Even by Burgundy standards, the Boursot family has been around awhile. They began making wine in Chambolle-Musigny back in 1550, and nearly five centuries later they’re still farming many of the same soils. The most recent generation has upgraded the facilities and the focus, and their wines have begun to gain substantial critical interest.
Boursot’s most impressive cuvées are from Chambolle-Musigny, and their village and premier cru vines produce red Burgundies of the highest degree. But their two regional level wines from humbler terroir show off their winemaking prowess. Particularly in 2019, the wines are vibrant and refined, pulsing with clean, beautifully channeled fruit.
Boursot’s simplest wine, their Bourgogne rouge, comes from vines near Vosne-Romanée and Chambolle-Musigny, and this origin helps explain the wines unusual refinement. Inexpensive regional level Burgundy can lack complexity or freshness, and in recent hot summers many have devolved into “fruit bombs.” Boursot’s avoids both traps, emerging as a wine with unparalleled subtlety for its level.
Clocking in at 13% alcohol, with fine grained but subtle tannins, the Boursot 2019 Bourgogne rouge is like the Bourgogne rouge of a decade ago. (The pricing may remind you of the aughts as well.) The nose shows wild cherry, chalk, and earth, bursting with unoaked freshness. The mouth is fine-boned and dry with just enough tannin to support the delicate fruit, and a classic Burgundian minerality.
This won’t be the loudest wine in your lineup — it might even get shouted down by your seltzer. But it’s charming and delicious, and a welcome respite from modern ripeness explosions.
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Boursot Bourgogne rouge 2019
bottle price: $25
