Bouchard Père & Fils, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru, Burgundy, France, 2014

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
Cote de Nuits, Cote d'Or, Burgundy, France

Winemaker Notes
Intense aromas on the nose. Structured - though not excessively - and with lovely fleshiness, this is a sumptuous wine. Very good ageing potential.

96 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, the 2014 Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru showed a little more ripeness on the nose compared to its peers, suggesting a slightly later picking than other growers. With aeration it gains more and more clarity, offering scents of potpourri, chalk and orange blossom. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin, the acidity well judged but very backward and clearly requiring several years to open up. Serious Clos de Bèze for those with patience, this Bouchard ranks alongside more prestigious names and I bet is not as expensive. Chapeau. Tasted September 2017.

95 Points - James Suckling
So aromatic with loads of perfumed floral character. Hints of cedar and sandalwood. Medium-bodied, dense and wonderfully textured with a polished, velvety mouthfeel. Chocolate and orange-peel undertones. Very delicate yet powerful. Delicious now. Why wait?

92-95 Points - Burghound
Once again very generous but not completely dominant wood serves as a borderline intrusive backdrop to the more elegant and spicier nose of various wild red berries that display added breadth in the form of earth, stone and floral nuances. There is excellent verve to the intensely mineral-driven and overtly powerful big-bodied flavors that deliver strikingly good persistence on the impeccably well-balanced finish. While this will improve over the next 15 to perhaps even 20 years it should be reasonably civilized after "only" 8 to 10 years of cellar time. *Don't miss!*

94 Points - Wine Spectator
Elegant, with intensity to the cherry, currant, spice and mineral flavors, this red has plenty of tension and concentration from beginning to end. Light vegetal and underbrush notes add depth as this cruises to a long aftertaste. Best from 2020 through 2035.

93 Points - Vinous
Bright, moderately saturated medium red with a palish rim. Lovely aromatic lift to the aromas of tart red berries, dried flowers and minerals. Offers subtle sweetness on the palate but this is not a thick or fleshy grand cru, and it's quite tight in the early going. But the cherry, red berry and floral show terrific definition and intensity without any weightiness. Most impressive today on the highly perfumed, very long finish, where the wine's penetrating red fruits are enlivened and extended by pungent minerality. This boasts the energy of the vintage's best examples but will require patience.

Product size: 750ml