Pommard and Volnay's Neighbor Monthelie - Garaudet Eliminates the GapA Clos de Chenes Neighbor that could be Clos de Chenes Blind!
And a Village Monthelie that is Darned Near Brilliant
Remember when I said that Thomas Bouley was a star and his wines would soon explode in price? And they did.
Remember when I said that Julien Cruchandeau was a star and his wines would soon explode in price? And they did.
Remember when I said that Martin Muellen was a star and his old vintages would soon disappear? And they did.
Well Florent Garaudet made the leap with his reds in 2014 and his wines are going to get more expensive. Along with his already genius whites. A LOT more. He is going to Make Monthelie the next big thing. Yes, He's now that good.
Forewarned is forearmed.
One of the things that I have come to love since I started Fass Selections has been watching some of the winemakers I work with, grow and blossom. It's a transformation that happens for of a number of reasons. Principal among them is that many of my growers are young winemakers who are learning themselves, and are in that period of their life where they are changing and evolving very rapidly. It is a natural assumption they will get better as winemakers. Internally we talk about the leaps that winemakers have made. Caspari made the leap from 11 to 12. Murat made a huge leap from '10 (a highly desired and noteworthy vintage) to '11 (a lovely vintage nobody wants) and a massive leap again to '12 (some of the best wines I have sold in my entire career in retail) and it was an amazing thing to taste and experience this with them.
Today I am very happy to announce that another one of my winemakers has made a leap, and that winemaker is Florent Garaudet and that is the leap he made with his reds in 2014. I adore Florent's reds and have happily sold '10, '11, '12, and '13 from his small estate in Monthelie. They are all in various states of open/close now. These wines, mind you, have emerged as long distance runners, in that they have an extraordinary ability to age and an incredible ability to last open in the fridge (with a simple cork stuffed into it) for 3-4 days
and improve and change each day. I just had a 2012 Monthelie 1er Cru Champs Fulliot the other week and on night 2, it was easily one of the best expressions of Monthelie I've ever had. So basically I was thrilled with his reds before I tasted his genius '14's this past March. I did not expect them to be this good. This is a collection of wines that need to be celebrated. This is a milestone vintage for Florent. They will last as long as the previous vintages I've sold but I feel they have more definition, precision, freshness and depth than what has come before. Florent agreed with me. I was really dumbstruck. Florent told me that he looks at each vintage in two contexts, one of which is the weather and conditions and the other in how much he has learned and improved as a winemaker. Sometimes the best vintages from young winemakers are not necessarily the ones that everyone knows but they are the ones in that they made huge gains in their skills as winemakers. That is a point Florent emphasized as we taste and spoke. He made the "leap." The one common thing is when I bring it up the winemakers all acknowledge it as they totally knew it. Like the leap Stephen Curry made two years ago. He knows it. We know it. It's awesome. That's what happened with Florent's whole '14 collection, reds and whites, but today it is the reds turn to shine.
Up first I have the stalwart. The standby. The greatest village Monthelie Rouge. The 2014 Florent Garaudet Monthelie Rouge AC for as little as $29.99 on a 4-pack is just an insane value. $30 for this wine is stupid. If drinks like top class village Volnay (qualitatively I mean, as this is Monthelie all the way). It had a quiet nose and could have been shocked aromatically when I smelled it. Concentrated and juicy. Complex and light yet deep which is exactly what '14 is all about. Excellent intensity and terrific precision. Juicy. Long. Juicy. Very mineral. Lovely earth notes on the finish. His best vintage ever. After tasting this, his first red wine, I knew it was his best vintage ever. I kept repeating over in my head like a mantra. I cannot wait till people taste these.
I never offered the '11 as it was sold out and, I'm sorry, but the '12 and '13 are awesome, but super closed now. I had a '12 recently that began on night 2 of day 2 to kind of drink, but really both need 5-7 years. And both are brilliant wines. Florent believes his 14s will drink terrifically from day 1. I wanted to take the large metal vats home with me right then and there they were so good. I could not believe how brilliant these tastes this young. Usually they are a bit harder at this stage, but the wines were just brimming with succulent, precise fruit. Freshness for days and so much sap and r energy.
Next up I have one of Florent's best red wines and my favorite of his 1er Cru's. , the 2014 Florent Garauget Monthelie 1er Cru "Les Champs Fulliot" for as little as $37.99 on a 4-pack. Champs Fuillot borders Clos du Chênes (to the West). The soil is very poor and rocky, vines are 60 years old and it is ages In 50% new oak. It is a big wine with oodles of concentration and tiny berry explosive fruit and a serious mineral backbone. Again, the precision and depth yet lightness and drinkability is unconscious. Incredibly powerful and structured like Clos des Chenes with wonderful mouth coating sweet and ripe tannins and crazy Volnay like aromas of deep violets, orchard fruits, ripe red cherries and even a hint of woodland earthen character. There is an insane core of fruit. The wine is insanely concentrated but still light as a feather. So fresh. This is like the biggest core of fruit I've ever encountered in a Garaudet 1er Cru. There is significant volume and amplitude on the palate. A mid palate one can get lost in, if not for the crescendo of a finish that is all sweet fruit and deep minerals. A wine that tells more and more of a story the more it ages. Right now it is like Lord of the Rings Chapter 1. This will age for 15-20 years easy. You know all of these collectors who show up at your house with a bottle of Chave that they bought for $15? Spend $36.99 for this, wait 15 years and you can be that guy.
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