Oh My God! What Was I Thinking?!?
– Wines You Will Look Back and Cry for Not Buying More
2022 at Rebourgeon
– The Accessibility of 2021
– 80% Red Fruits, 20% Black Fruits
– Velvety Tanins – Well Integrated
– Will Drink Well Young but Will Age Well
The Style (Important)
– Style Is Polished Traditional
– Terrific Elegance
– Stunningly Sensual Levels of Fruit
– Perfect Balance
– Incredible Palate Presence, Intensity and Thrust
– Among the Most Delicious Wines We Sell / 2021’s Are All 12.5%
Our New Burgundy Prodigy
– Raised in the Vineyards
– His First Vintage at 18
– Amazing Wines at 18 Years of Age. 18.
– The French Have Bought Almost All of Their Wines
– Style Is Less Rustic, Very Elegant, Amazing, Amazing Fruit
– Some of the Most Delicious Wines in Burgundy, Bar None
You Will Want to Pop One of These at a Tasting in 10 Years when Whitehead is Famous … And He Will Be
2022 Domaine Rebourgeon Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens
– Not a Better Value in Top Class Pommard-Rugiens on the Market
– A Dramatic Leap in Quality Over the Profound 19 and 21.
– Nose: Outrageously Complex
– Deep Perfectly Ripened Mid Season Cherries
– A Background of Stoniness and Super Minerality
– Palate: Beyond Brilliant
– Palate: Utter Magic – Beautifully Complex
– Dense, Powerful, Concentrated and So, So Sappy
– So Stoney and Floral
– Stunning Finesse and Elegance for a Wine This Powerful
– Cling Is Beyond Belief
– Serious Structure and Major Sap Explosion on the Finish
– This Wine Is a “Beyond” Wine – So Great and So Distinctively Great You Can’t Believe You Are Drinking It
– Will Last 25+ Years
– 300 Bottles – I Have 48
2022 Domaine Rebourgeon Volnay 1er Cru “Carelles Sous La Chapelle”
– I Only Have 48 Bottles
– Haunting, Deeply Penetrative Nose
– d’Angerville Like Elegance
– Minerals, Pulverized Rock Dust
– Black and Dark Red Cherries
– So Elegant and So Refined
– Confectionery but Restrained
– Palate – an Elegant Masterpiece of Balance and Drop Dead Purity
– Cherries Galore
– Super Precise and So Pretty
– Startlingly Pure and Fresh
The picture to the right is an AI image from Midjourney of what I would imagine a young William being raised in the vineyards.
2022 at Rebourgeon
I arrived in Beaune and scored a ridiculous Air B and B that I hope to stay in forever every time I go back. It was the best deal I have ever encountered and was two seconds from the famous Beaune arch and also a hop and a skip away from Marie Simon which for me served up the best cappuccino in France and also next level pastries.
But that is neither here nor there as I only spent ten minutes at the air b and b before I was off to taste with William Whitehead and his father and mother at Domaine Rebourgeon. I’ve been working with Willlam since the 2017 vintage when he found me in 2019 by checking location tags on IG and DM’ing me if I wanted to taste his wines. How’s that for generation z? I loved his aggressive confidence in tracking me down.
Well I loved the wines and 22 is the 6th vintage we have worked with. He took a massive leap in 2019 and 2020 was excellent but a bit behind 2019. 2021 was so limited but utterly profound and classic and while different than 2019.
But now we enter 2022 and Willam has made the best wines of his young and burgeoning career. He blew me away and the tasting in his cellar was one of the best I have ever experienced in my long career. The wines are like a cross between 2021 and 2019.
They have
– the accessibility of 2021
– around 80% red fruits (which I was not expecting) and 20% black fruits. 2019 for example was the reverse with 80% black/blue fruits and 20% red fruits.
– In 2022 the tannins are just ultra velvety and integrated so well with the fruit to give an affect like they are melting on your palate and I cannot tell you how appealing this ie.
My assessment not only at Rebourgeon but all the estates we work with is that the 22s will drink well young due to this melty tannin and fruit phenomenon. It’s a so called hidden structure. But don’t discount the acidity and freshness of 2022. They are bright wines but also supple. It’s such a great combo and a truly engaging vintage. Today I start with the two wines I have the least of. They are amongst the stars of the cellar in 22 but there are so many great wines you could throw a dart at any barrel in the cellar and you’d have a sensational wine.
The Style: Intoxicatingly Sensual and Original VERY IMPORTANT
I am going to try and explain what these wines are like and I’m gong to fail but I hope that I can get you enough of a sense of them that you try them. These wines are so good and so original that I sort of feel like John Belushi in a hypothetical sketch of Samurai Wine Store – if I can’t get you to buy these, I should commit seppuku.
The aromatics on these wines are absolutely among the most sensual and sexy of any wines I’ve had. They are elegant but man there is this sweet delicious fruit on them that you can’t believe. It tickles and envelops the nostrils. The secondary flavors live around the edge of that gorgeous fruit. Some wines have lilacs, some blackberry flower, some a hint of licorice or spice. But it’s on the back of that sensual fruit.
This is a contrast to a more traditional style of Burgundy where the fruit and aromatics are more bound together on a line and you have to sort of mentally say “oh there’s the fruit” and “oh, there’s the lilac.” Here the fruit just seduces you right off the bat.
The palate is in a similar vein. You get that spectacular fruit but balanced with perfect levels of acidity to keep it fresh and vibrant. The fruit is so so so so clean. It almost feels like essence of the fruit (blackberry, cherry, depending on the wine) that was passed through a distillery to concentrate, purify it and remove any impurities. The wines all have terrific intensity and palate thrust. Again – these are not shy wines and not what you might think of as the classic Burgundy of 20 years ago. But they are a faithful and beautiful representation of Burgundian Pinot Noir.
You know that you will want to pop one of these in 10 years when Whitehead is famous and you can say that he made this at the age of 22.
The Wines
Up first is the 2022 Domaine Rebourgeon Pommard 1er Cru “Les Rugiens” for $79.99 NET. This is a steal for a wine of this level. This is like a $150-$200 wine. But today it’s $80.
Pommard Rugiens
This is an incredible vineyard and for me is the Grand Cru Of Pommard and is almost like a Richebourg of Pommard. Rugiens will age longer than most of us and likely more gracefully.
Rugiens is muscular, due to the iron in the soil, spicy and can age for decades. I’ve walked the vineyard. It is very rocky with poor soil and the vines need to struggle to get nutrients. Perfect for making tiny high quality berries.
Old Rugiens can compete with anything in Burgundy. Anything. Billard Gonnet pulled out a 64 Rugiens one visit that is next to some DRC’s as the best wines I’ve ever had in my life.
Today’s wine is my favorite Pommard 1er Cru, the 2022 Domaine Rebourgeon Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens for $79.99 NET. There is not a better value in top class Pommard-Rugiens on the market. The cheapest 2021 Rugiens via 3-Tier are . . . .
1 2021 Fernand & Laurent Pillot ($110)
2 2021 Joseph Voillot ($175)
3 2021 Domaine Montille ($190)
Their plot is .17 hectares. This is classic Rugiens and will age for 25+ years. It can be drunk after 3-4 hours or 24 hours but really you should wait on this for optimal results. William’s 22 Rugiens has the stuff. It is packed and will be a future legend. The top wine at Rebourgeon and this is maybe the best Pommard he’s ever made.
The nose is outrageously complex. Just sick. Insane. So complex and deep. Cherry flower, spice cake, pulverized stones, licorice, mid to late season cherry and spice. Unreal complexity. So harmonious. But this 9.6 nose is still holding back. That’s what elite vineyards do. Superb aromas after air of deep stoniness that only Rugiens can bring. Floral, woodsy and spicey as well. Black cherry pastille. Complex. Unfurling. Black cherry. End of season cherries. Outrageous nose after air. 9.7 ish. On day 2, you get crazy deep perfectly ripened mid season cherries. They are so pure, so vivid and smell more cherry than actual cherry. Mid, late, black and ripe cherries and a sense of insane juiciness. All of this is on a background of stoniness and super minerality. After air it gets going. Superb nose of deep stoniness that only Rugiens can bring. Floral, woodsy and spicy as well. Black cherry pastille. Complex. Unfurling. Black cherry.
Gorgeous purity of fruit on the palate and wonderful finesse and freshness. Very elegant. Chewy and dense but really light on its feet. Awesome fruit stamp on the palate. Sticks with you. Terrific concentration and power and sweet, ripe and stoney tannins. Superb depth. Sappy and so serious. Elite Rugiens. Terrific finish and picks up complexity as it airs. Needs a few hours, days, years, decades to unwind. Will be a great trip.
On day 2, the palate is beyond brilliant. Classic Rugiens. Wow, that is super elite. Just so elegant. One of the most elegant wines I’ve ever had from William if not the most elegant. This is only giving 15% of itself but that 15% is stunning. A sphere on the palate. So balanced, so much synergy. Stoney, floral, fruity and endless depth. Going deep in the ocean. Dense, powerful, concentrated and so, so sappy. Insanely pure. Juicy and balanced like a rhinonocerous on a tightrope. You can sniff this nose as hard as possible and it still gives off unlimited depth. Palate is also a 9.7 but has so much room to improve. Super long with serious structure and a major sap explosion on the finish. Gorgeous purity of fruit on the palate and wonderful finesse and freshness. Very elegant. Chewy and dense but really light on its feet. Unreal sweet fruit and wonderful slippery character. Tannins, acid and fruit all in perfect harmony. Just a stunning bottle of Rugiens and the best bottle of wine young William has made so far. The wine coats your mouth and stays there forever. It becomes a part of your mouth. The tannins are firm and glorious. About as epic a wine as one can taste. The finish keeps pumping the fruit. Amazing.
This is a 25+ year wine. No contest. Just terrific. The essence of Burgundian power wrapped in velvety finesse. This will blow minds down the roads.
Wait 10 years and enjoy over next 15. Only 300 bottles. I have 48.
Up next is the 2022 Domaine Rebourgeon Volnay 1er Cru Carelles Sous La Chapelle for $56.99 NET. I only have 48 bottles but man is this a beauty. This is the most delicate and lithe Volnay 1er cru and this version tastes like heaven and has an ethereal gossamer like texture. It’s got that melty tannin fruit thing down like nothing else. It’s directly below the great 1er Cru “Bousse d’Or” and can be drunk down with aplomb but ideally will be best in 4-5 years. This is as good a Volnay as I’ve had in 2022 at Rebourgeon and is easily the best Volnay William has made.
Haunting, deeply penetrative nose of minerals, pulverized rock dust, black and dark red cherries that are so elegant and so refined you’d think you’re drinking d’Angerville. The airy minerality is just stunning. Amazing scents of the best bubblegum ever but so subtle and refined. Confectionery but showing ultimate restraint. Beautiful. A work of aromatic art. On day 2 it got better. Hugely mineral nose and just stunning depth. So stoney. Black cherry and such depth. Wow this is super precise and so pretty.
Wow is that palate just an elegant masterpiece of balance and drop dead purity. But the story is the suppleness and how it just melts onto your palate and is so melty. The sweet fruit is so engaging and hedonistic. This is so close to Brisset it’s not funny. Wow is this a divine bottle of Volnay. It’s so fine, so delicate and so refined. This is liquid silk. Cherries galore but the restraint here for how awesome and perfect this is is what keeps one coming back. An absolute masterpiece. On day 2, sappy black and red cherry fruit. Fresh and elegant. Startlingly pure and fresh. Terrific inner mouth aromas. Unreal sweetness and balance. A knockout. Just genius. Best Volnay I’ve ever had from young William and $52.99! What????!!
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your order if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
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I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
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