2018 Daniel Bouland Beaujolais: They're Real and They're Spectacular!
2018 Daniel Bouland Beaujolais
"It's clear by now that Daniel Bouland is one of Beaujolais's major as well as most consistent talents."
David Schildknecht, The Wine Advocate
"Daniel Bouland is one of the best winemakers in Morgon. Perhaps his profile is not as high as the likes of Lapierre or Foillard, but I think his wines are on the same quality level.”
Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate
I hate to pick favorites. Believe me, there is no fun in doing so. But if there's anything I've strived to learn in my adulthood and that holds more true in these dark times than ever before: honesty is the most noble virtue we can strive for. And with this poetic justice, I bring to you my favorite Beaujolais producer and one of my favorite producers of wine of all time: Daniel Bouland.
Not to dwell on this boring topic, but there is a difference between favorite and best. We all have a memory of the best meal we've ever had but we still have a favorite restaurant we like to eat at, which we wouldn't exchange for anything in the world. This is the way I feel about Daniel Bouland.
For starters, this was one of the first Beaujolais I discovered over a decade ago, when I first got into wine, which made me go: oh, so that's Beaujolais. I get it now. It was perhaps one of the first wines that allowed me to acknowledge what I and others call purity in wine. This is a hard term to dive into as one might question the validity of such a statement when so many wines are in fact "pure." For me, over a decade ago and till today, I use this term when something about a wine freezes you in your tracks and automatically brings you to a special place. Even if you have never set foot in Beaujolais, purity is what allows you to reflect on it. Purity is what lets you feel the inside of the wine, not just taste and enjoy it.
Okay, I've waxed poetic enough for a Thursday. Let's cut to the point: Folks, these are amazing wines and we have plenty in stock which is really rare. Each of them distinct, subliminal, alive and focused. Can't recommend enough. And please don't make me say these are great Thanksgiving wines.
- 10% off Case Discount
- Wines set to arrive December 10th
2018 Daniel Bouland Chiroubles Chatenay
Original price: $30.99,
On-Sale: $28.99
WA 92 Points: Bouland's 2018 Chiroubles bursts with aromas of ripe blackberries, red plums, violets and cracked black pepper. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and layered, with a succulent core of fruit, fine concentration and a long, lip-smacking finish. An especially gourmand rendition of this cuvée, it hails from a steep hillside site and is matured in tank.
2018 Daniel Bouland Cote de Brouilly Cuvee Melanie
Original price: $30.99,
On-Sale: $28.99
Daniel’s parcel lies within the lieu dit Tête Noire, high on the Cote de Brouilly, which like Côte de Py in Morgon, is volcanic blue schist. This terroir gives the wine its distinctive minerality to go with the elegance andstructure of Brouilly.
WA 92 Points
2018 Daniel Bouland Morgon Schiste Bellevue
Original price: $30.99,
On-Sale: $28.99
This cuvée of Morgon, Daniel produces from a single parcel in lieu-dit Bellevue where the soil is schist, and like Côte de Py, has a distinctive mineral quality and above all “class” that comes out more and more with age.
WA 93 Points+: The 2018 Morgon Bellevue Sable comes from younger vines, planted on Viala rootstock in sandy soils—as the "sable" newly added to its label makes clear. Revealing aromas of blackberries, smoked meats, cracked pepper and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and muscular, with powdery structuring tannin, juicy acids and a blockier, more reserved profile than the Chiroubles and Brouilly that preceded it. This will demand a couple of years' patience before it shows all its cards.
2018 Daniel Bouland Morgon Vieilles Vignes Corcelette
Original price: $32.99,
On-Sale: $29.99
Daniel’s classic Morgon, vines 60-70 years, with a combination of part of the cuvée being aged in tank and part in 2000 Liter Rousseau foudre. Fine, silky and long, from the sable soil.
WA 94 Points: From vines planted in sand—which is now indicated on the label—in 1927, Bouland's 2018 Morgon Corcelette Vieilles Vignes Sable unfurls in the glass with notions of ripe plums, red cherries, smokes meats, violets and black pepper. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ample and multidimensional, with a broad attack, considerable depth and dimension at the core, juicy acids and a long, intense finish. Powerful and concentrated but framed by velvety tannins, this brilliant Morgon is the antithesis of facile, ephemeral Beaujolais nouveau!
2018 Daniel Bouland Morgon Delys Vielles Vignes (4 per customer)
Original price: $38.99,
On-Sale: $34.99
DeLys is sable soil and one of the best situated in the appellation. Daniel’s parcel was planted in 1926 and yields are sometimes as low as 15 hl/ha.
WA 96 Points:There are some 6,600 bottles of Bouland's 2018 Morgon Les Delys Vieilles Vignes de 1926—a cuvée that readers shouldn't confuse with Bouland's new Delys bottling from younger vines that he used to blend into his Corcelette. Revealing a deep and complex bouquet that mingles blackberry and cassis fruit with nuances of smoke, rich soil tones and spice, the wine is deep, full-bodied and enveloping, saturating the palate with layer after layer of sapid fruit and velvety tannin, its imposing structural bones entirely hidden by copious flesh. As is often the case, this is a Morgon with more than a passing resemblance to a young Clape Cornas, and in its muscular stylist register, it's one of the finest cuvées being produced in the Beaujolais today.