($62, Vintus):  Lucien Le Moine, a tiny “boutique” négociant, bottles only about 100 barrels of premier and grand cru red and white Burgundies annually (about 2,500 12-bottle cases).  They are of uniformly high-quality, in short supply, and expensive.  He also produces a Bourgogne Rouge and Bourgogne Blanc that are more readily available and punch far above their weight class.  They give consumers an opportunity to see his talents, which are all the more impressive at this lowest level of appellation ladder.  Take this 2019 Bourgogne Rouge, for example.  It’s an extraordinary wine in its category.  Generally, the 2019 vintage produced big, ripe wines, with potential for over-ripeness and high alcohols.  Le Moine managed to tame the vintage with this wine.  Weighing in at only a stated 13-percent alcohol, it delivers the Janus-like fruity savory profile for which Burgundy is known.  Fresh and lively without a hint of over-ripeness, you would never know it’s from a hot vintage.  It’s balanced and approachable even now, delivering, what is for me, the quintessential Burgundian quality of flavor without weight.  This is a seductive Burgundy that throws a wrench into the whole appellation hierarchy system because it is far better than many producers’ village wines.  Expensive for Bourgogne Rouge?  Yes, but it doesn’t taste like most producers’ Bourgogne Rouge.
94 Michael Apstein Mar 8, 2022