Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Domaine Olivier & Anne-Marie Rion
Instead of the usual text message telling me what to expect for dinner last night, Sue sent a sweet “Happy Birthday, G!” and asked me to choose for myself (I told you I live a charmed life). I ordered the chicken.
At our house, a roasted chicken starts with a three pound organically raised bird from Eberly Poultry Farms in Lancaster County, which (like beer, according to Benjamin Franklin) “God made because He loves us and wants us to be happy.” You don’t have to do anything with it except add heat (OK, Sue puts a little fresh thyme inside and bastes it with plenty of butter).
And this Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits was just perfect, pulled from the little wine corner of the fridge where I put it only last week after I tasted it in New York: a brilliant black-cherry and clove scented Pinot Noir from the craggy limestone slopes above Comblanchien, in the heart of Burgundy, grown by one of the finest producers in the Côtes de Nuits. Another great red wine for the summer: vibrant, refreshing, aromatic, and just sensational with a roasted chicken, sweet potato, and fresh garden peas.
Domaine Olivier & Anne-Marie Rion:
When Olivier Rion visited Moore Brothers in New York, we invited our customers to an open house tasting that was one the most memorable events we have ever hosted. Jill baked Madame Ampeau’s gougères from scratch, and I was so delighted that Rion had quit his relationship with another New York importer, that I didn’t think twice about freely pouring his Clos Vougeot 2002 and Échezeaux 2001 for the more than 150 guests who attended.
Imagine two bottles of the same wine. They could have come from the same barrel. One has a beautiful purple color, strawberry preserves and cloves in the nose, and is plump and sleek on the palate. The other is brown at the center, orange at the edge, mute on the nose, and dried up on the palate.
How to know which to expect? The back labels. Only one says: “SHIPPED AT 56°.”
But the hundred-dollar Grands Crus weren’t the only notable wines on the tasting table. There were at least a dozen more, including a particularly instructive pair of his Vosne-Romanée Villages 2001 that I poured side by side (until the one that I bought at a liquor store uptown was empty).
Imagine two bottles of the same wine. They could have come from the same barrel. One has a beautiful purple color, strawberry preserves and cloves in the nose, and is plump and sleek on the palate. The other is brown at the center, orange at the edge, mute on the nose, and dried up on the palate.
How to know which to expect? The back labels. Only one says: “SHIPPED AT 56°.”
This wine:
In the glass, this wine has a limpid, saturated, bright cherry red color. The nose is pure Burgundian Pinot Noir, with aromatics of strawberry preserves, black cherries, rhubarb, smoke, and a hint of cloves. On the palate, the wine is deeper than the color suggests, with bright fresh acidity, and a long, fine-grained finish. Another great wine that puts on weight over time in the glass.
As always at Moore Brothers, this Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits was selected at the source. I first drank it at lunch with Anne-Marie and Olivier Rion at La Gentilhommière in Nuits Saint-Georges, with a travers de veau à la moutarde.
I thank you again for your participation in the stewardship of this special heritage that belongs to all of us.