“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
7 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
1971 was The Maestro, Andre Tchelistcheff‘s last full year he oversaw winemaking from harvest to bottle, leaving Beaulieu in 73. With all the profound Cabernets he make while at BV, some would say the Pinot Noirs from the 40’s were some of the greatest wines he ever made, certainly André had an affinity for Pinot Noir.
As to your Burgundy, that name is a remnant from a bygone era of trading in on French and German names to add credibility. Funny, that Gamay most likely was Valdiguie as there was very little, if no true Gamay planted in CA at that time.
He believed that for a wine to be good, it needed to be balanced. Probably why that bottle lived as long as it did…that and good storage.
What a treat, thank you for sharing.
I had a ‘69 vintage 10 years ago that was from a cellar acquisition that was part of the “trash” not worth trying to resell so was offered up to employees or to be dumped. So happy it was saved. Was a phenomenal wine. Still hunt to these on auction.
This is a cool post. We need more like this
Had to double take on the inclusion of Mondeuse. It’s a grape varietal I’ve enjoyed a few times from Savoie, France, but the U.S.? And coupled with Gamay? That’s super intriguing. I can see the two pairing well together but still working 50 years later is quite something.