Pre-Arrival Charles Audoin, Sylvain Langoureau & Drouhin Laroze
There are still many undiscovered gems in Burgundy. Great wines (both in value and quality!) abound from unheard-of producers who sell mostly all of their production to private clients; or producers who eschew the wine press and hence fly under the radar; and / or new-generation producers who have recently taken over and are trying harder or are more gifted than the previous generation.
Whatever the reason for some domaines' relative obscurity, we do ourselves a disservice if we simply stay with the burgundies that we are familiar with, and we could miss out on great value or simply amazingly great and interesting wines such as these three producers below! Cheers, Randall.
These wines are ordered on a pre-arrival basis and are expected to arrive in August 2024. To order please contact us by reply email or call (03) 9419 9795!
Charles Audoin
The King of Marsannay
Better wines than many Gevreys!
“These are elegant, stylish wines, not over-extracted.” - Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
This 14ha Domaine is a “gold-standard” example of Marsannay, just to the north of Gevrey Chambertin, and an example of how sometimes great domaines and great wines are hiding just under our noses, and we sometimes can’t see past the big village names, to our own detriment!
Marsannay has some great 1er Crus, and its best wines are great bargains. Well-known for rosé, Marsannay can (especially in the hands of dedicated craftspeople like Cyril Audin) make deep, rich, satisfying, clean and highly complex wines. Cyril took over in 2005 but his father stayed on until just recently working away in the background.
- Randall.
“They rate as some of the most fragrant, smooth and easy-drinking wines of the entire Cote de Nuits. Their strong points are acidity, and ageing as exemplary “food-wines”.” - Wines and Vineyards of Burgundy, Favaro and Gravina, 2018
2020 Charles Audoin Bourgogne Rouge
RRP: $74 | Pre-Arrival: $49
Declassified Marsannay Villages barrels!
"Earthy and very fresh red and dark pinot fruit precedes the delicious and equally earthy middle weight flavours that reflect hints of crushed leaves and bitter cherry pip on the lingering finish that is shaped by bright acidity." 86-88 pts - Allen Meadows, Burghound
2021 Charles Audoin Marsannay Rouge 'Clos du Roy'
RRP: $132 | Pre-Arrival: $95
"Moderate reduction is sufficient to render the nose difficult to assess. More interesting are the racy and strikingly fresh middleweight flavors that exude an almost palpable minerality on the firmly austere and compact but solidly persistent finish. This makes it abundantly clear that at least some patience is in order." 90 pts - Allen Meadows, Burghound
2019 Charles Audoin Pommard 'En Marreau'
RRP: $145 | Pre-Arrival: $129
This is a beautiful vintage and a rich, nicely structured and amply fruited Pommard.
"Like the Fixin, this too is aromatically quite cool and restrained with its reticent aromas of herbal tea, red pinot fruit and discreet newly turned earth scents. The relatively suave and rounded medium weight flavors possess a lovely mouthfeel, all wrapped in a saline-inflected and youthfully austere finale. This too is quite good for its level and worth checking out." - 91 pts - Allen Meadows, Burghound
Sylvain Langoureau
Saint-Aubin Specialist
I can remember reading Clive Coates on Sylvain and Nathalie’s wines stating that they were “on the up”, and this “improving” domaine already made good wines. That was over 15 years ago, and today organic viticulture is well established, the emphasis is still on ripe, healthy grapes, and the style of whites are precise, reserved and youthfully tight when young, made with no battonage and 20-30% new oak across the range.
Hidden away in the village of Gamay just 1.5k from Chassagne and Puligny, Sylvain has been honing his craft since he took over the winemaking in 1989. Today, there are 10ha and his good friend and Burgundy guru namesake Sylvain Pataille acts as his sounding board as they both push for better and better quality. These are serious wines!
- Randall.
2020 Sylvain Langoureau Saint-Aubin
RRP: $136 | Pre-Arrival: $115
LIMITED!
"Here the nose is sufficiently reduced that only citrus hints are discernible. More interesting are the nicely vibrant and exceptionally rich flavors that are also opulent and generously proportioned while displaying focused power on the solidly complex and sneaky long finish. This succulent effort could easily be enjoyed young though be sure to give it some air first if you're going to do that." 91 pts - Allen Meadows, Burghound
2020 Sylvain Langoureau Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Le Sentier du Clou
RRP: $171 | Pre-Arrival: $159
LIMITED!
"Ripe and very fresh aromas are composed by notes of citrus confit, green apple and suggestions of mineral reduction. The succulent, even opulent, medium weight flavors possess both good volume and punch that carries over to the dry, lemony and impressively long finish. This is also lovely and a wine that should amply repay mid-term cellaring. Worth considering." 92 pts - Allen Meadows, Burgound
2020 Sylvain Langoureau Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly
RRP: $198 | Pre-Arrival: $189
LIMITED!
"The hallmark citrus elements are overtly present on the vaguely exotic aromas of white peach, passion fruit, spice and pretty floral nuances. Here too the medium-bodied flavors are quite rich if a bit more vibrant on the concentrated and mouth coating finish that is supported by bright acidity. This will need a few years to develop better depth, but the potential appears to be present for that to happen." 92 pts - Allen Meadows, Burghound
2020 Sylvain Langoureau Saint Aubin 1er Cru les Frionnes
RRP: $197 | Pre-Arrival: $189
LIMITED!
"A discreet application of wood frames smoky aromas of apple, pear and citrus zest. As one would reasonably expect, there is better size, weight and mid-palate density to the medium weight flavors which exhibit very good balance on the clean and dry finish." 89 pts - Allen Meadows, Burghound
2020 Sylvain Langoureau Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru La Garenne
RRP: $315 | Pre-Arrival: $295
LIMITED!
"This is aromatically fairly similar to the Chalumeaux but with a slightly cooler character thanks to the presence of more citrus elements that can also be found on the dense and seductive middle weight flavors that flash even more minerality on the clean and decidedly dry finale that is not quite as complex though just as persistent. It's possible that this quality effort will catch the Chalumeaux in time." 92 pts - Allen Meadows, Burghound
2020 Sylvain Langoureau Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru 'La Piece Sous le Bois'
RRP: $315 | Pre-Arrival: $295
LIMITED!
"An expressive nose consists of smoked apple, lemon-lime, carnation, rose petal and lovely spice wisps. There is again fine density to the detailed and highly energetic flavors that flash ample minerality on the tightly wound, youthfully austere and sneaky long finish. This is also potentially excellent and a wine that should repay up to a decade of cellaring." 93 pts - Allen Meadows, Burghound
Drouhin-Laroze
Incredible Value Gevrey Grand & 1er Cru
I visited this domaine about 12 years ago and was amazed to see the big multi-level stacks of Grand Cru barrels taking up most of the cellar, with the 1er Cru and Villages lined up along the sides of the cellar. There is no Bourgogne! The family have 6 Grand Crus, 4 1er Crus and a few Villages wines. The quality has improved dramatically since my visit, and the prices here are amazing! It hard these days to get a Gevrey Grand Cru for under $1K!
- Randall.
This 170+y.o. domaine is now in it’s 6th generation of vignerons with brother and sister team Nicolas and Caroline Drouhin taking the reins from father Philippe, refining and deepening the incredible wines of this historic address. Since 2015, Nicolas has begun introducing a percentage of whole bunch into the ferment, giving the wines an extra touch of sappy, stemmy character that lifts the overall complexity.
2019 Drouhin-Laroze Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Au Closeau
RRP: $234 | Pre-Arrival: $209
"An exuberantly spicy nose is composed by notes of cassis, baked plum and violet. There is fine richness with more size, weight and evident power to the succulent, sleek and saline flavors that flash fine depth and persistence on the quite firmly structured finale. Good development potential here." 93 pts - Allen Meadows, Burghound
2019 Drouhin Laroze-Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru
RRP: $479 | Pre-Arrival: $449
"The 2019 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru has an intense bouquet of blackberry, raspberry and Seville orange marmalade, quite dense at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, touches of dark chocolate filtering through the red berry fruit, and Christmas cake and light licorice notes on the finish. At the moment the oak is a little strong, but it should become more integrated with bottle age. " 93 pts - Neal Martin, Vinous
2019 Drouhin-Laroze Chambertin-Clos de Beze Grand Cru
RRP: $647 | Pre-Arrival: $589
"30% Whole Bunch Fermentation; 80% new wood. Intense imperial purple in colour, with supple and very dense deep fresh raspberry fruit apparent on the nose, super succulent, loaded at the front of the palate continuing right through. The fruit really spreads through to the back, and though it is ripe it stays on the cusp of red and black, with a crunch at the finish." 94-97 pts! - Jasper Morris MW, Inside Burgundy
0 products
0 products
Sorry, there are no products in this collection.