WHAT'S PRESSOIR DRINKING? LA PAULÉE DE NEW YORK EDITION...

William Fevre Maison Bouchard Père et Fils Dinner at The Modern

by Edouard Bourgeois

March 16, 2022

Domaine William Fèvre, the largest owner of Chablis Grand Cru, is always a reliable reference when it comes to choosing an authentic expression of this Kimmeridgean Chardonnay. Didier Seguier, the cellar master, instructed me the day before the La Paulee Dinner at the Modern on how to open and decant the younger Chablis: 20 minutes before pouring them. A brilliant idea for these wines full of energy that need enough air to sing expressively. I am always a fan of 2018 for white Burgundy and the Chablis performed just as well as the Cote d’Or, with generous notes of peach and firm underlying minerality. 2015, often described as hot, is another vintage I think did particularly well in the cool rolling hills of Chablis. The magnum of Les Clos 2015 was still youthful but a source of intense pleasure with snappy acidity and a juicy character. We closed the Chablis act with a 2000 Les Clos. Just like 2015, 2000 was a warm year, even in Chablis… Add to this already generous wine a couple decade of age and the result is quite stunning. Bottle age gave it a rounded texture and almost exotic aromas of pear and caramel.

The lineup of red wines provided directly from the illustrious cellar of the Château de Beaune, where Maison Bouchard keeps its treasures, reminded me of the incredible wines that I was lucky to taste in Burgundy some time prior, a magnum of Le Corton 1961 and a magnum of Corton Charlemagne 1955, both in pristine conditions (pictured below). Not too many Burgundy producers have access to such a library of old vintages. At Bouchard Père et Fils, these ancient bottles are the soul of the domaine and for special occasions such as La Paulée, Gilles de Larouzière of Henriot generously gives us access to a few precious bottles for our dinners. Frederic Weber, who started at the domaine in 2003 before taking over the entire winemaking operation in 2013, told me the day before the La Paulee dinner in New York that he personally checked each magnum and bottle 2 weeks before the dinner. Understand that he opened, checked, and recorked each bottle with a brand-new cork to avoid any bad showing. Such a level of care didn’t surprise me from this Alsatian-born meticulous winemaker. We entered red wine territory loudly with a jeroboam of what Frederic like to call “Baby Jesus” 2009. Incredibly young still, the famous Beaune Grèves took a while to fully open. Served alongside 2005 and 1999 of the same wine, this horizontal was a great education on the terroir of Vigne de l’Enfant Jesus, the famous vineyard just short of 4 hectares that has been under Bouchard ownership for more than 100 years.

A the Chateau de Beaune in January 2021

The vertical of Corton was a showstopper. 1991 displayed black fruit and earth while 1985, a celebrated vintage in the region, was probably the most balanced and ethereal with an intriguing aromatic complexity of violet and black truffle. 1976 was the year of an intense heat wave throughout France. It gave birth to wine with a bit of a pruny aroma, reminiscent of roasted figs, which I found again here in combination with the already strong personality of the terroir of Corton.

As it is often the case on Burgundy, we finish the dinner with white wine, and not just any white Burgundy. At the top of the pyramid sits Montrachet, a legend whose name was formed by the words “mont”, meaning “hill” and “rachet”, meaning “bald”. Indeed, before vines were painstakingly planted on that austere mount, nothing would grow, leaving the land bare. We are glad the Romans decided to make it the home of some of the fanciest Chardonnays. The 22-year-old magnum we opened took some time to reveal its full potential. After twenty minutes, layers of white stone fruit combined with brioche and roasted hazelnut brought all the magic one would expect from this celebrated Grand Cru.