Bouchard Père & Fils, Beaune du Château, Premier Cru, Burgundy, France, 2020 (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

A blend of Premier Crus - Drinks like its $100 plus!!! - Ian Blackburn

Overview of the Wine
Founded in 1731 in Beaune by Michel Bouchard, Bouchard Père & Fils, is one of the oldest wine estates in Burgundy, perpetuating tradition for nearly 3 centuries and 9 generations.

In 1775, Joseph Bouchard acquired his first vineyards in Volnay in the famous “Les Caillerets” climat and started to develop the family’s vineyard holdings.

During the French Revolution, property belonging to the clergy and nobility was confiscated and put up for sale. Joseph’s son, Antoine Philibert Joseph Bouchard, seized the opportunity to extend the family’s vineyard holdings in Beaune including the famous “Beaune Grèves Vigne de l’Enfant Jesus.”

This desire to build up an exceptional estate in Côte d’Or endured through the generations and acquisitions in the best Villages were added throughout the 19th century and again in the early 20th century.

Bouchard Père et Fils has been owned by the Maison de Champagne Henriot since 1995, and is currently headed by Christophe Bouchard, who has, in a few years, given a new lease of life to the expression of the estate's vineyards, and a coherence without false note to the trading activity that complements.

Grape / Blend
Pinot Noir

Origin
Beaune, Cote de Beaune, Cote d'Or, Burgundy, France

Winemaker Notes
Nice dark garnet color with brown to mauve shades. Complex bouquet associating perfumes of jammy red fruit, fig, peony with a hint of chocolate. Harmonious and deep palate, with a beautiful maturity and dense but fine tannins. An attractive wine.

92 Points - Decanter
This admirable premier cru red is a blend of all of the domaine parcels in Beaune premier cru - a whopping 17 different terroirs covering 26ha, each vinified separately, with an average 20% whole-cluster and ageing in 20% new casks. There is a lovely, dark, plummy fruit on the nose with a bit of spice and smoke. The texture is silky and supple, with decent acidity, even if it lacks a bit of density on the mid-palate. A well-balanced, classical example of Beaune premier cru.

92 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Yields of merely 20 hectoliters per hectare have delivered a 2020 Beaune 1er Cru du Château of unusual presence and concentration, wafting from the glass with aromas of cherries, sweet berries, rose petals and spices. Medium to full-bodied, ample and velvety, it's deep and layered, with lively acids and powdery tannins. Readers who have walked Beaune's hillsides and know the extent of Bouchard's holdings will realize how much prime terroir goes into this remarkably accessible bottling.

91 Points - James Suckling
Generous aromas of fully ripe blackberries and black cherries with a pronounced licorice note. Impressive concentration for such a large-production wine, the well-judged tannins giving this weight and warmth. Keeps pumping out the fruit and spice at the rich finish, but it’s a bit simple there. A cuvee of wines from 17 plots and a total of 26 hectares of vineyards.

Product size: 750ml