My Personal Recommendation For You

Domaine Rene Lequin-Colin ‘Santenay’ (Vielles Vignes) 2011 Burgundy; France (regular price $39.99) Now $34.99 Case $29.99

Born into a family with generations of “father to son” winemaking dating back to 1679, Rene Lequin (pictured) is at the reins of of a family estate producing the purest expression of Burgundy wines!

Fittingly, Rene Lequin married Josette Colin, who is also from a family of winemaking heritage in the Chassagne-Montrachet Appellation. Together they created the Domain Rene Lequin-Colin. Their goal was to have a small, family-run estate, and since their son, Francois, has joined as assistant winemaker, the perennial is safe. These folks, the nicest I met on my wine sampling excursion, live for the vine and the wine – it’s in their bloodline!

They grow 9 hectares throughout the Côte d’Or in the regions of Chassagne-Montrachet, Pommard, Nuits-Saint-Georges, and the most southern in the Côte de Beaune, Santenay. In addition, they proudly produce some Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru, Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru and red Corton Grand Cru. The wines of Lequin-Colin are made exclusively with the two noble grape varieties of Burgundy, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

“Our pruning methods give us the ability to keep yields low and to get the best expression of the grape. With respect to the environment, every year we work on the soils (ploughing) to allow the wines to get the necessary resources and to confirm the personality of each terroir.” – Rene Lequin

One of the greatest value reds I had tasted in Burgundy was this delicious Santenay sourced from four different parcels of 45 year old vines! It had acquired 16 months in oak, some new and some second fill. To my notes, I wrote, “Perfect, bright, balanced, well made; a great example of how quality spreads out over all wines in a very good vintage.” Lequin-Colin is based in Santenay, (where Rene is from, as well as this wine) which I thought blew everyone else away, too. And for red Burgundy of this magnitude, their prices were extremely fair. If you don’t know of Santenay, it finds itself right at the end of the Cote de Beaune (within the Côte d’Or) below Chassagne and above Marange; and if you do your homework, they offer some of the greatest values in Red Burgundy. Full ripe rich berry fruit, strawberry jelly and black cherries that will develop complexity with time in the bottle. The finish is already long – a great value!

John’s tasting notes:

“The wine had awesome tension, clarity and purity and felt like it almost wanted to jump out of the glass. Perfect, bright, balanced, well made; a great example of how quality spreads out over all wines in a very good vintage. The wine attacked with precision, superb density and richness with excellent acidity on the back end. This wine will mellow with time, developing more complexity and length, but I would drink it young to enjoy the wine’s exuberance.”