Michel Sarrazin & Fils, Bourgogne Pinot Noir “Les Vieilles Vignes” For Cheap

Michel Sarrazin & Fils, Bourgogne Pinot Noir “Les Vieilles Vignes”

You wouldn’t think so by looking at the price, but today’s Bourgogne Pinot Noir is a real “statement wine” from Domaine Michel Sarrazin. And that statement is this: Every bottle Guy and Jean-Yves Sarrazin produces exceeds even the highest expectations.

I vividly remember my visit to this out-of-the-way domaine from a few years ago, because it followed a star-studded jaunt through Burgundy’s priciest precincts—and yet it was this small farmstead in the Côte Chalonnaise village of Jamblés that made perhaps the biggest impression of all. The bucolic charm of Jamblés, a hamlet of about 50 people, and the salt-of-the-earth dedication of the Sarrazins reinforced everything I had read about Burgundy culture when I was first learning about wine. The Sarrazin wines are the genuine, hand-made article, as evidenced by the dozen or so locals who dropped in to buy wine during my short visit alone. Best-known for brambly, classically structured reds from the Givry appellation, the Sarrazins nevertheless over-deliver across the entirety of their lineup, especially so with this Bourgogne Pinot Noir. Yes, they do tell you that it comes from vieilles vignes (“old vines”), but they don’t tell you that those vines exceed 50 years of age and cling to a steep slope at about 1,000 feet, right at the edge of both the Givry boundary and the forest line. That latter fact is crucial to understanding and appreciating this shockingly underpriced 2019: Like the classic Burgundies I read about all those years ago, these wines speak of their woodsy, rustic surroundings. You will not find a more evocative, more thoroughly “Burgundian” Pinot Noir. Few ‘entry level’ wines I’ve tried come even remotely close to this, so if you love red Burgundy as much as I do, stock up on this—it has no peer at this price!