2 Spectacular Red Burgundy Values Under $30 - 2017s, Ready to Drink, Will Age

 2017 Laurent Boussey Beaune "Les Prevoles"
 - Directly Under the Great 1er Cru, Tuvilains
 - Nose: After 10 minutes the Fruit Aromatically Erupts like a Volcano 
 - Strawberry and Watermelon
 - Classic Tweed Jacket, Some Licorice
 - Palate: Juicy, Luscious 2017 Fruit
 - Refined and Superbly Elegant
 - Tremendous QPR Here 
 - Drink Now but Can Age for 6-10 Years 
 - Compare Other Various Beaune "Les Prevoles" at $53-$68

2017 Laurent Boussey Savigny Les Beaune Rouge
 - Nose is So, So Deep
 - Very Floral
 - Gorgeous Mid to Late Season Cherry Fruit
 - Stunning Minerality
 - Palate: Ungodly Amounts of Fruit
 - Black and Red Cherries Galore
 - Stunning Tiny Berry Fruit Intensity
 - Lovely Sweetness
 - Wide Open
 - Powerful but also Elegant

 - Terrific Inner Mouth Aromas

Rational Expectations vs. Adaptive Expectations

In economics, adaptive expectations basically means that you observe what is happening and act accordingly at that point. So if prices rise, after that point, you adjust how you consume an item (or even behave generally).

Rational expectations means that you alter your behavior before the price rises by using intellect/models to predict what will happen.

For the curious, Robert Lucas won the Nobel Prize for applying rational expectations to macroeconomics. It was a revolutionary contribution and had a huge impact on macro modeling (also making it incredibly complex).

At Fass Selections, We've always tried to be rational.

What that means is that we all know that 2021 will be the lowest yielding vintage since 1981.

So we are not waiting for the impending demand crunch. We are raiding cellars in a ninja-like fashion to get you wines to make up for the impending shortage.

The 2017 Vintage

Which brings us to 2017. There’s plenty of it and it’s in an up front style that has not yet closed down and likely never will. Today I’ve got two brilliant 1er Crus from Laurent Boussey that will offer compelling drinking over the next decade while you sit on the other vintages like 2018/2019/2020.

Laurent Boussey

Every day, more and more people taste Boussey and jump on the bandwagon.

These are old school, classic and traditional Burgs with chiseled incredible fruit (especially in 2017). Laurent has some very serious terroir as his father has retired and he has vineyards in 24 different appellations.

Oh and I buy direct so these are incredible values when you compare to 3 tier.

Laurent Boussey's 2017s

Laurent Boussey outdid himself in 2017 and blew me away with his level of quality. His 17s and 18s in barrel were truly stunning wines and he has really made a move in these two vintages up the quality producer ladder in Burgundy. They are stunningly fruited wines with insane transparency, site character and top notch finesse. They have an accessible charm to them (as is the case with all 17s) and from his anything but basic village wines to his top notch 1er Crus you cannot beat this pricing. I am very happy with Laurent and his 17s are the best vintage yet.

So what gets the least respect in quality Burgundy? How about a lieu-dit from Beaune? Yup. When you have the massive holdings that Laurent Boussey has (he inherited a bunch when his father retired) you've got so many, at least in my mind, really dope, cool, and quirky ones. But also these wines provide tremendous value. 

The Wines

I'm lucky to have one of those wines today. If I had an award for the most honest wine I've ever offered this would be up there. The 2017 Laurent Boussey Beaune "Les Prevoles" for $28.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack. Beaune lieu-dits can be excellent values but it's also important to get a good producer. I've tasted as much bad Beaune reds as any type of wine I can think of. But when they are good I tend to gravitate towards them as they are really great values and I love the slightly rustic yet linear style and in the right vintages it has "crank it up" fruit. Les Prevoles as a site has a relationship to Fass Selections. It is directly under the great 1er Cru, Tuvilains that former Fass Selections superstar Herve Murat made a few vintages of for us. This wine is just incredible. This was going to get an email of it's own but I decided against it. 

The nose. After 10 minutes the fruit aromatically erupts like a volcano. Strawberry and watermelon. Wow. Really great. Classic Beaune Prévoles tweed jacket as well. Just wafting aromas. Classic and woolly nose if you know what I mean. Very Burgundian. I know, I hate tautological tasting notes but you'll get what I mean. The sweet red cherry fruits really jump out of the nose. Stunning. After air it really starts to waft. Huge, soppy red cherries and tons of earth. Floral and complex with great breadth.

Palate has stunningly juicy and luscious 2017 fruit. Stunning purity and mouthfeel. Balance is magical. So dense and chewy. Palate is powerful, dense and tannic. But has a terrific core of fruit. Really gets to the back of the throat and love how the tannins are mineral inflected. Has the “slippery, up front” character of 2016 which will I think will never close down and drink well for at least 10 more years. With air it’s integrating more and sweetening up and the tannins are becoming more velvety Refined and superbly elegant. This is the most refined version of this wine I've ever had. Velvety tannins pump out the fruit. Very chewy. Long finish with a hint of rusticity. Pure. Lovely. 

On day 2 the nose has vivid sour cherry. Lots of zesty fruit. Tweed. Cherry pit. Licorice. Palate is deep, juicy and ripe and cuts a lovely swath. Enormous concentration and purity. Very fresh and energetic. Tremendous QPR here. Drink now but can age for 6-10 years. The fruit is so ungodly great that it must be drunk young but has the guts to age for 10 years. 

Up next is the 2017 Laurent Boussey Savigny Les Beaune Rouge for $28.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is a steal in 2017 and one of the best SLB Village wines I've ever had. And it’s drinking so well now. Just insane fruit. I love 17’s fruit. 

Nose is so so deep. It's floral after mega air.  Gorgeous mid to late season cherry fruit on a bed of limestone are the hallmarks here. Gorgeous minerality. Superb earth and red fruits. Strawberry, gorgeous classic Burgundian aromas. The classic sous-bois in full effect. 2017 is so good in the so called "B" villages. 

Palate has an ungodly amount of fruit. Black and red cherries galore. Juicy, oh man, so juicy with stunning tiny berry fruit intensity and just lovely sweetness. Just explodes on the palate with tiny berry fruit intensity. Terrific velvety tannins and freshness. Wow. A stunner. This is a stunner. This is wide open and has extravagant levels of fruit. What a palate. A monster of slippery, sweet fruit. Nuanced, clear and detailed. So deep, so fresh, so concentrated. Amazing purity and sappy red and black cherries. Powerful and also elegant. Sappy. Such nice acid and freshness has an electricity to it despite its ripeness. Wow. Exhilarating is the best word. Terrific inner mouth aromas and sweet, ripe velvety and substantial tannins. Drink now and over the next 10 years. 

2017 Laurent Boussey Beaune "Les Prevoles" - $30.99

($115.96 4-Pack) 

2017 Laurent Boussey Savigny Les Beaune Rouge - $30.99 ($115.96 4-Pack)