Domaine Sylvain Langoureau Saint Aubin Premier Cru En Remilly 2023

I once found myself explaining the En Remilly vineyard to a Burgundian – and she was aghast. Both because I was man-splaining her hometown to her, and because I was claiming that something labeled Premier Cru could be equal to a Grand Cru – absolute heresy in Burgundy.

So now, I will attempt to do the same for you, but trust me, the bottle of wine at the end of this epistle makes the explanation thoroughly worth it.

We all know that Burgundy has a hierarchy of vineyards – regional, village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru – with each step up implying a much more specific geography, and with it, a major jump up in quality. While there are several Grand Crus among Burgundy’s white wines, the top of the top of the Grand Cru vineyards is Le Montrachet. Grand Cru is almost an understatement, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. One of Le Montrachet’s first admirers, the Abbé Arnoux, noted way back in 1728 that “this wine has qualities of which neither the Latin nor the French language can explain… I am not able to express the delicacy and excellence.”

Indubitably, our own Thomas Jefferson, President and wine lover, observed that at the time Le Montrachet was selling at $1,200 francs pre case, while Meursault Premier Cru Goutte d’Or only $150. And what that means for us is that unless you’re willing to pay a Presidential price, Le Montrachet is outta reach.

Or is it?

And this is where En Remilly starts to strut its stuff. If you zoom in on a map of Le Montrachet (they are all over the internet), you can see its gentle slope, and then a road that cuts through the vineyard as the slope climbs. Now look up that short little climb to the top of the hill – that is En Remilly. That’s right, En Remilly is the crown of Le Montrachet – and if that’s not enough, it touches Chevalier Montrachet, another Grand Cru.

Now, if any Burgundians read this they are libel to issue a fatwa against me. But, while we can see that these two vineyards are distinct, we can also observe that they are an easy two minute walk from one another. And further, in this glass of wine, Sylvian Langoureau’s Premier Cru En Remilly, we can observe just how stunning white burgundy can be:

The wine opens with gorgeous aromas of Meyer lemon dusted with Marcona almonds and then ever-so-slightly candied, bringing out a divine combination of fruit and nutty aromas. From there, touches of vanilla wafer, cream and hints of gingerbread. On the palate, the wine is ready and open for business, still having all of its beautiful burgundian baby fat – a touch of unctuous fruit on the mid-palate that rounds it into perfect balance. 2020 was a low yield vintage (so we will probably sell out of this wine very quickly) but it resulted in wines of extremely high quality – through the mid palate and the finish you will notice this wine’s fine tension and filiagree, its length and intensity, and its striking dramatic energy.

This will be our eighth vintage of working with Sylvian Langoureau, and while his winery is small, the wines he producers are indeed mighty. No, this isn’t Le Montrachet, but the stardust that blows up the hill makes this wine absolute magic. As noted, it’s a short crop, so catch this while you can.