2018 Bourgogne Rouge

How bloody good are Denis Bachelet’s wines? Forget points, forget the superlative for a moment. These are wines that remind you that when it comes to Pinot Noir, to quote the great Carly Simon, nobody does it better (than Burgundy). These are wines that I don’t want to write about and proselytise, I want to drink them with my best Burgundy-loving compadres. "The harvest began on 2 September and lasted for five days," Bachelet told me, once I had explained to him why I am looking a bit thinner compared to 12 months ago. "There was no rot and there was a very good maturity of grapes. It was warm during harvest so we cooled the grapes upon the arrival at the winery. Everything was destemmed as usual and the alcoholic degrees are between 12.5% and 13.2%. The surprise is that the warmth of the growing season seemed to concentrate the alcohol and the acidity at the same time." What can I say - superlative, tensile, ethereal wines and that extends from Bachelet’s entry level crus up to his eight and a quarter barrels of Charmes-Chambertin.