The four top red wines from Vincent Girardin include the Chassagne-Montrachet Clos de la Boudriotte Vieilles Vignes, Beaune Clos Les Vignes Franches, Volnay Les Santenots, and Pommard Les Chanlins Vieilles Vignes. All of these wines can be drunk now, but they promise to age for another 7-8 years. The 1994 Beaune Clos Les Vignes Franches reveals copious amounts of sweet, ripe fruit, medium to full body, excellent density, a chewy texture, and a spicy, long, heady, alcoholic finish. It is a wine of undeniable charm, yet it is capable of lasting another 7-8 years. Burgundy is frightfully expensive, and often disappointing, not only on a qualitative level, but in terms of the price/quality relationship. How rare it is to taste a group of Burgundies and find them to be delicious, satisfying, and, for Burgundy, reasonably priced. Vincent Girardin appears to be making the finest wines of his career, turning out full blown, smoky, oaky whites, and gorgeously seductive, round, generous red wines that are modestly priced, especially when one considers the prices now fetched by the top single vineyard/reserve Pinot Noirs from California and Oregon. I was very impressed with not only Girardin's 1994 whites, but also his 1994 reds, the first vintage he has bottled without any fining or filtration - an important factor as the style of the 1994 vintage (elegance and lightness) strongly suggests such wines cannot endure much SO2, or aroma and flavor eviscerating fining and filtration.
Vineyard Brands, Inc., Chester, VT; tel. (802) 875-2139; fax (802) 875-3566
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