The Structure of Garaudet Crossed with the Freshness of Herve Murat
1er Cru Volnay Taillpieds
- Only Around 200 Bottles Made- 75+ Year Old Vines
- Gorgeous Fruit But Such Volnay Elegance
1er Cru Monthelie
- Off the Charts Fresh Fruit Intensity
- Remarkable Aromatics
I love selling the wines of new producers. The first sip is so incredibly exciting. Sort of like seeing a
new play or the first movie from a new director. It's so hard to describe the style here as the wines are mostly traditional but there are elements of a unique style. Boussey's wines also have more of a succulence than our purely traditional producers. They are also drinkable young. He kind of reminds me of a cross between Florent Garaudet and Herve Murat. But less monstrous structure than Garaudet when young and a bit more deep in color and depth than Murat if an iota less silky. Laurent's reds have terrific structure and incredible balance and depth. You can't believe each wine is what it is.
The 15s here are thrilling wines with incredible depth, sappy and deep fruit, with terrific freshness and impressive structures. The value play here is serious and soon these will be allocated as he is too good a winemaker and many of his wines are such tiny production.
I am proud and honored to sell the 2015 Laurent Boussey Monthelie 1er Cru "Les Champs Fulliot" for $32.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This wine is sick. You also know that I sell Florent Garaudet's Champs Fuillot and I think Florent is one of the most talented young winemakers in Burgundy so ... for me to sell this, it had better be pretty darned good (it is). At first the aromas jump out of the glass at you. Big, ripe and such a complex nose. Just the darkest tightest cherries in a bowl of dark cherries. It's very fresh and enveloping. Smells like that 2015 sunshine and man, is there a refined mineral character that declares itself here after 50-60 minutes open. The palate is where the show stops and is when I lost my poker face and called him a genius. Laurent nailed 15. It is so sweet and intense with just the most insane inner mouth aromas. Deep and present cherry fruit. Ridiculous balance and freshness. Lovely and complex and stunning tannins that are top notch, ripe and sweet. Very very long. Very complex and finishes mineral. This is a stunner now but has a chance to become profound in 5 years. Do not miss this. I love this vineyard and I really had no idea it existed until I started this company. Monthelie lies higher than Volnay, Pommard and Meursault and it feels almost isolated from the rest of the Cote de Beaune. It's very tranquil. Champs Fulliot borders Clos du Chênes (to the West). The soil is very poor and rocky, vines are 50-60+ years old.
Up next I have Laurent's best red and it is very allocated. It is also very very stunning. The 2015 Laurent Boussey Volnay 1er Cru "Taillpieds" for $45.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. Wow. Wow. OMFG. OMG. At this point I'm like your the wine version of Stephen Hawking. This wine is sick. His grandfather planted these vines and they are at least 75+ years old. Stunning in every way. He only makes 200 or so bottles a year so this as limited as it gets. The barrel I tasted out of was tiny. The nose is slamming. So dense and layered. Macerated cherries, intense minerals, floral, earthy and so much nuance. This is the wine you smell for days on end before you take a sip. But then you do and the 15 fireworks are there for your palate to experience ecstasy. Such intense sappy and well defined dark cherry fruit. So sappy and direct. Like a laser beam on your palate. So stoney and mineral and intense. Really shows it's breed and class. Yet while being all breedy and classy make no mistake there is fruit here as this is '15. You had to completely mess up in a heroic way to make wines where fruit is not the determining characteristic. The best wines, which this is one of, exhibit the fruit of '15 but also exhibit shadows of dazzling terroir purity that will come with age. The minerality at this stage is more pronounced than it is on the Monthelie most likely due to the fact this is a better terroir. This is achingly elegant and beautiful while also having body and structure and that old vine sap and minerality that suggests this is a keeper. It will charm in its youth but once it ages it will be able to precisely summarize Proust after only having read it once. This is profound. The finish lasts forever and only begins truly when you think it ends. Like a leaf flowing down a lazy river on a late spring day. It winds through your palate with ease. The length here is remarkable and I could not believe it. I hope there is enough for demand as this is damn special wine.
When I am tasting at a new estate I try to keep a poker face but being a passionate guy that is difficult in certain cases. It's easy when the wines stink as then I can keep a poker face and be polite and carry on with my day. But when the wines are very good to profound I always lose my poker face and start exhibiting the passion I am famous for and keeps everyone coming back for more. At Laurent Boussey I lost my poker face bigtime. I could not believe how terrific the wines are. After around the 4th wine, I blurt out, "you're a brilliant winemaker." My driver/translator looked at me like I was crazy as I was telling her the whole time not to show any emotion at new estates as we don't want to act desperate or show our hand. As soon as I tasted the fourth or fifth wine I had called the winemaker a genius and lost any leverage that I could of potentially had. And you know what? I don't care. The tasting became more relaxed as Laurent knew a deal was made and he could chill a bit. We had a wonderful tasting and the wines are just stunning. This is one of those estates that started with just a little bit of so so terroir.
Laurent started his own Domaine in 2003 after working with his father for a few years after he graduated wine school. He only had Monthelie red and white, one white 1er Cru and red and white Bourgogne. 2 hectares. He turned 2 hectares into 14. 7 came from his father who retired and he inherited them, and the rest came from Laurent's relentless hard work and persistence. He told me was lucky and knows it as he knew many people who were retiring and who had parcels for acquiring. It's pretty amazing to go from 2 to 7 and then 7 to 14 with so many great appellations. I love the style at Domaine Laurent Boussey. Freshness is the name of the game here. These are so Fassy and fit into the core principles of what I look for in an estate. (List principles here). Having said that the fruit and terroir expression Laurent gets from his wines is nothing short of sensational. I was really wowed by so many of his wines. There is no one to compare him to in my book really. His wines are so different than Florent Garaudet, my other producer in Monthelie. Laurent has Monthelie village and various 1er Crus in red and white, Volnay village and a killer 1er Cru, Pommard, Beaune, along with today's offerings.
2015 Laurent Boussey Monthelie 1er Cru "Les Champs Fulliot" - $34.99 ($131.96 4-pack)
2015 Laurent Boussey Volnay 1er Cru 'Taillepieds" - $47.99
($137.97 3-pack) (VERY LIMITED)
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