Domaine Nudant Ladoix Rouge

You may have heard that Burgundy in the last couple of vintages has had a pretty hard run - crop levels were down about 60% in 2020, and 80% down in 2021. That is an astonishing level of punishment to the farmers of Burgundy; imagine losing 80% of your salary for a year. But it’s also hard on us - where is the good Burgundy that we must be drinking!?

Here at Waterford, our thirst for Burgundy is nearly unquenchable, so when the 2020 vintage started rolling in, we knew we were in trouble. Thus we prepared early for the Burgundy drought by tasting as much Burgundy as we possibly could in order to unearth new gems. One treat we found was this wine from Domaine Nudant. And not only that, but we found that the U.S. importer was sitting on a back vintage! (Cue the angel chorus.) Perfectly matured red Burgundy that is drinking great right now! Our palates are saved! And delicious, indeed, this wine is:

On the nose, there is the beautiful fruit expression of classic red Burgundy - raspberries, Bing cherries, baking spices with touches of cola as well. In a proper Burgundy bowl glass, this wine is so open and inviting on the nose that it's nearly impossible to resist. And why should you, because even more pleasure awaits on the palate: The wine is soft and supple, offering up perfectly silky, smooth tannins yet also good tension and balance. The fruit displayed on the nose comes through as flavors on the palate, and the poise of the wine makes it wonderfully refreshing. It’s good to drink now as a cocktail or cool-weather table guest, but will surely still go another seven years in your cellar. 

None of us here at Waterford have been to this estate, but as near as we could put together, Nudant is an old 15th century term for wine-growers, meaning something close to “they bare” or “they labor”. And indeed, the current Nudant family at the helm of this domaine can trace their ancestry back to 1453 when a distant ancestor, Charles Nudant, was documented as making wine in the Ladoix region. Recent history has grandfather starting domaine bottling in 1950, father joining him in 1978, and son coming on in 2003. 

Ladoix is a village in Burgundy on the northern side of the great hill of Corton. For many years, Ladoix was virtually unheard of, probably because the wines were regarded as “thin” or maybe even “inferior” to its grand cru neighbor just to the south. Being east and northeast facing, in years past this regard for Ladoix might have been understandable. Nowadays, however, most producers we speak to have a high regard for Ladoix, both because its slopes mitigate against climate change, and being from an area not so highly esteemed means the wines punch well above their price point. For sure, that’s the case with this gem. To sum up - Ladoix offers value and produces classic, i.e. elegant and refreshing, red Burgundy. 

Or, if you don’t want to take my recommendation on this wine, we recently poured it at all four stores during our Burgundy tasting and this wine “won” top position with the most bottles sold in some pretty stiff competition. 

It’s not from a small harvest year, but our allocation is still tight—get your parcel while we still have some available.