“Buy it.” – Burghound

Like Ben Stiller going DO IT, you know it’s serious when Allen Meadows, the authority on all things Burgundian, says so.

Savvy Burgundy fans! What do Gucci, Christie’s, Château Latour, and Bouchard have in common? All owned by Group Artémis, are savvy investments of billionaire François Pinault. And this triple 95 pointer is one of the hidden values in their vast cornucopia of luxurious treats.

Bouchard has been around for 3 centuries, and is celebrating 250 years of owning and farming this vineyard. In fact, they purchased their very first vineyard from Monsieur Carnot in 1775. At the time, and in 1855’s first classification of the greatest sites in Burgundy that laid the foundations of the Grand and 1er Crus as we know them today, this plot was acknowledged as one of the very few Tête de Cuvée vineyards. To this date, its wines reign supreme as one of Bouchard’s and Burgundy’s most storied.

And many still put Bouchard at the very top of Burgundy’s greatest institutions. If you follow the wine and real estate world, the ownership change just this year has set that fact in stone. Per Wine Spectator, the new owner of Bouchard, “François Pinault is one of the world’s richest men… Artémis is his family’s investment company, which began its wine focus when Pinault purchased Château Latour in 1993. In recent years, Artémis has bought some of the world’s most iconic wineries, including Clos de Tart in Morey-Saint-Denis, Château Grillet in the Northern Rhône, Napa’s Eisele Vineyard… The company also owns Gucci, and Christie’s, one of the wine world’s leading auction houses.”

In other remarkable news, Wine Advocate states that “The 2022 vintage is another tour de force for Bouchard, as the accompanying tasting notes reflect.” The sweet perfume greets the senses with violets, crushed flowers, incense, and forest floor with red and purple fruits all fanning out in the glass. Elegant, beautifully balanced, and ethereal on the palate, with a weightless texture, it’s a breathtaking Premier Cru, quintessentially Volnay, to drink now and over the coming decades, if not beyond.

Give or take, a thousand bottles make it to the US every vintage, even with the pesky tariffs we somehow were able to get this trophy red under $100, so you know what that means…

95 Points – Decanter “The parcel of Volnay Caillerets was the first Pinot picked in 2022 due to the thin soils and superficial nature of the limestone. The wine has an alluring aroma of blackberry and mulberry fruit with hints of boxwood, bay leaf, and peonies. The texture is supple and velvety, with rewarding concentration and density. The team at Bouchard sorts rigorously for ‘figuée’, grapes shrivelled by sunburn; technical director Frédéric Weber says success depends on ‘keeping it crunchy’. This wine should open soon after release and is suited to mid-term cellaring, although a 1962 from this vineyard tasted this year was still fresh. Drink 2025-2050.”

95 Points – James Suckling “A powerful and quite rich expression of this excellent site in Volnay that has some of the floral beauty of this appellation, but more red fruit and some ripe blackberry. The generous and quite full body is well supported by the fine tannins and a touch of biscuit character. Long, supple finish that pulls you back for more. From the first vineyard that the Bouchard family purchased in 1775. It lies in the middle of the slope, where the clay soil is shallow. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.”

92-95 Points, Sweet Spot, Outstanding – Burghound “Here too there is a liqueur-like quality to the black cherry aromas that are nuanced by floral and spice hints. The caressing yet intense and beautifully detailed middleweight flavors brim with both minerality and dry extract that carry over to the dusty, moderately austere, and affirmatively built-to-age finish. This is one exceptionally classy wine, indeed the mouthfeel is pure silk. Buy it. Drink: 2034+.”

94 Points – Wine Advocate “The 2022 Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot is showing especially well, bursting with aromas of dark berries and cherries mingled with spices, rose petals, and smoke. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and concentrated, it’s pure and ethereal, with lively acids, powdery tannins and a long, saline finish.”