June 2024 Tasting Report: Burgundy Excellence, the Sweetness of Bordeaux and California Showstoppers

Our June tastings of 3,414 wines from a staggering 22 countries included seven bottles we gave perfect scores to and 18 that notched 99s. The 100-pointers included three from Bordeaux – all 2021 Sauternes wines – two from Burgundy and two from California. We rated an even 800 wines in total from France during the month, mostly from Bordeaux and Burgundy as James wrapped up his tastings of Bordeaux’s 2021 vintage in bottle and Senior Editor Stuart Pigott and Executive Editor Jim Gordon did a deep dive into Burgundy’s 2022 vintage for their annual report on the region.

James’ thoughts on Bordeaux 2021 were clear, as you can read in his report from this week: it bordered on the dull side but had its moments, mostly by way of some striking sweet wines, led by astounding bottles from  Chateau d’Yquem, Lafaurie-Peyraguey and Suduiraut.

It was a difficult if not brutal vintage for some in Bordeaux, with greatly reduced production due to frost, botrytis, mildew and other challenges. And yet the three Sauternes wines still managed to shine through, with the Lafaurie-Peyraguey the richest of the trio, although “they all share the same incredibly sweet, spicy, ginger, ginseng character of perfectly developed botrytis,” according to James.

Stuart and Jim, meanwhile, found Burgundy’s 2022 vintage to be “great and abundant,” with consistent excellence from both red and white wines throughout the region. But two  wines in particular stood at the top. The first, the layered and complex Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Grand Cru Marquis de Laguiche 2022, Jim found to have deft balance, great depth and incredible length, while Stuart found a “Montrachet masterpiece” in the precise and nuanced Bouchard Père & Fils Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru Domaine 2022, made by winemaker Frederic Weber.

Another grand cru white Burgundy not to miss is the Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2022, which has “an almost perfect integration of vanilla oak with a wide spectrum of citrus and stone fruit on the very concentrated mid-palate.”

Louis Latour also made a handful of terrific red grand crus, the most extraordinary being the Louis Latour Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru Les Quatre Journeaux 2022, which has a “totally fascinating floral beauty and is incredibly silky with breathtaking finesse through the super-long finish.” And for an excellent, affordable Burgundy, try the Jean-Claude Boisset Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Chaignots 2022. Stuart said he was “staggered” by its interplay of richness, super-fine tannins and off-the-scale energy.

Stuart also reported on Burgundy’s new “high-altitude wines” – ones from steeper elevations that have gained enormously in importance due to climate change. Domaine Henri & Gilles Buisson in Saint Romain and its young winemaker, Frederic Buisson, are leaders in the category,  and their Domaine Henri & Gilles Buisson Saint-Romain Sous la Château 2022, a chardonnay masterpiece with fabulous concentration and minerality, showcases the best elements that wines from higher elevations have. And among the high-altitude reds, the Domaine Boris Champy Hautes-Côtes-de-Beaune Bignon 421 2022 stands out with its wonderful wild berry aromas, soft tannins and extremely long finish.

And Stuart noted the “extraordinary success” of some wines from the Cote Chalonnaise, including the red Domaine du Cellier aux Moines Givry 1er Cru Clos du Cellier aux Moins Les Dessus 2022, which Stuart said “is compelling proof that the Cote Chalonnaise is capable of greatness, and is the best so far from this producer.”

NAPA SHOWSTOPPER

Of our two perfect-scoring California wines, the Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Old Sparky 2021, Jim said, is a real “showstopper” – an unabashedly creamy, full-bodied wine made by Thomas Rivers Brown. At a powerful 15.5 percent alcohol, it’s packed with melted tannins and yet has inherent acidity for balance despite its obvious ripeness and size.

And from California’s 2022 vintage, which was affected by the unique “heat dome” of the growing season in Napa and Sonoma, came the Aubert Chardonnay Sonoma County Russian River Valley Eastside Vineyard 2022. The extreme heat of the growing season meant early bud break, and according to Aubert owner Mark Aubert, this “was the saving grace for the vintage.”

In fact, James said, the best wine producers of chardonnay and pinot noir seemed to navigate the extreme weather with relative ease, picking almost everything before the arrival of the heat dome. Aubert was one of them, but so was Kistler Vineyards, which made the full-bodied and intense Kistler Chardonnay Laguna Ridge Vineyard 2022.

As Jason Kesner of Kistler told James during a tasting at the winery: “We finished picking before the dome or as it set in. There is a notion to the 2022 that it is like 2017. There is a sun-kissed notion to the wines. There is great acidity. The heat [dome] was a disconnect from the mild growing season. We could capture the nature of the vintage.”

Another 2021 cabernet sauvignon from Napa we rated highly was the Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard RBS 2021. “It practically oozes black fruits yet is lightened by some fresh red cherry nuances,” Jim said of it, adding that “this massive wine is lavish, mouth-coating and long.”

Schrader’s other 2021s are also high in quality and big in structure, including the creamy and opulent Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard Colesworthy 2021 as well as the Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Oakville To Kalon Vineyard Heritage Clone 2021.

And Robert Mondavi also gave us a terrific wine from the same property in the Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Oakville To Kalon Vineyard The Reserve 2021 – one of the best Mondavi Reserves ever made, with the latest iteration a svelte but muscular and more layered version than the 2018 and 2016.

SHINE ON, BLAUFRANKISCH

There were plenty of high-scoring wines from Austria, too, with Stuart uncovering some stunning single-vineyard red wines from Uwe Schiefer, the self-taught winemaker who has reinvented the wines of the blaufrankisch grape in the Burgenland region. His Schiefer Blaufränkisch Burgenland Ried Reihburg Eisenberg an der Pinka 2021 impressed with its intensity and youthful aromas of elderberry, licorice and tar, while the Schiefer Blaufränkisch Burgenland Szapary S 2015 “floats like a cloud on the palate” and is as unique as anything Bordeaux, Burgundy, Piedmont or Napa have to offer, according to Stuart.

In neighboring Italy, Senior Editor Aldo Fiordelli was tasting Brunello di Montalcino riserva wines from the 2018 vintage. He found a consistent quality in the wines although they show a more uneven level overall than usual, but there are also peaks of excellence, with the best qualities required of a riserva – mid-palate extraction, concentration and perhaps even fruit freshness and depth – on full display.

The authenticity of Montalcino estates Caprili, Fattoi and Elia Palazzesi really stand out in their 2018 offerings, but also notable are the complexity and elegance of the San Filippo Le Lucere Riserva 2018, from an estate that enjoys a beautiful southeast exposure, as well as the intense and open nose of the San Polo Riserva 2018. The finesse of the Poggio di Sotto Riserva 2018, which maintains impressive consistency even in a lesser vintage, is also remarkable, Aldo said.

Aldo also rated the wines of the Valtellina region in June and found some standout “nebbiolos delle Alpi.” The Arpepe Valtellina Superiore Sassella Rocce Rosse Riserva 2016, from a vineyard in the Sassella subzone, is one of the most elegant and complex wines from the valley, while its Ultimi Raggi Riserva 2016 shows the sort of thickness and structure that will perform well in the long haul.

Tenuta Scersce also stood out for the balance and finesse of its wines, in particular its Petrato 2021, and Balgera, one of the Valtellina’s sustainable producers, impressed with its detailed and savory Pizaméi Riserva 2016, which is from Valgella, one of coolest parts of the Valtellina valley.

And one of the highlights of our Italian wine tastings in Hong Kong was a cabernet-led blend from Super Tuscan producer Monteverro. The latest edition of its flagship wine, the Monteverro Toscana, is pure, fresh and subtle, with fine and creamy tannins alongside dark-berry and hazelnut flavors. Coming from the slopes of the Dolomites in northern Italy, meanwhile, is the  San Leonardo Vigneti delle Dolomiti 2019 a blend of cabernet sauvignon, carmenere and merlot that was fermented in concrete and aged in barrel for 24 months. It’s a wine with a leafy style that is never austere, with elegant tannins and well-integrated acidity that in the 2019 vintage finds a marked harmony.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING SHERRIES

Wines from the Iberian Peninsula also featured in our June tastings, with the striking Gonzalez Byass Jerez Tio Pepe Cuatro Palmas Amontillado NV one of the most exemplary sherrys we have ever tasted, demonstrating how a rare, top-quality dry sherry can also be one of the most complex, thought-provoking wines in the world. The Gonzalez Byass’s Tres Palmas, Dos Palmas and Una Palma, are all fino-style sherries that show outstanding quality but with less aging time. And one of the most fresh and drinkable PX (Pedro Ximenez) sherry wines we have ever had was the “mind-blowing” Bodegas Toro Albala Montilla-Moriles Don PX Convento Selección 1964. 

And while on his holiday in Portugal, Jim tasted the lineup of Quinto do Noval Ports and dry wines plus those of Noval’s sibling property, Quinta da Romaneira, with the technical director of both, Carlos Agrellos. The high points of the tasting were the newly released Quinta do Noval Vintage Port Nacional 2022, which showed superb finesse with great power and a minutes-long finish, as well as the regular Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 2022, which showed more brute force, body, heady wood char and grilled fruit flavors, and is eminently age-worthy. But if you don’t want to wait decades before drinking a great Port, consider a well-aged tawny like the brilliant, layered and deeply complex Quinta do Noval 40 Year Old Tawny Port – a perfectly mellow, mature, inviting and evolved Port suitable for current drinking.

Finally, Stuart attended a special tasting of Danish wines in Hamburg, Germany. With the vineyard area of Denmark having increased to almost 200 hectares today from 60 hectares in 2007, the country’s wines have also evolved. Leading a revolution in style and quality is the Njord winery on the Danish Island of Seeland, which is run by Sune Albertson and Janni Nielsen, who have 4.6 hectares of vineyards, with the oldest vines dating from 2010. They specialize in red wines from the pinot noir precoce grape variety. It is an early-ripening, mutation of pinot noir from Germany, where it is called fruhburgunder, or “early Burgundy.”

Njord now makes a handful of single-vineyard wines that are radically contrasting, with the Njord Pinot Noir Précoce En Variation 2021 right at the top of the pile. It’s an extremely complex and subtle pinot with grand cru-type concentration and finesse, and according to Stuart is a real game-changer for wines of “the New North.” The most extraordinary Danish whites, meanwhile, were the dessert wines from Ornberg, also on Seeland, none more so than the Ornberg Seeland CV 2020, which is still embryonic in the way that great German TBAs often are at this age. “It is both dense and luscious, but very bright and precise, the honeyed sweetness lifted by crystalline acidity,” Stuart said.

– Vince Morkri, Managing Editor

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