Keith's Burgundy Hotline: Direct Import Bessin Chablis & Chateau de Charriere (Yves Girardin) Arrival!
Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 3:35PM | Uncorked Blog Administrator 
By: Keith Wollenberg | K&L Burgundy Buyer
Our Direct Imports of Bessin Chablis and Chateau de Charriere (Yves Girardin) have arrived!
These wines are mentioned in my column in the October newsletter (inserted below for your quick reference), which should have reached many of your doors by now. Jean-Claude Bessin had a very small crop in this vintage, so supplies are extremely limited on his Chablis. The wines are currently in our San Carlos warehouse, after which will make their way to all three K&L stores. If you have any questions about these wines or to inquire about placing an order, please contact me or purchase online at KLWines.com once they become available. I have already gotten many inquiries about these wines and advise you to act fast if you are interested!
K&L Wine News: October 2012
Pour Votre Plaisir By Keith Wollenberg
We have a number of exciting wines that recently arrived from Château de la Charrière. In 2003, Yves Girardin, a 10th generation grower in Santenay (and brother of Vincent Girardin) acquired this property and built a new winemaking facility. More recently, after completing technical training, Yves’s son Benoit has joined him, bringing to 11 the consecutive generations of the family to grow wine in Santenay. Working in their new cellars, they have really improved quality a tremendous amount in the last few years, and we are excited to present their wines to you.
We are bringing in three whites from the domaine. The 2010 Château de la Charrière Bourgogne Blanc* ($14.99) is rich and charming, with an open and easy elegance about it. Their 2010 Château de la Charriere Savigny-lès-Beaune “Vermots Dessus”* ($23.99) comes from a site on the slopes just above the village of Savigny, enroute to Bouilland. It is always a vineyard with terrific minerality, since it has the cooler air descending from the Rhoin Valley, as well as shallower topsoils. Charming and elegant, with bright minerality, attractive citrus and lemon notes, lots of complexity and a long and elegant finish, this is simply terrific. Their 2010 Château de la Charrière Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru “Clos St. Jean”* ($44.99) is a terrific value in Chassagne-Montrachet. What attracted me to this wine instantly was the white flower notes on the nose. On the palate it is fine and rich in structure. It is poised and elegant, with nice minerality and a most attractive finish.
We also have a number of red wines from this domaine to offer you. We’ll start by tempting you with two wines to help you understand that you can afford to drink Burgundy on a regular basis. I like to, so why shouldn’t you? The 2010 Château de la Charriere Bourgogne Rouge* ($14.99) comes from estate vineyards just south of Chielly-lès-Maranges. It has a very pretty nose, with notes of red cherries and raspberries. On the palate it shows a bit more weight and structure, but remains open, charming and most attractive in character. If your favorites are a bit more exuberant and you love open character, try this.
“After completing technical training, Yves Girardin’s son Benoit has joined him, bringing to 11 the consecutive generations of the family to grow wine in Santenay. Working in their new cellars, they have really improved quality a tremendous amount in the last few years, and we are excited to present their wines to you.”
Their 2009 Château de la Charriere Hautes Côtes de Beaune Rouge* ($16.99) is also very charming in nature, with fine and elegant fruit. It is less overt and richer on the palate than the Bourgogne Rouge. There is a core of terrific energy here, and a very pretty finish. If you like your Burgundies a bit subtler and brighter, this is for you. We also have the 2010 Château de la Charriere Santenay 1er Cru “Clos Rousseau”* ($23.99), from one of the best vineyards in the commune. It is rich and attractive in character, with lovely fruit on the entry, followed by more structure on the finish. This is attractive, clean, honest Pinot, with a real sense of place. Finally, we have the 2009 Château de la Charriere Beaune 1er Cru “Vignes Franches”* ($24.99), from one of my favorite Premier Cru vineyards in Beaune, Les Vignes Franche. It is located adjacent to and north of the famous Beaune Clos des Mouches. The topsoil is shallow and the potential very high here. This is flat-out superb wine. It has lovely cherry fruit, and a more charming, transparent and less earthy character than the Santenay.
Our extremely limited supplies of Domaine Jean-Claude Bessin Chablis* have also just arrived. From the first taste of his first wine there was no doubt that this was a producer I was excited to work with. Make no mistake about it, these are absolutely world-class Chablis, with the sort of laser-like focus, precision and crystalline quality that I so often look for, and so often do not find. Jean-Claude’s work in the vineyards is mostly what he does, working organically, in the style of Raveneau or Dauvissat, harvesting entirely by hand in all of his vineyards, and using cover crops and plowing, not herbicides. We have six different Chablis, each brilliantly revelatory of its place. To see how good these are, all you need to do is try the 2010 Domaine J-C Bessin Chablis “Vieilles Vignes”* ($19.99). But I strongly recommend all of his wines to you; we have four different Premier Crus and one Grand Cru as well. For a complete list of these, and of all of our Burgundies, go to KLWines.com.
A Sante,
Keith
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Mr. Keith WOLLENBERG
Directeur Commercial Bourgogne
K&L Wine Merchants
+1-650-556-2724 Direct Line
