2015 Domaine Charles Audoin
Bourgogne Rouge
Regular Price $34.99
Sale Price $27.99
Lots of wines from Burgundy are labeled as ‘Bourgogne Rouge’, which is the lowest rung in the Burgundy hierarchy. But not all Bourgognes are alike. While some are made and released quickly by large negociants from excess grapes, others are the product of small farmers whose holdings fall outside of the closest village appellation. And others yet are made of grapes from reputable holdings, but the vines are young and the subsequent wine is made in a style that brings immediate pleasure rather than benefiting from some bottle age.
This wine is of the last style. The holdings of Domaine Charles Audoin, now under the management of his son Cyril, are in respectable Marsannay. And while the Audoins’ make no Grand Cru wines, they make wines that are enormously pleasurable and affordable. This wine, from the warm and abundant 2015 vintage, is bright and juicy, with red berry flavors alongside mushroom and earth notes. Long and supple, this is a wine that is easy to enjoy but does not condescend to trickery to plumb up the weight, like so many California pinot noirs do.
With grapes from a great vintage, in the hands of a judicious winemaker, this lowly Bourgogne soars, without the help of additional sugar, Syrah or Malbec. California winemakers can make wines this good, too, if only they stop listening to wine critics.