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Domaine des Croix

One of my last visits in Burgundy was to see David Croix at his winery tucked just behind Bichot on the Beaune ringroad, next to a superb bistro, La Cantine - if you are in the area. Since departing Domaine Camille Giroud to focus on Domaine des Croix, he has fashioned impressive wines within the Beaune ambit. Like many others, he feels that the appellation does not receive its fair share of applause and when you taste his nascent 2019s, you can see he has a fair point. Candid with self-effacing humour, we briefly discussed the pandemic since cases in France were beginning to escalate, before descending downstairs to his capacious barrel cellar. “Despite the heat wave, the 2019 vintage gives me hope that we can still make classical wines,” he opined. “It has a combination of ripeness and energy. I did not use too much whole cluster this year. The 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages are all marked by the heat, but they are different. In 2018 I went for early picking and lower sugar/alcohol levels where I used quite a lot of stem addition. In 2019, I felt we needed to wait and therefore alcohol levels are higher with some cuvées above 14.0° and up to 14.7° for the Beaune Tuvilains. Others are in the low 13.0°. I felt that there was already energy and freshness in the grapes that did not need to be added to by the stems. And I didn’t find that energy in the 2018s. I started the picking on 13 September until 20 September. Because of the tension, in the heart of the [alcoholic] fermentation, I did three punch-downs per day because that imparts the flesh and texture that I wanted to bring to most of the wines. There was just a little pumping over at the beginning to start slowly.”

David Croix has crafted a seriously impressive set of 2019s that I believe surpass his 2018s. I always get the impression that he is a winemaker still learning by praxis, getting better year-by-year and fine-tuning his craftsmanship. Taste his Beaune Bressandes or maiden Bas de Teurons, hitherto blended into the Beaune Village, rack them up against a Premier Cru from a more prestigious appellation like Vosne-Romanée or Chambolle-Musigny... They are just as complex and profound, just without the same price tag. His cluster of Grand Crus are outstanding, not least a Corton-Charlemagne that I would like to place in front of others whose quality fails to pass muster.

From La Lumière Noire: 2019 Burgundy - Côte de Beaune (Dec 2020) by Neal Martin

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2019 Aloxe-Corton Les Boutières

Color: Red

2019 Aloxe-Corton Les Boutières

2019 Beaune Les Bressandes 1er Cru

2019 Beaune Grèves 1er Cru

2019 Beaune Tuvilains 1er Cru

2019 Beaune Bas de Teurons 1er Cru

2019 Beaune Pertuisots 1er Cru

2019 Beaune Les Cents Vignes 1er Cru

2019 Beaune Village

2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

2019 Corton-Grèves Grand Cru

2019 Corton La Vigne Au Saint Grand Cru

2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Peuillets

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