Description
Domaine R. Dubois & Fils, Vosne-Romanée “Les Chalandins”
If Pinot Noir has a Mecca, it’s Vosne-Romanée. No other town or appellation on the planet can match Vosne’s hypnotizing draw on sommeliers and collectors. Their catalog of vineyards is a rundown of vinous holy sites: Grand Crus La Tâche, Richebourg, Echézeaux, Romanée-Conti; Premier Crus Beaux Monts, Suchots, Malconsorts; I could go on and on. In short, this is a Pinot Noir paradise that’s talked about by many but enjoyed by a select few.
Even more distressing is that most bottles proudly displaying “Vosne-Romanée” on the label are likely to cross over the triple-digit threshold. That’s why we’re here. Dubois’ 2019 “Les Chalandins”—a prized lieu-dit just downslope of all those famous names above—delivers on every drop of anticipation the village engenders, at a price that’s become far too uncommon in the Vosne market. It’s no cash-in on a famous name, either: The Dubois’ have been farming here for centuries, plus, they’re also able to call legends Anne Gros and Sylvain Cathiard vine neighbors! This is your chance to shoulder up to the divine without breaking the bank—quantities are in very limited supply!
Were you to visit Vosne-Romanée, little about the town would indicate it’s the source of the most prized wines on the planet. No grand châteaux or steep, winding streets here—just a humble paysan village perched atop the finest terroir in the world. The Côte de Nuits is all about a magical combination of clay and limestone, and while it pops up here and there in other villages, it blankets the entirety of the Vosne’s vineyards. Wines here achieve the highest expression of the silky profundity only Pinot Noir can offer. So haunting and magisterial are the wines of Vosne that Burgundy extraordinaire Allen Meadows has written not just chapters, but entire books on the village’s wines. The spellbinding bottles of, in Meadows’ words, “velvet, fire, and grace” are the absolute pinnacle of what Pinot Noir—and some would say all of wine—can achieve.
Domaine R. Dubois & Fils is a brother-sister outfit, the sort of quiet, family operation you suspect might’ve been widespread in Vosne before the entire world started combing over the village with a magnifying glass. The Dubois have been farmers since the 17th century, but it wasn’t until the middle of the 20th that the family shifted their focus entirely to vines. Régis Dubois, father to current proprietors Raphaël and Béatrice, was the first to bottle the family’s wines in 1969. Coincidentally, Raphaël was born the same year. He now handles the family’s lutte raisonnée farming, while Béatrice is in charge of vinifications—after spending over a decade traveling and making wine across four continents. Béatrice brings a reasoned touch to her craft: a gentle cold soak before fermentation, aging for fifteen months in one-third new oak, and no fining or filtering before bottling.
Dubois’ 2019 Vosne-Romanée “Les Chalandins” epitomizes the class and breed the village is renowned for. Serve it around 60 degrees in Burgundy stems, and let Vosne’s silky elegance wash over you. A brilliant ruby in the glass, the nose is redolent of lush black cherries, raspberries, boysenberries, pomegranate, rose petals, potting soil, truffle, and a whiff of cinnamon spice. The palate is luxurious and soft, tending toward the sweet, dark fruits of the nose, a streak of minerality and vivacious acidity cutting through with verve. Chic and fine, “classy” doesn’t do this wine justice. This is the sort of gateway Pinot that’ll get someone hooked on Vosne for life. It’ll be brilliant with five-spice duck breast tonight, and it has the structure to go at least 10 years in your cellar. Stock up on this beauty and find out what Vosne-Romanée is all about!
