Jean Luc & Eric Burguet - Chambertin Clos De Beze 2017

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Chambertin-Clos de Bèze is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. Chambertin-Clos de Bèze is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin, together with a group of nine Grand Cru vineyards all having "Chambertin" as part of their name. It is located uphill from (to the west of) the Route des Grands Crus, borders on Chambertin in the north, Griotte-Chambertin and Chapelle-Chambertin in the east (across the road) and Mazis-Chambertin in the north. The AOC was created in 1937.

Under AOC regulations some wine from Chambertin-Clos de Bèze may be labeled as just Chambertin. Since Chambertin-Clos de Bèze has a good reputation on its own, this is not widely practiced.

Jean Luc & Eric Burguet Description

Alain was born in 1950 to Yvon Burguet, a tâcheron for Domaine Tortochot who also worked his own vines in Gevrey. He was a tough father, and Alain and his brother, Gilles, were expected to work in the vines at a young age on their days off from school. Alain remembers being ten years old and carrying a bucket of grapes at harvest that must have weighed as much as he did. By age 14, the boys were deemed finished with school and they began to work full-time in the vines of Gevrey under their father’s strict direction. After military service, Alain returned to Gevrey and decided to start his own domaine, working exclusively with rented vines until 1974 when the opportunity arose to buy his first 2.10 ha of vines in the village. He bottled his own production from the start, and began to earn a reputation for himself, which was boosted around 1982 when Becky picked up Alain’s wines. She brought Jean Troigros to taste, who was utterly impressed with the Gevrey Vieilles Vignes and promptly added them to his restaurant’s list. Alain continued to expand his domaine, acquiring 1er Cru Les Champeaux in 1985, inheriting some of his father’s 3.5 hectares in 1991, while still working rented vineyards. As Clive Coates explains, “Alain Burguet is an example of how it is still possible to build up a domaine from scratch, without ample resources and without having to make a ‘sensible’ marriage, even with today’s high prices of land.” Having established his estate entirely on his own, Alain began looking forward to the future of the domaine, after his retirement. To the relief of Burguet fans, after a smooth transition his two sons are carrying on the family tradition. Jean-Luc first started working at the domaine in 1997 and Eric followed in 1999, working with their father in the vines and the cellar, doing everything from preparing orders to discussing the date for harvest with Alain. Jean-Luc did a ‘BAC Pro’ focusing on viticulture, then a BPREA (a professional degree for managing agricultural operations). During his studies he worked at several neighboring wineries in Gevrey-Chambertin including Domaine Bachelet, and also worked in Bandol. With the goal of broadening his knowledge abroad, he then worked in California with Jim Clendenen at Au Bon Climat in Santa Barbara. Eric completed a ‘BAC’ and a BTS that included both winemaking and commercialization of wine and spirits. Like his brother, he interned in production, at Domaine Henri Gouges in Nuits-Saint-Georges, and also had stages in the wine trade. The 2011 vintage was the first with Jean-Luc and Eric at the helm as Alain officially retired.

A View from the Cellar: 95 Points

There are three barrels of Clos de Bèze this year in the Burguet cellars, with two of them new oak. The wine is already showing stellar complexity on the nose, wafting from the glass in a refined blend of red and black cherries, raspberries, a beautiful array of spice tones, a complex base of minerality, gentle meatiness, a bit of mustard seed and spicy oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and again, beautifully sappy at the core, with fine focus and detail, fine-grained tannins and excellent backend mineral drive on the long, complex and utterly refined finish. High class juice. (Drink between 2027-2075)

Burghound: 91-94 Points

A surprisingly high-toned and distinctly floral-inflected nose reflects notes of pomegranate, raspberry and an impressive range of spice elements. The beautifully refined and pure flavors possess excellent authority that really emerges on the powerful, mineral and driving finish. This is actually very firmly structured yet it is so well-balanced that it's not especially austere or backward. Even so, if you wish to see this at its apogee, it will definitely require extended patience. (Drink starting 2034)