The Unlikely Vertical
2007-2009 Bachelet Gevrey Corbeaux
Snap Shots of a Perfectionist at Work
"The Denis Bachelet style is for wines of intensity, great elegance, and subtlety: feminine in the best sense..."
-Clive Coates
We've written this before but it's true: Denis Bachelet is the one-man band in Burgundy.
He works with under four hectares and, from a cellar the size of a sitting room, produces great Gevreys that, despite the elusiveness of the term, are soulful. There's no way around it.
If Bachelet's Grand Cru Charmes is one of the monuments of Gevrey, and his quivering Bourgogne Rouge a monumental value, today we focus on what is without doubt the most enigmatic bottling in Bachelet's stable: the 1er Cru Corbeaux.
Corbeaux brings the weight of the Charmes with the nervy pounce of the Côtes de Nuits; it's a tricky little bottle that always gets overlooked... and because of this, it is always undervalued.
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Pay attention here value seekers (especially as every bottle is priced lowest in the nation).
Corbeaux is a mysterious little plot of dirt, prone to be overlooked, sandwiched as it is directly next to the Grand Cru Mazis-Chambertin and the village of Gevrey-Chambertin itself.
The vineyard is tough to classify, yet the choicest parcels create a wine that mirrors the complexity of the site itself and the mysteriousness that surrounds Corbeaux always make it undervalued.
And here we introduce, once again, Denis Bachelet.
Bachelet's Gevrey Corbeaux comes from vines that are very old, ranging from 60 to 70 years. Bachelet's Corbeaux is a powerful, deep and complex wine (it really does come near Charmes in the weight it can throw around) - it always shows an impressive concentration and Gevrey's typical muscle, but it carries its weight effortlessly, leaving an impression of delicacy and discreetness.
Today we present a most unlikely of verticals, a three-vintage collection from 2007 to 2009 that's the perfect fit for the Burgundy geek, the value hunter and just about everyone else.
2007 is bright and energetic, curvaceous and ready-to-drink (in this tricky vintage, Bachelet excelled - his wines are among the very best). The mineral-led 2008 is more chiseled - it is a sinewy wine of chewy fruit and an authoritative mineral; this wine is cut. The 2009 is rich and brooding, a deep wine that glides across the palate, silken and floral. This is a blockbuster. Full notes on all the bottles below.
Want to understand how a vintage shapes a wine without altering the true voice of the site? Nothing conveys the essential truths of Burgundy quite like a vertical and with someone as in-tune as Bachelet, a vertical tasting can be an eye-opening experience.
As always with Bachelet, quantities are extremely limited. Please give us your maximum order, and we'll do our best to allocate fairly.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director Fine & Rare Wines
Crush Wine & Spirits