2015 Georges Remy Bouzy Rouge Coteaux Champenois - Les Vaudayants

Still red wine from Champagne? Bien sûr! Coteaux Champenois is one of Champagne’s two appellations for still wines (red and white, but 80+% pinot noir). Total production of still wines in Champagne is tiny - producers understandably devote their grapes to their sought-after sparkling wines - and almost none of it makes its way to our shores. But the best wines are a revelation, and arguably a better price-quality ratio than a lot of Burgundy now.

Georges Remy’s family has been farming grapes in Champagne since 1629. Georges now owns and farms 17 tiny plots in four villages and makes miniscule amounts of terroir-specific wines. Farming is certified organic and biodynamic. We featured one of Remy’s grower Champagnes back in June, but in fact he started out, in 2011, by making still red wine from one of his family’s pinot noir vineyards, Les Vaudayants. This is a calcareous plot in his evocatively named village of Bouzy, planted in 1975. The Bouzy Rouge spontaneously ferments in 500-liter barrels and ages for two years in (three) used barriques. 12.5% alcohol.

This is perfumed, delicate, red-fruited pinot noir with great texture, finesse, and depth. Bottle age has tamed the tannins and enhanced the wine’s elegance. It is a wine to drink slowly and contemplatively, as it develops with exposure to air. Decantation an hour before you drink it wouldn’t be out of place. Drink it with anything that you’d pair with a lighter-framed red Burgundy: duck, mushroom bisque, younger cheeses, or gougères hot out of the oven. It also goes well with Handel. (Yes, we tested this.)