Honestly, today’s offer is a thrilling affair: This spectacular Burgundy—a historic ‘Grand Cru’ from one of France’s first appellations—has so much going for it, a bulleted list would be the best way to convey all of its information. But, I’ll do my best to stick to tradition. The short version is that we stumbled upon this 17th-century domaine in France earlier this year, and immediately struck up an exclusive direct-import deal for what I consider the greatest Moulin-à-Vent “find” in years.
The longer version is what rockets this remarkable value into the ether: In the 1800s, several elite Burgundy villages were granted the rare privilege to append the best vineyard sites to their name which gave birth to Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanée, Puligny-Montrachet, and Romanèche-Thorins. Obviously, we know the world-renowned fame, excruciating prices, and luxurious appeal of the first three, but what of Thorins? This ancient site makes up a small, specific part of Beaujolais’ Moulin-à-Vent, colloquially known as the “King of the Crus,” and wines from here (1) historically competed with the abovementioned names and (2) were labeled as Grand Cru Classé well into the 1970s. Accordingly, if there was ever a bottle that encapsulated the fascinating allure of “Thorins,” it’s Domaine de la Tour du Bief’s “Vieilles Vignes,” a wine that’s never seen American soils until now. This exclusive import comes from premium, 70+-year-old raw material that generates excruciatingly low yields (nearly half of Grand Cru Burgundy averages), so what little fruit is extracted is among the purest you’ll find. If you’re a true Burgundy hound like me, this epic Moulin-à-Vent is a no-brainer that’s guaranteed to provide limitless thrills for many years to come. Do not miss it.
Burgundy will forever and always be my favorite wine (and we always feel compelled to remind everyone that Beaujolais is in fact part of Burgundy). As such, I get immense pleasure from learning and traveling about this historic French region, so you can imagine just how thrilled I was to have Edouard Parinet explain his fabled terroir in vivid detail. Really, the rich history was the main reason he acquired 17th-century Domaine de la Tour du Bief and neighboring 18th-century Château du Moulin-à-Vent back in 2010. The purchase of the former came with a handful of ancient vines located within historic “Thorins,” the renowned site that was once mentioned in the same breath as Côte de Nuits’ coveted Grand Crus.
Most of Parinet’s mature Gamay vines have been buried in Moulin-à-Vent’s signature pink-granite soils since the ‘50s, with the oldest having been planted in 1922. From them, he harvests some of the lowest yields imaginable (a mere 18hl/ha for today’s 2018) in order to ensure every grape that enters his centuries-old cellar is of optimal ripeness and quality. Here, 70% of the crop is de-stemmed and a three-week fermentation follows after a brief cold soak. During this time, he employs a gentle pump-over regimen. The resulting wine is then transferred into concrete vessels for nine months. Our US-exclusive batch was then bottled and held at the cellar for an additional year before arriving at our warehouse just weeks ago.
Domaine de la Tour du Bief’s 2018 is a visual spectacle and gustatory masterpiece in the glass. It radiates with a dense, deep ruby-purple and wastes no time spilling out jaw-droppingly pure aromatics of ripe boysenberry, blueberry, black raspberry, black cherry liqueur, strawberry, licorice, and wild plum before bringing savory notes of underbrush, rose petal stem, candied violet, and crushed granite into the fold. Although medium-bodied and lively, the wine exudes a luxuriousness and polish that so often populates the plush Pinots in Côte de Nuits. As the wine opens up, it gains profundity and introduces an extra dimension of depth—ancient vines, “Grand Cru” terroir, extremely low yields, the minimal intervention will do that. This is an incredible showing from a young winemaker, and a paragon of Gamay from the famed vines that huddle around the iconic windmill that gives Moulin-à-Vent its name. If you enjoy Burgundy in any capacity, you’d be certifiably insane to miss this exclusive offering. Enjoy in your largest Burgundy stems at a constant 60 degrees and space out your bottles over the next 10 years—this will age with the best of them. Cheers!
