. Take your pick of a vintage comparison. 1999 maybe as there is high quality and high quality. 2002 for some (but more for whites) and some even say 2015 with better acidity levels, which is also a possibility. One thing from my tastings in early February is that all the wines are great. Across the board. As in 1999 the quality is evenly distributed across all the quality levels. This will present an opportunity for buyers of all levels of Red Burgundy. Make no mistake this is a great vintage and there is mostly plenty of it. The key to this vintage is cool nights consistently throughout the growing season which led to terrific acidity. This is great for the reds but even more for the whites. The reds are succulent, juicy and deep with stunning clarity, crunch and freshness. This sounds like I am writing about 1999, and the more I remember my 1999 tastings as a retailer the more I'm convinced this is a modern day 1999. I'll only offer one red Burgundy from 2017 for the Fall ship and this is it. If you want to be informed of future buying possibilities, as there will be plenty in 2017, but this wine so one can get a bead on this vintage. But also but today's wine because this is a core Fass Selections wine and it is utterly delicious and one of the better values that I sell. It was allocated last year and will not be this year. But it is limited as this is a small estate and I know how this list can get.
The Wines
The 2017 Julien Cruchandeau Bourgogne Haute Cotes de Nuits "Les Cabottes" can be had today for $24.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack and $22.99 on a 12-bottle case purchase, and has been in bottle for a few months now.
The nose is beautiful and captures the stunning fruit clearly. It is elegant and super pure. Terrific with cherry fruit, light spice and tons of wet earth. Nicely polished and suave.
This has spectacular Pinot Noir fruit on the palate, with elegant tannin, but make no mistake this is a
Burgundy about fruit and can be drunk on arrival. Juicy as all can be which is a defining character of 17 along with the stunning depth of fruit and freshness. More refined as it airs and the fruit gets slightly darker. The finish is long and really flows like a river of pure Pinot fruit on your palate and is lifted by the vintage's excellent acidity. So so so juicy and complex with lots to peak your interest besides being stunningly delicious and balanced. As Julien says, "It is more about fruit than tannin."
It provides a terrific counterpoint to the HCDN "Les Valencons" (usually sold together, but Valencons is now bottled later with the other reds) which has more structure and needs time to breathe and could use a year or two in the cellar to come together a bit more. The 2017 Cabottes fills that gap. A wine of pleasure, but wines of pleasure made by great winemakers are always a bit more than that as we all know, and Julien's is no exception. Julien's style is to make the wines as naturally as possible which includes eschewing temperature control. He uses lutte raissonee in the vineyards which is roughly translated as "the reasoned struggle."
Up next I have one of the more fun yet serious sparkling wines I will ever sell and boy is ita value!
The NV (2017) Julien Cruchandeau Cremant de Bourgogne Rose for $19.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack. I know. The price is ridiculous. It's a great fun wine. Grapes are hand picked and secondary fermentation in bottle lasts 12 months. This gets the wine its especially fine bubbles. The color is awesome. It's like a pinkish salmon but more pinkish. The wine is intense but so drinkable. It is Fass Selections so it will be complex and not so easy even at $19.99! Big red cherries and red berries on the nose. Palate has ripe apricot, redcurrant and raspberry. All the while this retains terrific finesse and it's really impressive how well put together this wine is for under $20. This is the perfect aperitif wine. Although a chocolate based desert and this could be a blast. This is not a long ager. 3 years to retain the freshness of the wine.
2017 Julien Cruchandeau Bourgogne Haute Cotes de Nuits "Les Cabottes" - $26.99 ($99.96 4-pack, $275.88 12 bottle Case)
NV (2017) Julien Cruchandeau Cremant de Bourgogne Rose - $21.99
($79.96 4-pack)
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