2019 Domaine Camus-Bruchon et Fils, Savigny-Les-Beaune “Aux Grands Liards” Vieilles Vignes, Red Burgundy, France.
Guillaume Camus at Domain Camus-Bruchon’s 2019 Aux Grand Liards from an old vine Lieu-Dit in Savigny-Les-Beaune surpasses the excellent 2018 version and drinks way above its price point, delivering a performance worthy of Premier Cru Volnay(s) and or Pommard(s)! This Liards, as per normal, is a dark ruby color and has a wonderfully silky in texture with classic black cherry, currant, plum and red berry fruits, along with rose petal florals, a chalky essence, bright spices and a smooth satiny palate. As mentioned, Guillaume’s vines are all mature averaging at least 35 years and in this case very old with 95 years old vines here in Aux Grands Liards. Camus-Bruchon wines have long shown remarkable quality and age worthiness, they also are terroir driven, showcasing the clay and limestone soils. They are Burgundies that are first and foremost grown in the vineyard, and as Guillaume says, you make wine as good as the grapes that you grow. So it is clear he spends much more time with his vines that he does in the cellar, as it should be, especially when you have the parcels at your disposal like he does. The Camus-Bruchon Savigny-Lès-Beaune 1er Crus are stunning values and this Aux Grand Liards, a favorite, as I’ve said, of mine, is one of many in his collection to stock up on, this Lieu-Dit many not be Premier Cru, but this Aux Grands Liards Vieilles Vignes just might be the best Pinot for the price in all of Burgundy, Camus-Bruchon and neighbors Domaine Pierre Guillemot prove this region has a wealth of quality.
One of the rising stars in the Côte de Beaune, Camus is making outstanding and elegant wines from his vineyard holdings in in the Cote de Beaune, with many parcels in Premier Cru sites, especially in the Savigny-Les-Beaune area. Like his father Lucien, Guillaume, of Domaine Camus-Bruchon, again as noted here, has a light touch and very much a winemaker that makes his wines in the vineyard, rather than in the cellar, everything he does is to showcase each vineyard site and produce transparent wines. He uses approximately 15% new oak in any given year, including in his top Premier Cru bottlings like this one, preferring to follow the Domaine’s tradition of crafting raw, balanced and graceful Pinots. The Camus-Bruchon wines see an extended maceration to fully extract the terroir and structure with about 18 days in total for the period of fermentation. The wines are all done with indigenous yeasts in old school concrete vats before being racked of to the French oak for over a year and then they are bottled unfined and unfiltered to capture every nuance and the full sense of place. All the vineyard sites farmed by the Camus family are dome using sustainable methods and with great respect for the lands and to promote healthy soils, these wines really showcase each site’s distinct micro climates and are really respectful of history of this region. As with most all of the Camus-Brochon wines, you can enjoy this 2019, like the 2018, Savigny-les-Beaune Aux Grand Liards now, though I know that these wines can age incredibly well, so you can put some bottles away and be rewarded for that patience, without question, this old vine Burgundy will be excellent for another decade at least. I look forward to the next 2020 releases from Camus-Brouchon, which I hear are even better, but in the meantime I’ll enjoy the 2018s and 2019s that I have.
($48 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive