Columns — Burgundy Wine

Christophe Roumier today makes some of the most monumental wines in terms of structure, a structure that favours long development. At the same time, they drink beautifully in their youth. The 2022 and 2021 are currently in a super open, juicy phase, but with age they slip into a kind of liturgical sleep. Ruchottes 2014 is right in that state now; despite all its complexity, you can feel its potential in every sip.

The legendary Domaine Ramonet, founded by Pierre Ramonet in the 1920s, remains outstanding to this day. Its wines were the first white wines from Burgundy to be bottled at the domaine and exported to the USA – a fact William Kelley mentions in his essay.

To truly understand wine, you have to drink it – ideally in the company of fellow explorers just as curious as you are. This time, without any prior agreement, the evening turned into a Chambolle-Musigny focus around the wines of Nicolas Groffier, an undeniably gifted winemaker who has shaped a style entirely his own.

The genius and craftsmanship of Jean-Yves Bizot defy understanding: his wines evolve and change from vintage to vintage, yet they always retain their unmistakable, unique style. His feeling for wine is as complex an idea as time itself – or rather, its passage. And just when we manage to grasp even a fraction of the meaning of his wines, they slip away and move ahead, just like time. At least, these are my impressions from his wines and from meeting Jean-Yves during a visit to his domaine many years ago.