2022 David Trousselle, Hautes-Côtes de Beaune AOC Rouge “En Cré” Red Burgundy, France.
I was really excited to open this wine and it did not disappoint with a bright youthful dark ruby color and slightly reductive stat before opening up to classic Burgundy purity and elegance on a medium bodied palate. The fruit is textured with black cherry, wild raspberry, plum and strawberry layers, along with hints of apple skin, orange peel and loamy earthiness. There’s mineral notes, tea spices and very subtle wood notes, making this a finely structured and rewarding Pinot Noir. This beautifully made Red Burgundy comes from a high elevation site within the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune AOC, a protected valley between St Aubin and St Romain, that is set on limestone-heavy soils and a cool climate vineyard where full flavor development is balanced by good acidity and retrained natural alcohol, which adds to the sublime elegance here in this latest release. David Trousselle produces tiny quantities of a single-vineyard Chardonnay and this Pinot Noir from the Hautes-Côtes and additionally, I hear he makes a rare Santenay Rouge from a minuscule 0.3 hectare set of vines. Given the location of Trousselle’s vineyards, the Chardonnay does extremely well (think St Aubin and St Romain), and I will be looking for that in the future. Though, as mentioned to me by friends that had been lucky enough to get Trousselle’s wines in the past, the valley where he has his vines is also protected and warm enough that there are certain parts where Pinot Noir can get ripe and does well, as seen here in this 2022 vintage. Trousselle makes his wines with a gentle hand, all indigenous yeast fermented and with elevage in minimal amounts of new oak to promote terroir and transparency. As promised to me, Trousselle does make gracefully textured wines that offer a glimpse into the future of Burgundy where lesser known and appreciated appellations can have their time to shine, that even I can afford.
The up and coming star, David Trousselle, who’s wines are imported to the United States by Beaune Imports, is located in the Hautes Côte de Beaune area of Burgundy. My friend, longtime wine seller Alex Lallos was an early fan of Trousselle, got this bottle, which I was thrilled to open, especially considering the high praise he was giving me. Plus, I am a admirer of Beaune Imports, who represents the likes of Comtes Lafon, Duroché, Clos Rougeard and a personal favorite, Camus-Bruchon, to name a few, and who rarely take on new producers unless they are exceptional. Lallos told me that the impressive quality here from Trousselle, and today’s Hautes-Côtes de Beaune En Cré Rouge in particular, have made these offerings hard to get now, and they have now become highly allocated items. From these vineyards adjacent to the cellar, all in the village of Bobigny, he produces both a single-vineyard Blanc (La Couleuvraire) and Rouge “En Cré” along with two special very limited Cuvées and a Coteaux Bourguignons. He also makes, as mentioned, a tiny bit of Santenay Rouge and he recently purchased a small plot in Auxey-Duresses Rouge, which is very much in keeping with his stated desire for ‘cooler’ terroirs. Beaune Imports says Trousselle’s vineyards are farmed organically and were certified by ECOCERT as of this 2022 vintage. All these sloping hillside Pinot Noir grapes are hand harvested, and brought to the cellar where they are carefully sorted prior to fermentation, which is done with a minimum of intervention. The whites, here, are barrel fermented in the classical Burgundian fashion, and I look forward to trying them too, as this one has convinced me this is an estate to watch. The reds, like this one, are 100% de-stemmed, and then given a very gentle maceration/fermentation with native yeasts and see skins for close to 15-20 days and the wines are raised in barrel. In both cases, minimal new wood is used with10-20% max, which shows in the transparency in this En Cré. Currently there are five reds available and they are going to be gone fast, I would chase any and or all of them that you can find.
($35 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive