- These Wines Are Not Chambolle, Vosne-Romanee or Gevrey
- But for $35ish You Can't Touch JJ Girard
- At the Qualitative Range of $60 for Half that Price
- Among the Best Values in France
The 2017 Vintage
- Ebullient, Delicious Fruit
- Perfectly Suits the Girard Style
- Terrific Crunch
2017 JJ Girard Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru "Les Fichots"
- Big and Intense Nose
- Earthy, Leafy, Cherry Lipstick, Mossy, Brambly Red Fruits
- Almost Rieslingesque Limestone Minerality
- Stunning Inner Mouth Aromas
- A Dense, Deep Wine
- A 15-20 Year Wine
2017 Jean Jacques Girard Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru "Les Vergelesses"
- Nose: Darker than Normal Cherries, Great Lift
- Big cherry. Mint, Menthol, Black Cherry, Cherry Flower
- Palate: Painfully Intense Juicy Red Cherries
- Huge Volume, Amazing Dark Red/Black Fruit Crunch
- Hint of Bitter, Succulent Sour Cherry on the Finish
- A More Classic, Linear, Fresh Pernand
- Can Age 15+ Years
You know when you talk to the old timers from back in the day when Bordeuax was king and Very good Burgundy was like $15 a bottle? And they drank it and cellared with with abandon? Well - I can't quite get down to $15 but with inflation, I'm basically at that level with today's offers.
Girard has made a highly successful career out of making wines in the $30-$50 range (my direct from the winery pricing). These wines are among the best values in France.
We sell more Burgundy from Girard than anyone else, for good reason.
- They punch way way above their weight
- they are transparent
- they have wonderful, deep, fleshy ebullient fruit
- they are accessible to wine geeks and normal people alike
- you don't have to wait for many bottlings and the ones you do, it's only 4-6 years and totally worth the wait.
I love Girard.
Every bottle is great. With short term aging they can become magical and long term agingI'm still waiting on my case of 2012s in 10 more years. I had a client whose Burgundy palate I respect immensely and he said that this estate reminds him of the serenity, purity and profundity of the great Jean-Marie Fourrier. That's high high praise!
The 2017 Vintage
Burgundian joy is the joy of Savigny Les Beaune and particularly the Savignys of Jean Jacques
The fruit is glorious in 2017 and the fruit is always glorious at Girard so that combo works and man are these delicious now as are many 2017s. Almost like more forward 2014s. They are sappy, deeply fruited and show their sense of place like they are almost strutting. They have the precision and site character of the 2014s but also the beautiful deep fruit of the 16s and 12s but are so much crunchier. Today's wines are one for now and one for later. His earliest drinking premier Cru from Pernand and his latest drinking premier Cru from one of the most underrated Pernand 1er Crus ever, and also an incredible value. These were both combined into one cuvee called Pernand 1er Cru in 2016 but are both back now as individual 1er Cru's in 2017. And we are all better for it.
The Wines
Up first is arguably one of Girard's longest aging reds. I think the '11 is the only one that is somewhat approachable now. I think '12 and '13 and '14 need more time. I had the 2014 for this offer and it was just starting but still could benefit from age. The wine is the 2017 JJ Girard Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru "Les Fichots" for as little as $36.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. $36.99 for a brilliant bottle of 1er Cru Red Burgundy that will age for 15-20 years. Where do I sign up?
Big and intense nose with earthy, leafy, cherry lipstick, mossy and brambly red fruits. Huge fruit as well. I mean big dark and red cherries. Amazing fruit for a young Fichots. Tree bark, moss, mid season cherries emanate in a gorgeous perfume. Huge minerals. Almost a limestone feeling. Wild apples. Wet earth. Savory. Sweet. Feral and wild. Just stunning. Even some vivid black cherry flower after some air. Just awesome. A Pernand symphony.
On the palate, this has terrific texture with brilliant 2017 perfect ripeness and unreal depth and earthy sweet fruit for a young Fichots. More open than ANY young Fichots I've ever had but still will be better in 5 years and you have to wait. Really stunned me and I made a remark how accessible this was. Big huge red and black cherry fruit. Lovely electric almost Rieslingesque limestone minerality. Explosive and deep with awesome purity and earthy sweetness. Terrific delineation of flavor and so much material yet so light and delicate even. Only in Burgundy. Super complex and ripe and big tannins suggest even more aging if one desires. Massively juicy with terrific length, depth, oodles of sweet and ripe tannin, witty concentration and power all accentuated by a nice and deep spice. There is a serious super deep core here. Outrageous wine. My favorite Fichots ever. But you must have patience for it to turn into what it should. There are unique tannins that come from this very specific rocky soil. Very juicy. Very long. Acidity is pitch perfect. Freshness and lovely persistence. Stunning inner mouth aromas. Big structure as always with Fichots suggests 15-20 years of life. The soils of "Les Fichots" have large round stones and are extremely hard and deep which results in a very structured deep wine that takes time to express itself. I adore this wine because it is such an awesome value for what results in a baby Corton if you so desire.
I love this wine. It is the 2017 Jean Jacques Girard Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru "Les Vergelesses" for as little as $36.99 on a 4-pack. Let me get straight to the point. The wine is unbelievable and is one of the best expressions of Pernand one can get and frankly one of the best Pinot Noir values from 2017 anywhere. It's like a baby Corton. Especially in 2017, with its wonderful purity, freaking ridiculous fruit, depth, aromatic complexity and freshness. I adore this wine. JJ Girard raised his prices and I didn't and squeezed my margins more to keep it under $37. Girard is an experienced wine maker. And I've always loved his wines but something happened and in 2017, the wines went from great to miraculous. In perfectly ripe vintages the outer off the beaten path appellations always provide insane value. Stunning, stunning deep pinot fruit with perfect balance. It's so loaded with fruit it's silly how fun and deep and yet serious this is all at the same time. The nose has darker than normal cherries, and more lift and waft than the 2015 which was the last vintage made.
What a nose. Wide open. Big cherry. Mint, menthol, some black cherry inflections and even cherry flower. Wow. Moss. Soil tones. Very very high toned nose. Impressive. Jumps out of glass at you. Red apple as well. Just awesome. Gorgeous nose. After air it has bright mid season cherries, sous bois, tea, sour cherries, cranberry and such purity, minerality and depth. Such a soaring nose.
Palate is ridiculous with almost painfully intense juicy red cherries, framed by spices and so much freshness. Great freshness actually. There is huge volume and an amazing dark red/black fruit crunch. It's so ripe yet so succulent. Palate is ripe and rich with lovely finesse and huge cherry overload. Lovely freshness and purity with a nice helping of diet. Lovely texture and tang with terrific, finesse, energy and balance. Love this. Lithe and very fine tannins with lovely earthy sweetness. What a mouthfeel. Love the hint of bitter, succulent sour cherry on the finish. It's insanely good. I've never had a warm vintage here and man it really works well at Girard. The finish is long and clinging with beautiful ripe and juicy tannins and epic sap. Just an epic bottle. It will and can age for 15+ years but man this will KILL young. The 2017 vintage of this great wine is one of the best value plays in all of my Burgundy book that I've worked with.
2017 JJ Girard Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru "Les Fichots" - $38.99 ($147.96 4-pack) (*Including tariff of $3.92)
2017 JJ Girard Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru "Les Vergelesses" - $38.99 ($147.96 4-pack) (*Including tariff of $3.92)
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