2019 Domaine Berlancourt Bourgogne "Les Equinces"
- Easily 1er Cru Puligny/Meursault/Chassagne in Quality
- Evocative Nose
- Flowers, Pear, Apple
- Wonderful Minerality
- Palate: Purest and most Balanced Equinces Ever
- Unreal Complexity and Freshness
- Terrific Chewiness
- Spice Bazaar
- Fantastic Roundness
- Insane Inner Mouth Aromas
- Amazing Balance, Freshness, Salinity and Length
- Fass Selections Core White Burgundy
2019 Domaine Berlancourt Bourgogne Rose
- Top Notch Rose from Pinot Noir
- Unlike Any Rose In The World
- Painfully Low Yields
- Insanely Dense, Rich and Flat Out Delicious
- There is Great Rose Out There Beyond Lopez de Heredia, Which is the Wine Geek Default Rose and also $100+
- Rose Made Exactly Like 1er Cru White Burgundy
- Not Much in 2019
"1er Cru Level, Easy"
JF Coche Dury
Robuchon's Potatoes
Most food lovers know the story of the late, great Joel Robuchon's potato puree. The rich and yes, so potato-ey dish became a staple of global fine dining after it was introduced in the 80s. What is interesting about the story is that Robuchon made his name not with a luxury ingredient, like lobster or fois gras, but with the humble potato which he elevated into one of the most delicious dishes on earth.
I mention this dish because today's winemaker has become famous by making wines from the humblest of terroir. His secret, like Robuchon's, is hard work and technique. He treats his wines as if they were premier or Grand Cru. And they are spectacular.
Domaine Berlancourt
Domaine Berlancourt is one of the smallest estates in Burgundy. Pierre and his son Adrienare doing wonders with Bourgogne Blanc. I missed him this year obviously but writing this has brought me back there. The fresh gougeres are legendary as well as the wine. Calling it Bourgogne Blanc is an insult almost. These wines are so much better. They are 1er Cru quality. Actually in 2019 there are 3 whites. now. There is no Demoiselles in 19 but they added a very high end wine which we just offered the other night. They are in my ranking - regional/village/1er Cru and Grand Cru. Pierre told me that the one and only Jean Francois Coche Dury was tasting there a few weeks before the second lockdown and he declared all the wines at least 1er Cru in quality. That's quite an endorsement if I've ever heard one. But to throw another name out there, Arnaud Ente seems to be the only person in Burgundy who takes his Bourgogne Blanc as seriously as Pierre and Adrien Berlancourt. Well Pierre Brisset as well but Brisset's are super classic while Berlancourt are distinctive and there is nothing like them. Close in DNA to JJ Morel but not in a natural style.
The Bourgogne Blanc Royalty
- Wine-searcher has 3 Arnaud Ente Bourgogne Blancs and they are $145, $159 and $195.
- Coche Dury's, whose is nice but I would not put at the Ente level, is $250.
I'm not saying today's wines are at these quality levels but for people who work hard on their Bourgogne Blanc I have to firmly put Berlancourt as number 3, behind Arnaud Ente and Coche Dury. Maybe a tiny bit behind Brisset. Or Berlancourt does for Puligny-based Bourgogne Blanc what Brisset does for Chassagne-based Bourgogne Blanc. Chavy Chouet is also making a late charge to become a leading light in the Bourgogne Blanc sweepstakes at Fass Selections.
The Facts
- The total production of this winery is a microscopic 2,000 bottles (they earn a living from their adjacent hotel, not from winemaking).
- Yields are cut back to 12-28hl/ha for the Equinces.
- As a basis for comparison, the average yield for this area is 68 hl/ha.
- Legendary winemaker Lalou Bize-Leroy's famously low yields are 16 hl/ha (most of her wines are a thousand dollars and up).
- What low yields do is add incredible concentration of flavor and texture to the wines.
- These wines are made as if they were from Premier Cru and Grand Cru vineyards. And it shows.
- The Sulfur levels are lower than ever know which has imbued an astonishing purity to the 19’s
The Wine
The 2019 Domaine Berlancourt Bourgogne "Les Equinces" is $33.99 a bottle on a 3-Pack today. This is the best young Equinces ever. It has a compactness and purity that is astonishing. This wine is just gorgeous and easily 1er Cru Puligny / Meursault / Chassagne in quality. Yields on this were 22 hectares per hectare in this vintage. It is aged for two years in old oak (the barrels are really old). The pruning in winter 2019 was very severe and they cut off many vines due to frost. Still this wine is enormously complex, dense and chewy as only Berlancourt can be.
Nose. Insanely aromatic. Cake icing, green apple, huge minerals, alluring spice, iodine, hazelnut, so refined and complex. After air you get a big evocative nose of flowers, apple pie, apple skins and wonderful minerality. It opens and opens. Eventually there is a gorgeous perfume that has you gripped. The nose just is sick. Jumps out and demands your attention. Floral, mineral and really broad. It wafts from the glass. So clean. Smells like Puligny 1er Cru. Even some Puligny hazelnuts after a while. Even better on Day 2. Glorious spice, apple pie, so juicy. Huge spectrum of aromas. So precise.
Wow, what a palate. The purest and most balanced Equinces ever. Just a stunning wine. Tastes like elite 1er Cru. Just insane. Awesome acids and freshness and also has fantastic roundness which is a sign of an elite white wine. See Keller and Brisset. As nose opens up it becomes perfumed and spicy like a spice bazaar. Palate is so deep. My goodness it is crazy. It is so clean, so fresh and so ethereal. It floats on the palate and pumps juicy, refined apple fruit on the mid and the finish. Wow. So deep. Totally genius and so, so refined. Sickness. What structure and grip. Just genius. Best Equinces ever. There is terrific chewiness and a density you just don't see in any other Bourgogne Blanc that I've tasted. There is unreal complexity and freshness. There are insane inner mouth aromas. It is so deep, yet so pure and nimble at the same time. On day 2, Amazing balance, freshness, salinity and length. So compact, spicy and elegant. Concentrated and so so well made. Amazing sucrosity and treacly tension. Icing on a cake texture and a hint of confectionary aromas. Drinks like a 1er Cru. Has that mouthfeel and delineation. Wow. Like a perfect gumdrop of Chardonnay. Best one ever.
The finish is as long as the days in the summer. Endless. This is a work of art and a beautiful wine. The finish has an almost tannic quality to it and the length is profound. Just when you think the finish is over it is just beginning.
I'm not a big rose guy but I think that makes me much more qualified to pick them out. The harshest critics usually make the best recommendations. At Fass Selections, we have two roses that really stand above. And one hasn't even gotten its own e-mail yet. This is the first ever stand alone e-mail for a Rose in our seven year history. The other rose that is mega famous at Fass Selections is the Enderle & Moll Spätburgunder Rose which is allocated and today's wine the 2019 Domaine Berlancourt Bourgogne Rose for $25.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. I think this is one of the the greatest roses in the world. I love Simone but this is Pinot Noir. It's a whole different ballgame. It's from painfully low yields and a dedication I've seen in few winemakers.
What a nose. Stunning. Wet earth, so pure. Flower petals, roses, tangerine. cherry fruit, strawberry, so delicate but deep and so savory, earthy and feral. Some tea notes, orange zest and huge minerality. Also saline notes develop with air. It's super complex as one can tell. You get the picture.
Gorgeous palate that is dense and structured but again so delicate and pure. Lithe structure and cherry fruit like a ballerina on the palate. Very dense and very juicy. Long and complex and finishes savory and mineral. Terrific. Floral and hauntingly elegant with saturating Pinot fruit that is so clearly defined. Also hints of that lovely Puligny iodine. So well made. A cerebral rose if there ever was one. Juicy and concentrated with terrific power and minerality.
Long, mineral finish that dissipates perfectly. What a finish. It gains length, depth and power as it aerates. Acidity is insane and it is beguilingly pure and fresh and my goodness this finish is way way longer than it should be The fruit is so Pinot and is truly saturating. It has power and minerality,
It's so unique. Nothing else to compare it to. The Faberge Egg of rose.
2019 Domaine Berlancourt Bourgogne "Les Equinces" - $35.99
($101.97 3-Pack)
2019 Domaine Berlancourt Bourgogne Rose - $27.99
($103.96 4-Pack)
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