10/24/25 - 

Part Two of our 2023 allocation from Domaine Rateau is arriving soon, in time for fall/winter and holiday dining - or for your cellar. The wines are gorgeous, and of course they offer sensational value to the Burgundy lover. We're also including superb wines from Domaine Lafouge in Auxey-Duresses, Anne Bavard-Brooks in Puligny, Sylvain Langoureau in Saint-Aubin (and two (2) bottles of 2015 Grands Echezeaux from Lamarche!?)

Jean-Claude Rateau (Photo: E. Lillie)

One of the pioneers of Biodynamic viticulture (beginning in 1979), Domaine Rateau makes vibrant, subtle and focused wines of terroir that are pure pleasure, and these early bottlings from 2023 are silky, elegant and really delicious - drink them now and over the next five to twenty years. (And as with Domaine Gonon in Saint-Joseph and Domaine Baudry in Chinon, there is no new oak in the cellar!)
 
Eric Asimov in the NY Times included Jean-Claude in his 2019 article 12 Top-Tier (but Undervalued) Burgundy Producers (along with Chandon de Briailles and Jean-Philippe Fichet), saying "I hesitate to mention this estate because the wines are hard to find. But they are so fresh and seductive, both reds and whites from village and premier cru sites in Beaune, that they are worth seeking out." 
 
Although every wine in this shipment is outstanding, we have to give special mention to the 2020 1er Cru "Les Bressandes." This is a superb example of Bressandes, powerful but elegant with fantastic purity of fruit and great terroir expression. The palate is intense and ripe but not heavy - "precise" is the word that came to mind, perfectly balanced with red and black fruits, earth and saline mineral flavors in the very long finish.  Certainly interesting to taste now but probably best after five years, and for many years after that - a great Burgundy for the cellar at a reasonable price!
 
Jean-Claude is retiring! "I am now retired, while continuing to support
our customers for several more years. Amel Nouar, my collaborator for the past seven years, is taking over the management of the estate. She has been in charge of vinification and aging for the past four years; now, with her renewed team, we're off to another 45 years (?) of fine terroir viticulture, with the same philosophy - biodynamics, agroforestry, tradition in the cellar, and respectful winemaking!"

(Pictured above - the northwest corner of Beaune, showing the upper slope of "Bressandes" and the Hautes-Côtes vineyards of "Grande Chatelaine" and "Topes Bizot")

-David Lillie

>>>VIEW THE WINES<<<