Bouchard les Cailles 2016

Over the years, I've brought you some incredible deals from Bouchard Père et Fils. Across numerous visits to the Domaine and countless distributor tastings over the past 30 years, I noticed something early on: there was always a handful of wines at every tasting that were always present. Cuvée Carnot, Enfant Jésus, Bèze, Corton, Les Cailles. That was no coincidence. These are the best of the Domaine-bottled wines. As a large négociant, Bouchard produces close to 50 different cuvées, but as I've been telling my clients for years, it's the Domaine bottlings you want to seek out from the big houses. The same goes for Jadot, Drouhin and the rest.

2016 was an interesting vintage, arriving on the heels of the much-celebrated 2015. At the time, everyone was focused on 2015, as the wines were ripe, already super juicy, easy to read and plentiful, so much so that when the 2016s came to market, people largely ignored the 2016’s as there were still plenty of 2015’s still available.

2016 was a challenging vintag.. An early-season frost and a very wet summer gave way to a bone-dry August. Then some much-needed rain arrived at the perfect moment in early September, allowing for a harvest that stretched from late September into October. It may be one of the last vintages we see with an October harvest.

The resulting wines show excellent concentration and remarkable freshness, very much what you'd call a classic Burgundy vintage. I've tasted a number of 2016s recently, and every time I come away impressed. The wines are aging gracefully, as the firm tannins in their youth are giving way to beautifully balanced well integrated wines.. They don't have the sunny disposition of the riper, more fruit-forward 2015s, but in my opinion they're much closer to what I look for in classically styled Burgundy. Now, with 10 years of age on them, people can much more easily see the beauty of the vintage.

You may recall that Bouchard was purchased in 2022 by the Artemis group which also owns Latour, Clos Tart, Domaine Eugenie to name a few. They are dividing up Bouchard with some wines remaining under the Bouchard label, some going to a brand new project called Domaine des Cabottes (Top Cote de Beaune Wines) and some being spun into the Domaine Eugenie which is the old Rene Engel estate in Vosne Romanee. The Nuits Les Cailles along with all of the other Cote de Nuits wines will fold into the Domaine Eugenie. What does that mean for the Nuits Les Cailles? Well if you know anything about Eugenie we know the village wines sell for well north of $200, so my guess is the Cailles will easily be $300+

Who is to say the wine is not worth that kind of money. When we talk about Nuits St Georges having some vineyards elevated to Grand Cru the talk always leans towards Les St Georges - arguably the best site. The vineyard right next door is les Cailles and it just so happens Bouchard holding in Les Cailles borders Les St Georges…does it start to make sense now?

This has always been one of the great wines in the Bouchard lineup and I can tell you this is going to be the last time you see this wine available with a 1 as the first digit. I bought everything that was available. 10 years resting in the Bouchard Cellar in Beaune…this is pristine stock. Get some before its gone - 72 bottles available.