Jacques Girardin Clos Rousseau Premier Cru Santenay 2015

The exceptional 2015 vintage in Burgundy has yielded the finest red Burgundies since 2010. Although Jacques Girardin consistently fashions authentic, elegant red Burgundy, Girardin’s 2015 Clos Rousseau Premier Cru Santenay truly rises to another level. Elegant, silky smooth, and subtly complex, Jacques Girardin’s 2015 Santenay Clos Rousseau is not only enticing, it is downright seductive. An enthralling bouquet of blackcurrants, red plums, rose petals, and violets leap from the glass. Medium-bodied but rich in color and flavor, Jacques Girardin’s 2015 Clos Rousseau Premier Cru unfolds slowly in the glass, revealing exceptional finesse and a haunting array of savory Pinot Noir flavors. This sensual red Premier Cru starts out beautiful and ends up drop dead gorgeous. Moreover, the best is yet to come; it should drink well for at least 8-10 years. For optimal enjoyment now we suggest affording Jacques Girardin’s 2015 Clos Rousseau at least 20-30 minutes of aeration prior to serving at cool room temperature (60° F). Enjoy!

Jacques Girardin’s 2015 Clos Rousseau Premier Cru Santenay provides the ideal companion to many of Burgundy’s classic dishes, each of which makes a wonderful tableau upon which to craft a successful dinner party. Coq au Vin immediately springs to mind. Yet, almost any poultry dish prepared with mushrooms or stuffing pairs superbly with Jacques Girardin’s classic 2015 Clos Rousseau Santenay. The savory aspects inherent in the wine and the food play beautifully off one another, which will no doubt cause the evening’s guests to move effortlessly from dish to glass and back again. An equally satisfying entrée is Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin. The succulent tenderness of the pork wonderfully complements the elegant, savory flavors of Girardin’s charming 2015 Clos Rousseau Premier Cru. A key to preparation is to let the cooked tenderloin rest so juices redistribute evenly throughout the meat. Serve the pork with sides of roasted shallot mashed potatoes and haricot verts. If you wish to add a sauce to your pork, try a dried cherry sauce that softly complements the wine’s center. Offer a dense, flavorful loaf of bread, serve a soft, aromatic aged cheese, and place an old-fashioned mustard pot as a centerpiece, and, voilà, you’re ready for your guests to arrive for a memorable feast. Bon appétit!

Domaine Jacques Girardin is the archetypal Burgundy grower and producer, which means winemaking is a true family affair. Everyone in the family is involved. Jacques, his father Jean, and his brother Vincent are all well-known winemakers, and Jacques’ son Justin has now joined their ranks. At Domaine Jacques Girardin, Jacques tends the vineyards, works the cellar, and makes the wines with son Justin, while Jacques’ wife Valerie keeps the books, handles all the sales, and sees to the mounting pile of export regulations that make it increasingly difficult for small family owned wineries to export their wares. For generations, the Girardin family has been well represented among the finest names in Burgundy. Jacques has been producing fine estate bottled offerings at his domaine since 1978, but most importantly no one consistently offers better quality and value in white and red Burgundy in Santenay than Jacques Girardin.

Domaine Jacques Girardin lies in the south of Burgundy in the commune of Santenay, the most southerly area of the fabled Côte d’Or. It comprises 17 hectares. From this hallowed ground, the domaine produces a range of exceptional red and white wines, featuring Premier Cru sites in Santenay, Savigny-lès-Beaune and Chassagne-Montrachet, and an exceptional Vieilles Vignes (Old Vines) Bourgogne Pinot Noir. Domaine Jacques Girardin’s red wine Premier Cru sites include Beauregard, La Maladière, and the much heralded Clos Rousseau vineyard in Santenay (this month’s feature). Jacques Girardin also fashions tiny quantities of excellent Santenay Blanc Les Terrasses de Bievaux and Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot. All of Girardin’s wines spend time in barriques, of which 20-30% of the barrels are new. The result is supple, beautifully wrought red and white Burgundies that drink extremely well when young. Santé!

Burgundy is a wine as well as a place. In fact, it is many wines and many distinct locales, all of which were once part of the ancient duchy of Burgundy. Situated several hundred kilometers southwest of Paris, Burgundy is hallowed ground to serious lovers of the vine. From its golden hillsides, whose center slopes are so aptly named the Côte d’Or, flow France’s most expensive and profound wines. Names such as Romanée Conti, Chambertin, Clos de Vougeot, and Le Montrachet, among others, have been delighting serious wine aficionados for centuries. Yet, there is much more to Burgundy and its wines than a few illustrious names. For starters, Burgundy is the ancestral of home of two of the world’s most revered grape varieties – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. With a few rare exceptions, the finest Burgundies emanate from the region’s core, the Côte d’Or, which begins on the fabled Côte de Nuits, just to the south of Dijon, and flows south to Santenay at the tip of the Côte de Beaune. The Premier and Grand Cru wines from these illustrious hillsides are consistently Burgundy’s stars and are worth their weight in gold. Salut!