INSIDER'S PICK: 2015 DOMAINE ARNELLE et BERTRAND RION BOURGOGNE VIEILLES VIGNES 'LA CROIX BLANCHE' $34.99

As our holiday present to you, our favorite customers, we decided to pull something out for the pre-Christmas Insider's Pick that will take care of all your fine dining needs. We often lament the fact of how difficult it is to find quality Red Burgundy at a fair price. It's because we wished they could all be like THIS little beauty. The Rion family farm about 12 acres total for all their wines, primarily in the Cote de Nuits, so when divided among 10 wines or so means there is barely an acre's worth of fruit going into each bottling. Unlike a lot of other producers they are not buying fruit to make this Bourgogne at a higher volume, instead making it all from one parcel of 50+ year old vines located just over the R.N. 74 from several Cru designated sites in Vosne-Romanee. This sees the same attention and care in the winery that their top wines from Vosne-Romanee and Nuits-St-Georges, but charged substantially less.

Unless you are really selfish and are demanding the top shelf, collector level Burgundy, there is little to find fault in for this wine. Youthful and aromatic from virtually the first pour, it bursts with dark fruits, exotic herbs and warming spices that seem to change intensity with each swirl. On the palate there is still a surprisingly firm tannin that suggests the potential for further cellaring, but the rich polished flavors are hard to put down, and the longer the wine stays open the more broad and beguiling it becomes. This is not a wine to be rushed into service at a party, but worthy of savoring over an evening or two with friends and family.

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