I first encountered the Drouhins six months into buying our house in the North of Burgundy on a rainy Saturday when we decided to drive the hour south of us to Beaune to look for some antiques and taste some wines. If you ever have the pleasure of a visit a la Maison Drouhin at the rue D’enfer, you’ll walk away with an appreciation of wine, Burgundy, famiily history and the history of the walls of Beaune which were once Roman fortifications. As we completed our tasting, Frederic Drouhin appeared and he opened a very special Clos de Mouches (it was someone special’s birthday) and two life long fans of the wine were born that day.

Fastforward to a few years later and the excellent team at BBR invited me to a dinner with the famous lady – how could I resist?I have to confess to being a fan-boy of hers for sometime, so I fear I may have gushed a bit, especially when I mentioned that my wedding reds were her la foret pinot noir bourgogne rouge – we both got a little querulous and hugged it out. We talked wine, Chablis, biodynamism and organic vinification and left our conversation before dinner having understood one another perfectly. It’s not often you meet someone you admire who lives up to expectations from afar, but Veronique surpassed them all – the only thing present more elegant than the wines she served that evening was Veronique herself. What a charming person.

The dinner itself was a well managed affair, hosted at Berry Brothers and Rudd in their Napoleon cellar, where Veronique continued to tell us of her early trials and tribulations at being the first of her family to set up wine production anywhere outside of Burgundy, but also in the US! The bottle after bottle of elegant chardonnay and pinot noirs on display spoke to the success of her Oregon adventure. I often drive down to Beaune to pick up cases of my favourites from Maison Drouhin (their Clos des Mouches, red and white, their Chassagne and their Chambolle Musigny). But I’ll be adding a trip to Oregon some time soon to explore these beautiful wines at their source. Her 20 year old Cuvee Lauren was haunting.

The wines were all really well paired but the older Pinot Noirs were what stood out to me – completely different terroir from my beloved Bourgogne here, but all the Pinot complexity, sous-bois and balance a burgundian palate requires – was there to be enjoyed. The evening converted me completely to the virtues of Pinot Noir from the new world, when made in the hands of a master, as these clearly were.

This week, instead of sampling Burgundy’s finest in situ, all of Burgundy descended on London! I visited with

many familiar faces, and met some new producers, some from corners of my beloved Bourgogne I have not visited as yet. It was an exciting week.

2018 is a very warm vintage, which can be risky in Burgundy, when most Burghounds look for poise and balance in their wines rather than fruit forward accessibility. As expected, the best vignerons knew how to handle this, and I was relieved to taste refreshing seashell and mineral flecked Chablis alongside some aristocratic and typically poised and balanced Vosne-Romanees all week.

I was lucky enough to have the terroirs of the Macon explained to me by no less than Comte Dominique Lafon as he poured (a personal hero), and I even swapped quips with the infamous Jancis Robinson on the virtues of White Rully (and then gossiped amicably about the news of some royals, who shall remain nameless, de-camping to Canada).

2018 was an easy, well drinking vintage. The Vignerons I chatted with talked alot about not having space for stems in the vat, reducing yields and an easy triage. In Burgundy, where the cost of land is high, the AOC is strict and farming methods are often biodynamic, organic or at least VERY traditional, the relaxed energy of the tasting rooms was a welcome change to me. Some brief thoughts on this most summery of vintages below.

Favourites –

I continue to obsess over Mugneret-Gibourg and the magic those sisters weave with Pinot Noir from Vosne. Tasting wine with them at their domain in Vosne Romanee was the highlight of my domaine visits last year.

The family Pinson continue to produce stunningly subtle, balanced and elegant Chablis. Seeing father and daughter this far from Chablis in such good spirits was lovely. The restraint and minerality on display in these wines across their many Climats is a testament to their talent.

White Rully – generally and then specifically the premier crus. Elegant, moreish white burgundy at a fraction of the price of the Cote de Beaune more famous whites.

Hubert Lamy’s Saint Aubin remains a firm favourite. Everyone adores his En Remilly for it’s Montrachet inspired complexity, but I’ve put myself down for some more modestly priced village Princee which I suspect will come into its own in about a year.

Detailed tasting notes to come.

Cheers,

Colum