2022 Bouchard Pere & Fils - Beaune Marconnets (750ml)

Bouchard Père & Fils was founded in 1731 in Beaune by Michel Bouchard, a cloth merchant from eastern France who grew fond of Burgundy on his travels. His son Joseph bought the family's first vineyard parcels in Volnay in the 1770s, and in 1820 Bernard Bouchard acquired the Château de Beaune, a fifteenth-century royal fortress that still houses the firm's cellars. The Henriot family has owned the house since 1995.

Les Marconnets sits at the northern edge of the Beaune appellation, its name tracing back to the Germanic Marcomans who settled the area in the third century. Bouchard has farmed about 2.3 hectares here since 1791, on layers of grey, marly chalk that give the wine its structure and elegance. The grapes are 100% Pinot Noir, hand-harvested and aged for twelve to fourteen months in French oak, thirty to forty percent new.

The 2022 shows complex aromas of red berries and cherry with fine roasted notes on the nose. The palate opens soft and velvety, with an elegant structure and wonderfully harmonious, fine-grained tannins. It is a balanced, juicy wine, approachable while young but built with enough focus and structure to reward several years in the cellar.