1er Cru Burgundy Steal
2007 Chandon de Briailles
1er Cru Les Caillerets
"Real style and grace. Lovely."
Let's cut to the chase: today, we're happy to offer one of Volnay's top 1er Crus from one of our favorite producers at Bourgogne Rouge pricing.
It's no secret that after a string of short vintages and growing world-wide demand that Burgundy prices have taken a good sized spike.
These are some of the great wines of the world, so it comes as no surprise. Still, we're always searching for pricing that's closer to years past.
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| Chandon de Briailles |
Just to frame the value the '07 Caillerets presents, we should mention that this is a wine that usually commands $75+.
We've sent out several quick-to-sell-out offerings of '07 Chandon de Briailles, but there's never been enough of Les Caillerets to offer until now. You can think about the '07 Caillerets as the zenith of our Chandon de Briailles offers.
The 1er Cru Les Caillerets is one of Volnay's' top sites - if Volnay had a Grand Cru, many Burgundy experts say it would be Les Caillerets. The profile of Les Caillerets is one of tension-filled fineness and crystal clear elegance. The light-reflective pebbles that give the site its name also lend a deep mineral character to the wines.
It's with a certain amount of sadness that we offer Chandon de Briailles 1er Les Caillerets. With only 0.4ha plot and Caillerets' renown, this has never been a wine that's easy to get a hold off. However, 2009 marks the last vintage of Chandon de Briailles 1er Les Caillerets. It was always one of our favorite wines from Chandon de Briailles, so it's difficult to think of a world without this wine.
The good news is that the 2007 is a wine that celebrates the site with an unabashed purity. There's brilliance to the 2007s, an openness to them that makes them just lovely. After comparing the best '07s to "diamond dust," Stephen Tanzer focuses on the outrageousness of the vintage: "If I were a lab rat in a cage, I would suck this stuff out of a water bottle until I drowned." No doubt this is extreme, but having sucked down a ton of 2007 Burgundy we can understand the excitement.
Burghound just comes out and says that the Caillerets is a wine of "real style and grace" and finishes by simply calling it "lovely." That definitely works for us.
Chandon de Briailles is one of the Côte d'Or's great old-school domaines. This is classic, soulful red Burgundy. We've had the '07 Caillerets in stock a few times over the years and have really loved drinking it and watching it evolve. It will benefit from another 5 years of aging and likely more.
We're always hunting for Burgundy values like this, but we're left with the growing sense that they're drying up. Our advice is to stock up on this.
To order, reply to offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine and Rare Wine
Crush Wine & Spirits