I'm going to go ahead and call it -- THIS IS MY TOP RED WINE OF 2024. If you know me, you know I love Red Burgundy, and to be able to get a wine of this quality from such an esteemed producer at this price is simply amazing.
Not only will this knock it out of the park with Thanksgiving dinner, it's also a Pinot Noir that will appeal to lots of palates. There's a poise and "pleasure-bent factor" here that you usually have to pay $75+ for. I know that sounds like a stretch, but you're going to have to trust me, just like you've done for 14+ years : )
I ordered a ton, and I'm offering it up at a crazy-good price, especially when you consider other retailers are getting $50 to $75 for it. Keep reading, this story gets really good!
2022 Claude Marechal Bourgogne Rouge 'Cuvee Gravel'
One of my top Red Burgundy finds of all time. 95 points - Monsieur Spurling
Claude Marechal is relatively unknown....unless you're really into Burgundy....like I am : ) In the pages of France's most respected wine guide, La Revue du Vin de France, his estate is rated at the same level as Dujac, Carillon, d'Angerville, Ponsot, and Sauzet. That aforementioned group makes up the cream of the crop of Cote de Beaune estates, and their wines demand hundreds of $$'s.
It's not just La Revue du Vin de France that loves Marechal's wines, my "Burgundy guru" Allen Meadows, aka Burghound, said the "quality of these wines is nothing short of phenomenal compared to the usual quality of the respective appellations." He's right, and this is so much more than a simple, regional Bourgogne. It's a magical bottle of wine, and I look forward to drinking many bottles over the next 5 to 10 years.
Vintage 2022 was a wonderful one throughout Burgundy, and Claude made one of the finest versions of this wine he's ever produced. Composed of grapes from the esteemed villages of Pommard, Volnay, Savigny, Chorey, and Chassagne-Montrachet, this offers up heavenly scents of ripe raspberry, dark cherry, exotic and woodsy spice, orange peel, violet, and forest floor. Pure, poised, and elegant on the palate, it is a revelatory wine and a serious bargain as well.
I could go on and on about the fact that Claude was mentored by Henri Jayer, that his entire 10 hectares of vines are farmed without pesticides or herbicides, that everything is done by hand, and that Marechal's main aim is to produce "vins de plaisir," or wines of pleasure, but I know you don't have all day.
I'd like to wrap this up with a quote from the man himself. In the mid-1980's, when Claude started tasting with Jayer, arguably the greatest vigneron in the history of Burgundy, he had an epiphany. “Compared to what I was making, it was a revelation: it was like eating in a supermarket cafeteria your entire life and suddenly, you are tasting dishes from a 3 star restaurant."
I love that quote, and it's a reminder that the intention of a vigneron is just as important as the grape, the terroir, or the vintage. Claude's intentions are obviously to craft gorgeous wine that people from all walks of life can afford and enjoy. Bravo!
