"Coup de Coeur" Wines from La Paulée
One of the great joys of Burgundy is finding a wine that over delivers. Sometimes, a lesser-known producer or humbler appellation gives that "WOW" factor that makes the drinking experience all the more exciting. Daniel dubbed this category "Coup de Coeur" (French for "heartthrob") when creating the first wine list at Bar Boulud. Here are some bottles that stood out to us at La Paulée even among all the DRC. Of course, the great producers and appellations provide this emotion as well, but usually expectations are already high. In Daniel’s case, he already had high expectations for the wine but even those were surpassed.
Max: Domaine Fornerol, Côte de Nuits Villages 2008 en magnum
“Remontage” (pumping over) at Fornerol in 2015 - notice the whole clusters of Pinot Noir!
I worked harvest at Fornerol in 2015 so I have a soft spot for the man and the wines, but anyone who loves old-school whole cluster Burgundy will fall in love with this domaine. Didier Fornerol worked for years as the vineyard manager at Domaine de l'Arlot where he became friends with Jean-Pierre de Smet. Didier left l'Arlot in the early 90's to run his family estate in Corgoloin, the southernmost village in the Côte de Nuits. Jean-Pierre retired in the mid 2000's but the winemaking bug never left him and he started to consult with Didier during the harvest and fermentations at Domaine Fornerol.
Fornerol's wines are bright and sappy with an amazing freshness and aromatic depth that comes from his generous use of stems (100% in most vintages). His terroirs around Corgoloin are classed as Côte de Nuits Villages but the quality of his farming and winemaking make a wine that oozes soulfulness and old-school Burgundian class. I only tasted a glass of this wine at the Gala but I could have easily finished off the magnum!
Edouard: Pierre Morey, Pommard 1er Cru Grands Epenots 1992
I was incredibly lucky to attend the legendary and original La Paulée in Meursault with Daniel back in 2018. After being told by Dominique Lafon's father René (who we visited earlier that day) that I should be able to taste up to 60 wines during the lunch at the Chateau de Meursault, I made it a mission to achieve that number. I almost made it with 50 wines tasted and although it is difficult to pick one particular "coup de coeur" bottle, there was one that really left a mark in me. It was a Pommard from Pierre Morey, a Meursault specialist, and from the challenging 1992 harvest. It was the premier cru "Grands Epenots" and this bottle really surprised me by its incredible youth and vibrancy. I typically favor appellations like the neighbor Volnay or further up the Cote like Chambolle-Musigny or Gevrey-Chambertin but this Pommard had a sweet core and a real stature that made it very charming. Of course, there are many factors that influence the drinking experience and the fact that Pierre Morey himself was sitting in front of me during this 7-hour lunch surely played an important role!
Raj: Remoissenet Père & Fils Bourogne Rouge “Renomée” 1978 en Jeroboam
This pristine bottle from a seemingly humble appellation had a few surprises held within the confines of its three liter packaging. I learned the sneaky truth some years prior to tasting this bottle when I asked Pierre-Antoine Rovani about the name, “Renomée” upon seeing it on a label.
Pierre, the President of the winery since the mid aughts when it was purchased by American investors and a former wine critic, is one of my favorite people in Burgundy (really the world) because he is the most honest, direct and no nonsense fellow and has an awesome palate. He is also a tremendous wealth of knowledge on the history and inner workings of Burgundy. He clued me in to a little known fact about this era and prior in Burgundy; that the restriction on yields, or the amount of fruit and therefore wine produced from a given vineyard had an odd loophole. Grand Cru, the top of the hierarchy of quality, has strictly controlled yields, but this is measured not in the number of grapes coming from the vineyard or juice in the vats, but rather by the number of bottles produced and declared. In plentiful harvests, like 1978, the top vineyards would often overproduce in quantity, while still maintaining top quality. In such cases wineries would bottle the maximum permitted yield of Grand Cru to sell at market, and any remaining wine (the very same wine that went into bottles with Grand Cru written on the label) were bottled as generic Bourgogne wine, and more often than not consumed by the family.
In Remoissenet’s case, such ‘overflow’ was bottled in large formats as Bourgogne “Renomée”, or “renamed.“ Such was the case of this Jero of ‘78, it had the breadth and expanse of a truly great wine without the appellation. Of course, there were no records at Remoissenet stating what was actually in the bottle, but the wine had a beautiful dark red cherry note on the palate, which evokes a memory for me of wines from the Grand Crus of Gevrey Chambertin. It wasn’t regal enough to be Chambertin or Clos de Beze, rather it had the softness and generosity reminiscent of Charmes-Chambertin. Purely a guess as to identity because i’ve not had occasion to taste the 78 Charmes from Remoissenet, and even if I had, it would have aged differently in 750 ml than in this 3L bottle. But the mystery did nothing to cloud the wine’s deliciousness and concentration. Best regional wine of the Paulée by far, and there was a lot of it so I was lucky to get a second glass!
Daniel - Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux 1999
This is a challenging task. How to choose one wine that knocked my socks off at La Paulée 2020.
With literally hundreds of wines seemingly floating around the room and nearly every person I pass offering me a taste in the true spirit of La Paulée. I have a terrible confession to make. It is an event I have been hosting for over 20 years and while the temptation is nearly unbearable to taste as many wines as I can, I am strictly disciplined about maintaining a sense of decorum and business-like posture during the event. With hundreds of people (guests, winemakers, chefs, sommeliers and staff) in the room, it is a work day, after all. But a work day like no other. That means I have to be sober. Well, pretty sober. There are some wines I cannot resist but mostly I am focused on the spirit in the room and the well being of as many people as possible.
At the end of the night this year around 5 am when the event was signed, sealed and delivered I, with a few colleagues, settled into a quiet spot and enjoyed a very special and rare treat. In fact, 3 treats. Coche-Dury, Meursault 1er Cru Perrieres 2009, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1971 and Henri Jayer Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux 1999. All 3 spectacular wines and as the saying goes, “There are no great wines, only great bottles”. On this night (morning) the stars were aligned and all 3 bottles were singing at full volume. For me, Henri Jayer has an extra special spot in my heart. I was fortunate to know the man and would even be granted time to just sit and talk with him after he retired from wine making. I gained access to his deep wisdom and thoughts on grape growing, wine making and Burgundy overall. Having known the man only deepened my appreciation for his wines.
