Description
Domaine Armelle et Bernard Rion, Bourgogne Rouge “La Croix Blanche”
It seems these days you can’t even mention Burgundy without someone lamenting how expensive the region has gotten. How the prices show no sign of ever coming down, how the most sought-after wines don’t even make it onto store shelves anymore. That’s largely true. But with Rion’s standout Bourgogne Rouge, none of that is a limiting factor. Rather, that background just hammers home—and maybe even amplifies—the stunning value contained in today’s 2020 “La Croix Blanche.”
This is dark-fruited, sleek, powerful and perfumed stuff that drinks for all the world like it came straight from one of Nuits-Saint-Georges’ most hallowed climats. In fact, it’s from old vines immediately downslope from those high-dollar vineyards, and it doesn’t even cross the $40 mark! Bourgogne Rouge that massively over-delivers on its humble appellation, often from secretly great sites, has always been a vital part of my sommelier toolkit. These days, though, I’d argue that the category isn’t just helpful but downright indispensable. Enjoy this Côte de Nuits Pinot stunner, and stay tuned this afternoon for a grand side-by-side comparison!
The Rion estate is beginning to enter our regular offer rotation, and it’s no surprise why: These wines exude joy like few others in the region. In the current Burgundy pricing war, I’ll forgive an estate for trying to make every one of their wines into a backward, long-aging cellar cornerstone. But the Rions suffer from no such temptation. Like so many of their wines, “La Croix Blanche” is ready to wow right now. Armelle et Bernard Rion may be little-known outside of the region, but the estate boasts a stable of vineyard holdings that’d make any world-famous producer jealous. Alice and Nelly Rion, fifth-generation winemakers, now head the Vosne-based estate, which was founded in 1896. Since they assumed the reins, they’ve eliminated all herbicides and insecticides, and now farm with strict use of organic fertilizers and minimal tillage.
The Rion sisters show no less love for their Bourgogne Rouge plots than they do their Premier or Grand Crus. “La Croix Blanche” hails from Pinot Noir vines that are more than 50 years old, in the borderlands between Nuits-Saint-Georges and Vosne-Romanée. Little wonder it carries such a sense of class and polish. In the cellar, it sees the same regimen as their more famous (and expensive) plots: totally de-stemmed; fermented “whole berry” for two weeks; then aged for 12-15 months in new and used French barrels. All of this combines for a bottle of Burgundy in a fantastically sleek and enjoyable style that begs to be consumed with abandon.
Treat “La Croix Blanche” the same as you would a young Premier Cru: gentle decant, Burgundy bowls, a slight chill to just above cellar temp, the works. It bursts from the glass with a wave of red and purple fruits: Bing cherry, mulberry, black plum, black cherry pit, rose petals, raspberry liqueur, clove, cedar, and an undercurrent of forest floor. The palate is juicy, wonderfully plush, and medium-bodied with an electric throughline of acidity and soft tannins. It all yields a Burundy that is about full-throttle, in-the-moment enjoyment. Not that “La Croix Blanche” can’t go for a few years in your cellar—it certainly can—but it’s just so delicious right now, there’s no reason not to indulge!
