Beautiful wines of Aurore Bachelet
It’s raining here in Richmond, so I thought I would send you some Burgundy sunshine as captured by a very talented young lady - please meet Aurore Bachelet.
Following business degree and few years of working/traveling around the world, she eventually decided that the heart is where the home is and that the home was back in Burgundy. Not a bad place to call home, especially if your family owns some very fine vineyards in and around the villages of Chassagne Montrachet, Santenay and Maranges. On her return, Aurore spent 5 years working with her father Vincent and brother Etienne at the family domaine in Chassagne whilst studying oenology and viticulture. Finally, she started her own Domaine in 2019 and I have been very fortunate to meet her at the time and managed to secure exclusivity for her wines for the UK.
Aurore is meticulous in her approach to the vineyard management and most of the plots are so small that I think she knows each vine by name. In time for 2022 harvest she had also managed to finish a brand new winery with underground cellars in Santenay allowing her to make very refined wines, both white and red. She is not a household name yet, but if my instincts are right, she will be gaining recognition and respect she deserves very quickly. In any case, if you fancy some really high quality Burgundies at very civilised prices, this is the place to go. To the best of my knowledge, there had been no ratings or reviews for Aurore’s wines by any mayor critics, so you will have to rely on my musings.
White:
Aurore’s 2022 whites are all very hedonistic and full of old school charm. Now that we understand much more about the winemaking, young winemakers can produce grapes with high level of ripeness but whith fine freshness in the background which will keep these wines improving with age. Very impressive. They bring to memory fine, rich white Burgundies from early 90’s made by the likes of Louis Carillon and Domaine Leflaive.
SANTENAY BLANC 2022 – ZR 17; £ 144.00 per 6 bott under bond
This comes from a small plot of vines behind the house and winery in Santenay. The wines are 35 + y old with south – west exposure providing perfect conditions for ripening. Also, the size and position next to the cellar door means that she can harvest the whole lot in one swoop at perfect state of ripeness. The wine itself feels like perfect blend of fine, rich wines from Sonoma with underliningstructure of classic white Burgundy. It is joy to drink already, but will gain in complexity given about 12 more months in the bottle. An excellent effort and a serious bargain for these pennies.
SAINT AUBIN 1er Cru En Remilly 2022 – ZR 18; £ 190.00 per 6 bottles under bond
En Remilly is arguably the best of St Aubin 1er Crus. The fist neighbour to the south/east is none other than one of the most famous Grand Crus – the Chevalier Montrachet. Yes, the Chevalier, a bottle of which would cost you more than 12 bottles of En Remilly! Administratively this 1er Cru belongs to the village of St Aubin, but geologically it is in Puligny. The vines are relatively young at only 15 y of age giving them more power and structure which is quite useful in the rich vintage like 2022. In the winery the juice receives the “Grand Cru” treatment – hand harvesting, manual selection, temperature controlled barrel fermentation etc. You name it, it is provided. The 2022 itself is superbly structured for long life with ample, ripe summer stone fruit and hints of honey and vanilla in the background. This easily beats most negociants village and 1er Cru wines at half the money.
PULIGNY MONTRACHET 2022 – ZR 18++; £ 220.00 per 6 bott under bond
This Puligny comes from a single plot which is over 60 y old - a rare beast to find in Burgundy. The plot belongs to the family of Aurore’s school friend and due the inheritance laws it is owned by more than 20 people, none of whom actually live/works in the village. They are all professionals spread all around the world, but do not want to sell any of the vines. In reality some own 6 individual vines only, so could not realistically do much with it. Aurore had managed to secure a long contract with the family to work the vines and make the wine - the payment to the owners is a % of the production paid in bottles. Nice work if you can get it……
The juice that comes from these very old vines also gets the Grand Cru treatment – no expenses spared in terms of care and attention. So, this vineyard which carries only village appellation (although is a mid slope) has delivered wine that will easily match some of 1er Crus in Puligny. It feels like really good version of 1er Cru Perrieres. Rich and hedonistic, peaches and cream, soft vanilla finish with ripe citrus structure underneath. Those with the patience to hold on to this for 3-5 years will be handsomely repaid. Having said that, I have already opened 3 bottles since we shipped it at the end of June and it is very difficult to resist. Compared to what one has to pay for a top end white Burgundy, this is about as serious bargain as I can think of. A superb drop of vino!
Red:
The 2022 reds from Aurore show ripeness typical for the vintage and on the village level they are actually starting to drink very well even now. Lukasz and I opened a bottle of Pommard last week and whilst it was a bit tight on the first day, it blossomed over the 5 days we kept it in the fridge (restraint is the name of the game) as we tasted and re-tasted.
They are all showing fine ripe black cherries and wild blackberries, raising in intensity from Maranges to Pommard. As expected, the Maranges was the softest and already approachable especially if you give it couple of hours double decanted – serious bargain at this price. Santenay is fresher and lighter, more red cherry and raspberry in structure with a touch of sour cherries in the background; more classic, old school Cotes de Beaune red. The Pommard, on the other hand, is the powerhouse of the trio. Big and powerful expression of Pinot Noir dominated by forest berries, underbrush and some smoke - Gevrey Chambertin like. After 2 days double decanted and kept in the fridge, it started to release the complexity hidden within. Ideally one would give it 2-5 years more in the bottle, but if you are not a patient kind, double decant for a day or two and it’s rock ‘n’ roll.
MARANGES 2022 – ZR 16; £ 106.00 per 6 bottles under bond
SANTENAY 2022 – ZR 17; £ 124.00 per 6 bottles under bond
POMMARD 2022 – ZR 18+; £ 178.00 per 6 bottles under bond
To finish, we have reserved some of Aurore’s 2020 1er crus as they needed couple of years in the bottle to start drinking. The two wines below are both starting to drink with Maranges Clos Rousseau softer and gentler of the two.
MARANGES 1ER LES CRU CLOS ROUSSOTS 2020 – ZR 17++; £136.00 per 6 bottles under bond
This 1er cru is in the middle of the slope above the village and comes from old wines which give additional structure to the wine. Small black stone fruit run the show here, with some fine wood and classic forest underbrush showing in the background. Soft and quite hedonistic even at this early stage, it will drink well for at least 5 more years, but would also work very well for this autumn.
SANTENAY 1er Cru Clos Rousseau – ZR 18; £166.00 per 6 bottles under bond
Clos Rousseau in Santenay is on the top of the village to the south based on limestone bedrock with a lot of rocks in the vineyard. This gives a structure to the wine which feels more like it comes from Cotes de Nuits; morello cherries and forest berries run the show with very fine tannins in the background. It will easily be drinking for another 10 years but would be fine to party with this year Christmas dinner. This Clos Rousseau would easily stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the famous 1er Crus in Gevrey Chambertin or Nuits St Georges (at a fraction of the price). A very serious wine for the lovers of classic red burgundy!
Wishing you all the best
Zoran
City Wine Collection Ltd