IMPORTANT: Detailed 2018 Red Burgundy Vintage Report and 2 of Our Best Red Burgundies (1er Cru Volnay) - These Are Very Important Burgundies (Buffet)

2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Champans"
 - A Grand Slam Home Run
 - The 2017 Vaporized a 98 Latour Side by Side
 - Why You Pay for Volnay
 - Drank Well on DAY THREE (Red Wines Do Not Drink Well on Day 3)
 - Nose: Licorice Flower
 - Condensed God's Perfume
 - Let Me Die Now Good ... And That's Just The Nose
 - Palate: Simply Perfect, Flawless
 - Dense ... But Volnay Dense
 - Incredible Fruit Quality 
 - Only $67.99
 - Compare the 2015 at $79.99-$99.99 (3 Tier, Pre-Tariffs)
 - With Tariffs, This is $100+ Through 3 Tier
 - Compare Other Top Champans Producers at $200+

2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Clos de la Rougeotte"
 - .52 Hectare Monopole
 - A Wine of Exquisite and Undeniable Finesse
 - Nose: Gorgeous Cherries, Spice
 - So Deep, So Intense
 - Superbly Complex
 - Juicy, Deep, Ripe Flavors
 - Super Precise and Deep Deep Fruit
 - Cherry Flower, Spice
 - Violets, Black Cherries
 - Palate: Long Sappy Fruit
 - Insane Hit of Midpalate Opulence
 - Serious Concentration
 - Incredible Inner Mouth Aromas

This is a bit of an odd offer as I am starting with a 2018 vintage report for red Burgundies as I have tasted through a critical mass of them.  So please read it and don't forget the actual offer, which is very important as it's 2 of our best red Burgundies.

The Buffet Style
A brief note on the wines before I dive into the vintage report.  Last year was a crazy year at Fass

Selections as we started selling 3 wineries that are absolutely incredible.  Many of you have been drinking the wines from Brisset and going somewhat crazy as the non billionaires have not had Burgundy that good before. 

The wines of Buffet are stylistically a bit different.  They are a bit rounder and fuller with giving juicy fruit.  hey are incredibly well made but you notice the fruit more. In any other year, they would have been the talk of the list.  These wines are ridiculously underpriced for the quality. I would put them up with anything in Volnay. 

Top Tier Champans goes for $230 and up these days and Buffet's is only $67.99.

The 2018 Vintage
After tasting through a decent amount of 2018 Red Burgundies I have some general thoughts on the vintage. Last time I tasted them they were so young in 2019 and it's very hard to assess. One thing that's remarkable is that the wines turned out like nothing I remembered tasting in February of 2019. Which is crazy and shows how talented winemakers are and how bad my assessment of the vintage was based on my limited tastings usually at the end of tasting 2017s. I was expecting something like 2015 or maybe 2009 and to be honest I'm not crazy about those vintages. I like many wines in those vintages and have had many good examples but the style is not one that I personally prefer.

So when I got my 2018s sent to me recently I had no idea what to expect. I was hoping they changed. And boy did they. They changed in such a remarkable way that comparisons to 2015 and 2009 are comical to me now. The style is unique since I've been tasting red Burgundy out of barrel which is maybe starting with the 2008 vintage.

The fruit is stunning. Thick, juicy, vivid and pure. Every wine has this glorious fruit. The best fruit. It's throughly and perfectly ripe and not excessive like 15s and 09s can be. The freshness of these wines is undeniable. There is more material and concentration than the 2017's. Some of the 2018's will provide epic young drinking.

I think that the appellation hierarchy is going to play a huge role in these wines. 
 - The lower appellations in 2018 are incredible. I mean, just off the charts. There is a ridiculous level of this thick, dense and perfectly ripe fruit that just enthralls you, but the lesser wines are more open and all of them bat above their appellations. Like this is the year all the .275 hitters decided to hit .350 all at the same time. From Bourgogne Rouge to Beaune to Hautes Cotes de Nuits to Monthelie these wines shine so bright in 2018 and can be drunk and enjoyed young. But they will age because every wine I've tasted in 2018 has a significant and pronounced structure. These wines will age like 2010's. Slow and glacially and ultimately will blossom into benchmark wines.
 - Now this brings me to the 1er Cru level wines.  These are built like brick house that need age but have a level of raw materials that is ridiculous.  They will be brilliant but will need a few years to integrate. The fruit soak on the 1er Crus is like nothing else I have tasted.

The way this vintage translates to the sites is so transparent but in a unique way. Any vineyard that makes wine with big tannins will be double that in 2018. I've had 3 Volnay1er Cru Taillpieds and they are stunning and some all time wines but they all need 5-8 years. In a normal vintage Taillpieds can be tannic but in 2018 it is 1986 Mouton levels. But with the fruit to back it up. I haven't tasted a more obvious long term aging vintage than 2018. These have a very very long life ahead of them. They are mindblowing wines. Most closed within an hour of opening and then slowly opened over 2-3 days. One of today's wines drank unreal on day 3. That never happens. Happened with zero 2017 Burgundies. Maybe this is like 1993/2010 hybrid but much better, with higher yields and much more consistent.  But there is also this awesome structure to the wines that reminds me of 2010. The transparency is also why it reminds me 2010. These will be fascinating to follow over the short, medium and long term. It's a vintage like no other. Deliciously unpredictable with all time levels of some of the best fruit I've ever tasted.

And Finally, the Actual Wines I'm Selling
First up the is a vineyard that has excelled in 2018 so far, the great 1er Cru, Champans. The 2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Champans" can be had for $66.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. You have to drink one of these young over a period of days. It opens amazingly.

Gorgeous, wild nose of black and red cherries, complicated by intense earth tones. This is so deep and layered with a  signature of just superbly alluring aromas. It really sucks you in. Super floral and black raspberry after air. Licorice. Wow. Can't stop smelling.  This is God's perfume - it's that good.  Totally luscious and almost lascivious.

Palate is OMG intense, with absurd fruit and tension and such unreal purity and elegance. Really elegant and such a lipstick-like intensity to the sappy and pure fruit with just unreal freshness. Just black cherries, end of season red cherries. This is so good. Such sweet fruit with dramatic energy and freshness. The detail and precision is top notch and an endless finish only keeps your smile going. Lovely hit of opulence in the mid palate which goes directly into just amazing freshness, density and sap. This is brilliant. Big dense tannins that are so sweet and ripe. Lovely.

On Day 2 this did not let up. What a nose. Deep black and red cherries, huge spice and confectionary sugar. Raspberry spice cake, terrific, earthy, really compelling aroma. So pure. Palate is sweet, dense and ripe with big tannins, cleaning acids, big ripe tannins and loads of sap. This wine will be better in 5 years but is so good now and will last 20. Easy.

Next up is the great monopole of Francois Buffet, the Clos de Rougeotte. I'd never heard of this site before and now it's one of my favorites. We just shipped the 2017 I believe and the 2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Clos de la Rougeotte" can be had for $66.99 a bottle on the 4-pack.  Clos de la Rougeotte is a .52 hectare Monopole that has been in the Buffet family winery for generations.  I found a picture of it on a blog post from 2014 on page 6 of a Google search linked
here. It's surrounded by high walls and the soil is rich in clay content. The Clos de la Rougeotte makes wines that are very delicate and very subtle. Combine that with the ethereal Buffet style already and you have a wine of exquisite and undeniable finesse.  But in 2018 it has an added structure that demands 4-6 years of aging. I love this wine but don't drink it young. Drink the Champans young. I gave both of these wines 9.5 on Delectable but they have vastly different drinking windows. 

Sick nose. Gorgeous cherries, spice, confectionary aromas and even more spice. It's so deep, so intense and superbly complex with juicy, deep, ripe flavors with super precise and deep deep fruit. After air you get cherry flower, spice and an amazing confectionary quality on the nose.

The palate is so sappy and so so energetic. Really big, substantial and deep tannins, with great freshness and acids. A bit backwards today with long sappy fruit an insane hit of midpalate opulence and serious concentration with just insane inner mouth aromas. Long. Needs 5-7 years.


Didn't let up on Day 2. Stunningly gorgeous nose. Violets, black cherries, all presented in a lovely perfume. Gorgeous earth and mineral tones. Awesome palate with lush mouthfeel and tremendous purity, power and concentration. So lithe. Wonderful wine it's all there.  But needs 5-7 years.

2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Champans" - $69.99 

($203.97 3-pack)  (*Including tariff of $7.98)

2018 Francois Buffet Volnay MONOPOLE 1er Cru "Clos de la Rougeotte" - $69.99 ($203.97 3-pack) (*Including tariff of $7.98)