Prestige Offers

Pierre Mayeul Premier Crus and Villages 2019-2022

This bundle offers a terrific sampling of cellar-aged Premier Cru and Village wines from across the Côte-d'Or. Pierre Mayeul is a relatively new winery organized by three longtime friends and winemakers including our friend Ludivine Griveau. Ludivine is justifiably famous as she is the head winemaker of the legendary Domaine des Hospices de Beaune, where she was selected as the Hospice’s first female winemaker in 2015. At Pierre Mayeul, Ludivine, along with her pedigreed partners Matthieu Bouchard (yes, the well-known Bouchard & Fils family) and Frederic Hirault (formerly making wine at Chateau de Corton), turns her attention to making powerful wines from selected vineyards across multiple villages. 

In this special lot featuring three different wines from the wonderful 2019 vintage, the team has included six bottles from across their geography, all of which are ready to be enjoyed now! From the Côte de Beaune, three Premier Crus from Beaune, Savigny-les-Beaune and Pommard are joined by a village offering from Volnay.  The 2019 Beaune 1er Cru Les Sizies comes from a vineyard known to produce reds of medium weight and fruity profiles (and do not require longer-term aging!). Likewise, the 2022 Savigny les Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières, which sits on well-drained lava-like limestone ("lave" is French for lava), is delicate and can therefore be enjoyed right away, but structured for additional aging. The 2019 Volnay follows the same theme: as with most Volnays, this is a softer, silky wine but from the big, bold 2019 vintage, so it is relatively well-built. The last selection from the Côte, the 2021 Pommard 1er Cru Clos de Verger, stays with the others in this lot (and opposite the usual powerful, dense expectation of Pommards) in that it is supple, elegant, and red‑fruited.

Heading northward to the Côte de Nuits, the estate has provided two Village wines. The 2021 Gevrey-Chambertin, from vineyards which typically produce wines of power and age-required deep reds, is nevertheless a softer wine due to the fresher, lighter 2021 vintage. But the final wine, the 2019 Nuits-Saint-Georges, is the one that steps out and asserts itself with darker fruits and deeper tannins characteristic of Nuits. But even this wine can be enjoyed immediately as it has already matured, having been perfectly cellared for so many years!

Domaine François Buffet Premier Cru Pommards and Volnays 2023-2024

Marc-Olivier Buffet, a very nice guy and very talented winemaker, has gained recognition as his wines have grown in popularity. It is certainly good news for the domaine when noted critics like Allen Meadows of Burghound.com just this month said, "Buffet makes beautifully elegant wines ... if transparency and refinement are aspects you enjoy, look no further." We are genuinely excited each spring as we have, for seven years now, been able to share a small vertical of his latest releases. Buffet's wines, especially his Volnays, have a silkiness appeal to them, never big and powerful but nevertheless quite age worthy. And consistent praise is easy to find - we have included scores and tasting notes from both Allen Meadows and Neal Martin (Vinous) for each wine offered. In general terms, The Carelle sous la Chapelle is the lightest, fruitiest of the set, the Champans is much richer and deeper, and the Clos des Chênes is the densest of the bunch. Then there's the 2023 Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens. Buffet's top wine, it is rare and BurgDirect cannot often offer it. Rugiens is typically considered the finest vineyard in Pommard, known for the richness and depth of wines produced from its grapes. It has plenty of structure and can improve in the cellar for many years, but it is more elegant and refined than almost all other domaines' heavier Rugiens, so it can be enjoyed either young or aged.

Domaine Veuve Henri Moroni 1er Cru and Village Meursault and Puligny-Montrachets 2023-2024

In 1940, when Henri Moroni decided to no longer sell grapes grown in his hallowed vineyards but to make and bottle wines himself, he focused his efforts more on quality than volume. Now, generations later, this nine-hectare estate has become a true Jomain family affair as brothers Christophe and Philippe, along with their sister Catherine, manage all aspects of this fine domaine. The team tends their vineyards meticulously by hand with careful eco-sound practices, including bio-alternative vine and soil treatments instead of chemicals whenever possible. At harvest, about 30 friends, family members and students come together to gently pick the grapes by hand. In the cellar, the domaine avoids excessive manipulation and too much new oak.

In this bundle, the domaine assembled a fantastic small set of 2023 and 2024 wines from the very center of of White Burgundy - bottlings from the vineyards of Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet. in fact, the interplay between the characteristics of these neighboring vineyards can be experienced in the wines of this lot. Meursault is often noted for its rich, full-bodied, fatty/creamy textures, but the characteristics of the 2024 Meursault Les Tillets are more stylistically in line with classic Puligny-Montrachet flavor profiles of precision, elegance and minerality. Because of it's relatively thin limestone soils and high altitude - Les Tillets is a vineyard high up on the slope -  the wine exhibits strong mineral flavors and tension like it's Puligny-Montrachet neighbor, but retains some typical Meursault notes, particularly the citrus and nuts accents mostly in the nose. The 2024 Puligny-Montrachet is more focused and concentrated, with pronounced tastes of stone and peach and a lovely floral bouquet. The top wine in this group is a clear step up. The 2023 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes is a wine of great richness and concentration, with layers of depth and a ripe fruit nose. This Premier Cru borders Meursault and features Meursault-like fatty, luxurious texture while retaining its core mineral flavors. What a seductive combination!