“Burgundy” produced by Beaulieu Vineyard in Napa Valley. I’ve been searching for one of these for a while now ever since a colleague of mine mentioned its existence. To my knowledge they started producing these in the late 60s and stopped somewhere in the 80s, seeing as the youngest bottle I’ve been able to find is from 1983. I’m assuming there may have been some intervention by the French government, considering the name of their most prestigious region is on the bottle. However, unlike the real Burgundy, this bottle contains no Pinot Noir. BV had opted for Mondeuse and Gamay for reasons that elude me. I was not able to find a cepage for this, but I would assume a healthy amount of Gamay.
It sat in my cellar for a while before opening, as I’m sure you could imagine I did fear this would no longer be any good. I was very wrong. Despite this being 55 years old and made from grapes that are absolutely not supposed to go this long, it was an incredibly enjoyable experience. On the nose, a level of tart fruit you would not expect. Bing cherry, raspberry, and more tertiary aromas of soy sauce, leather, and moss. On the palate, substantial acid and recessed red fruit. Cranberry, raspberry, dried mushrooms, and black tea. There was a bit of funk upon opening, but that did blow off after 20 minutes.
If you can find these, I do recommend picking one up. I paid around $140 for this, and I am very happy with the value it gave me. I’m sure there is a lot of bottle variation to take into account here, but it is a risk worth taking to try this piece of history.
by konman32
3 Comments
Epic! I bought one of these and it’s in my cellar – bought it because I thought it would be a fun piece of Napa history, but did not plan on drinking because I thought it wouldn’t drink well.
Might have to pull the cork sometime soon!
So glad you posted this. I have a bottle and am looking forward to opening someday.
Love it