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Bouchard Père & Fils - the history
Founded in 1731 in Beaune by Michel Bouchard, Bouchard Père & Fils, is one of the oldest wine estates in Burgundy and one of the largest landowners in the Côtes d’Or.
In 1775, Joseph Bouchard acquired his first vineyards in Volnay in the famous 'Les Caillerets' climat and from there started to develop the family's vineyard holdings.
Today, Bouchard Pere et Fils have a 132-hectare estate, which is split in 200 different plots, including 12 hectares of Grand Cru and 74 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards in some of the best sites across 74 appellations.
In 1995 Bouchard Père et Fils was bought by Joseph Henriot, whose family have been growers and producers in Champagne for over 200 years. Today, Bouchard Père & Fils is the largest landowner in the Côte d'Or, with 130-hectares of vineyards in total.
Château de Beaune - the history
2020 marks 200 years since the purchase of Château de Beaune by Bouchard Père & Fils. The Chateau, a former royal fortress, has quite a history:
- built in the 15th century by King Louis XI
- confiscated during the French Revolution
- sold in 1820 to Bernard Bouchard
It is now home to thousands of bottles of fine Burgundy vintages and forms the heart of one of the oldest wine estates in Burgundy.
The Bouchard family have converted the underground galleries and bastion chambers into 10-metre-deep wine cellars which run underground beneath the property providing the best storage conditions - dark and naturally temperature controlled - allowing Bouchard’s fine wines to develop and age undisturbed.
These include a unique collection of over 2,000 bottles from the 19th century. A priceless historical legacy with, as its icon, the oldest wine – a Meursault Charmes 1846 which still retains its lustre.
Bouchard have been producing Beaune du Château cuvées, an exclusivity of the house, every year since 1907. The wines are blend of several Premier Cru parcels, each of which has its own individual character and undergoes customised vinification.
The wines:
Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune du Chateau Premier Cru Blanc 2017 (£30 Cambridge Wine Merchants, The Wright Wine Company, Bubbles & Wine)
This wonderfully rich and polished Beaune du Château white comes from 5 Beaune Premier Cru parcels, selected for their complementary qualities: Aigrots, Sizies, Sur les Grèves, Teurons and Tuvilains.
Before being blended, the grapes from each Climat are vinified separately to preserve the typical characteristics of the different terroirs with each component spending around nine months in French oak in the cellars of the Château de Beaune before being blended to make the final wine.
Floral honeysuckle, spicy-toasty oak and ripe white fruits with lime marmalade and savoury-leesy saline minerality. Poised, precise and elegant with a tense, rich, complex concentration.
Drinking very nicely now but will only improve with age.
Very Good.
Match with poultry, meat pies, pâté, light game, pork dishes and snails.
Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune du Chateau Premier Cru Rouge 2017 (£32-35 Waitrose Cellar, North & South Wines)
A blend of several Premier Cru parcels selected for their complementary qualities: Aigrots, Avaux, Bas des Teurons, Belissand, Boucherottes, Bressandes, Cent Vignes, Champs Pimonts, Clos du Roi, A l’Ecu, En Genêt, Grèves, Pertuisots, Reversées, Seurey, Sizies and Toussaints.
Dark garnet, complex aromas of red fruits, morello cherries, dried green herbs, spices and violets; red and black cherry fruit, cocoa and dense, very fine tannins. Fresh, harmonious, elegant and well-structured.
Drinking very nicely now but will only improve with age.
Very Good.
Match with ham, poultry or game
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