Wine of the week: a Burgundy with rakish swagger

2014 Maranges, 1er Cru La Fussière Rouge, Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, Burgundy, France

Marc and Alexandre Bachelet made their first wines in the 2005 vintage and I have bought and also written up their wines every year since. Their modern outlook and boundless energy coupled with their innate respect for their special terroirs have meant that, from a standing start, they are now regarded as one of the most accomplished domaines in the region. Their wines usually sell out during en primeur season each year (this wine was sold as a “future” in January 2016) and so it is very exciting to find this parcel of brilliant wine at a highly advantageous price.

MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

The 2014s were slow to emerge from their shells and, without the sweet fruit associated with a warmer vintage, many were quick to dismiss them as rigid and blunt, and Maranges is, perhaps, the least fashionable of all Côte d’Or villages. But it is home to a killer pair of Bachelet-Monnot wines, which both come from the Premier Cru vineyard La Fussière. If you are unfamiliar with this wine, think of a smart Volnay and add some rakish swagger. Given half an hour to breathe, this pinot blossoms into a stunner and I cannot think of a finer value red Burgundy on the shelves today. Just to prove that the J&B 2014 trick is not a one-off, 2014 Les Tourelles de Longueville, Château Pichon-Baron, Pauillac (£32.69) is the claret equivalent of this Burgundy – utterly delicious and perfectly priced.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)

Explore More

Matthew Jukes has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006.

He has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.