Top Tier Burgundy for a Song. I am Not Kidding. This New Producer Will Be Recognized As Elite. I am Banging the Drum With Giant Mallets

I Aboslutely Love, Love, Love JanotBos 
 - Gorgeous, Elegant Chardonnay Fruit
 - Lovely Aromatics
 - The Precision and Minerality of Top Tier German Riesling
 - These Wines Represent a Unique, Incredible Style
 - If I Could Design a Burgundy That I Wanted from Scratch, This Would Be It

Two Teeny Amounts of Wines from the Classic 2014 Vintage

2014 Chassagne Montrachet
 - Stunning, stunning Nose of Liquid Minerals and Flowers
 - World Class Energy and Denisty
 - Balance Achieved by Few Winemakers ... Anywhere

2014 Bourgogne Blanc
 - Last Year's White Wine of the Year ... So I Like It
 - An Unreal Bourgogne Blanc - Village Quality
 - Meursault and Puligny Blend
 - Not Much So I Don't Want to Oversell

There is something about the wines of Domaine Janotbos that remind me of a tight iambic

pentameter. There is a lyrical poetry about them yet they have a stark minimalist almost Germanic like precision. Poetry embedded in rock stolid steel. They are as intense as Richard Bos is and very very serious wines. Each one is more delicious, serious and complex than the next. When you go up the ladder at Janotbos there is a big gap between the quality levels. All the wines are impressive on their own but the quality leap from say Bourgogne Blanc to the Chassagne is ridiculous. The wines have an urgency and an energy that is just top notch. They are dense, stuffed and packed and there is no noticeable oak at all. These wine are about crystalline purity, dense mineral structures, high acid and an almost Germanic precision to them. Richard loves Bordeaux and Austrian Riesling. His wines have the most Germanic influence that I've tasted since back in 2012 when I tasted at Chantegrives where the winemaker interned at Rudolf Fürst in Franken. I've been looking for a producer that does the same thing and am thrilled to have one that I think is better. The steely precision of these white Burgs stands alone stylistically in my portfolio. Kind of like Schätzel I'd say if there was one estate I had to compare them to. I adore these wines and never have enough.

Today I've got two 14s. I'm so happy Richard has some of his 2014 Chassagne Montrachet for $52.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. Firmly in the Fass 4-3-1 plan. Buy 4. Pop one, as 2014s are insane to drink young. It's just like drinking pure vinous energy. Then cellar 3 as this has the structure and density to age for 10-13 years and greatly improve.  I love Chassagne. It gets ranked 3rd of the big three behind Puligny and Meursault but really they all are at the same level, just different. Some of the best white burgundies of my life have been Chassagne. I love the floral quality to it and a rainwater like clarity and purity they seem to have. Less nutty and iodine than the other 2 and more floral, vivacious and clear. I truly adore Chassagne. Forget that this is a village wine as this is just as profound as it gets. Stunning, stunning nose of liquid minerals, flowers (white, irises, even some pollen) rocks, rocks and more rocks and what seems like something that can only be described as rainwater. It's so clear. So intoxicating. 2014 is such an epic vintage and the refrain is there are no bad 2014's. It's true. Have not had one that is remotely bad yet. It's as remarkable a vintage for white Burgundy as I can remember. Maybe 96 is last one that got this much hype. The energy, density and precision of this wine is world class. There is not that much that separates Richard from the elite tier in Burgundy. If he had more 1er crus and Grand Crus I'm sure he'd not be in my portfolio and allocated to like Jean Georges and Per Se every year.  It's got more minerals than a rock quarry but has that sensual rock candy sweetness that 2014 does so so well. Electric acids crash on your palate like waves on rocks. Your palate is awash with minerality and stoney citrus sweetness and it is presented in a finesse yet dense and forceful style. To have all these things going on at once is what makes this wine magical. I wrote about how the 2014 Morgeot 1er Cru was like the oboe solo in Beethoven's 5th but this wine is more like the whole symphony right at the beginning; just thundering and grooving. The wine is just so utterly complete. The finish has that intense 2014 sap and saltiness and lasts forever. This is stunning. Richard only has a little bit left so act fast!

Richard also has some left of the 2014 Bourgogne Blanc for $26.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack, which was our white wine of the year last year. It is simply a stunning microcosm of why 2014 is awesome and Jaonotbos is awesome for an affordable price and also if you have not had a Janotbos wine and want to get a handle on the style this is the perfect wine and he only has a limited amount left.

This is an unreal Bourgogne Blanc and it's really village level quality in Bourgogne Blanc clothing and it comes from absolutely the Fassiest estate we have for White Burgundy.

 - Vineyards  The fruit in this wine is a blend of vineyards in Meursault (Les Pellons) and in Puligny-Montrachet (Champ Perrieres) which is very serious for a Bourgogne Blanc. This wine is what great 2014 White Burgundy is about.

 - Aromatics  This smells like a high class village wine off the bat and that's what I said blind as Richard Bos tasted me blind when I was there. Super mineral and super expressive nose with so much limestone character and big apple and pear fruits. Vivid and pure aromas. Loads of wet stones.

  - Palate  Incredible clarity of fruit, flavor authority and sappy minerals and tasty present and beguiling acidity along with terrific purity.  Deep, very concentrated with tremendous village level finesse and sap. Terrific cut and acidity and that intensely friendly drinkable yet classical style that sets 2014 apart.

 - Finish  Long winding mineral finish that pitter patters down your palate. Really terrific mouthfeel and almost a sweet tart impression the palate. Tactile and grippy. Powerful and persistent this has the guts to age 10 more years. But this is glorious now and I am proud to call it my white wine of the year.

These are the FASSIEST white Burgundies in the portfolio. What does that mean? It means these have what I, if could create a killer white Burgundy in a lab, would want in the Lyle  Fass perfect White Burgundies.

What Makes a Wine Fassy?
1) Balancing Acidity.  First of all, these wines have acid to keep them fresh. Like acid you cannot believe. Martin Müllen acids. Ever present acids that balance the fruit on the palate but never seem forced or too much. These wines are the FASSIEST acid profile of any of my Burg producers. I loved the first sip and haven't looked back.
2) Juiciness.  The wines must also be juicy. Man these are juicy. Electric. The only word is electric.
3) Fruit. These wines have glorious fruit of the sweet tart kind but they have their moments of opulence as well.
4) Complexity.  I love delicious fruity, juicy wines as much as the next guy but what really gets me going is a wine that has the complexity that I can really sit back and contemplate.
5) Punch Above their Weight.  I love wines that taste like a level or two above what they are (e.g. village wines that taste like 1er crus).  I can confidently say this about everything that JanotBos bottles.
6) SUPER Small Production!

Richard Bos of the relatively new Fass Selection estate, Domaine JanotsBos, is an outsider who came, he saw, and by my tasting in his cellars in March, he conquered.  Richard is from the Netherlands and still commutes back and forth between the winery in Meursault and his home in the Netherlands where he still has friends and family. Richard's partner is Thierry Janots. Janots was the part time winemaker for a number of years at Comte Lafon.  Both have been killing the game since 2005. They don't own their vineyards like many outsiders in Burgundy but have connections to them and visit often and have great relationships with the land owners who they coordinate with to get the grapes the way that they want them.


I've tasted tons of white Burgundies from top producers and I am even more convinced that the JanotBos wines are in that tier and offer brilliant value to boot. These are top top values as they have the insane depth of the top guys but are not priced like that. 12 years is a small nugget in time for a winery in Burgundy. One second on the Doomsday clock. And in that time they have raised waves. For high quality Burgundy these are a must.

2014 Domaine Janotbos Chassagne Montrachet  - $54.99 
($211.96 4-pack) 
2014 Domaine Janotbos Bourgogne Blanc - $28.99 ($107.96 4-pack)