INSIDER'S PICK: 2013 MONGEARD-MUGNERET BOURGOGNE PINOT NOIR $24.99

A wine from our Thanksgiving 'Turkey Wine' list, and a terrific opportunity for people that may not have tried that much Burgundy in their tasting journey. Burgundy has always existed on a knife edge between perfect growing conditions and disaster, and 2013 was a prime example. A long cold Winter and cool Spring with lots of rain made for a slow start to the grapes developing, and spots of rain during the Summer made potential rot an issue as well. A powerful hailstorm hit parts of Burgundy in late July, cutting a narrow band of utter destruction across some vineyards while leaving others untouched. Fortunately a warm, dry, and relatively uneventful lead-up to harvest brought potential back to the vintage, but ONLY for the good producers that maintain their diligence throughout the year. This isn't a hyped vintage when the season is so easy everyone is making good wine, but plenty of good wine was made. In the hands of a top flight producer like Mongeard-Mugneret, the vintage provides lots of approachable short term enjoyment, especially fans of elegance.

Classic pale ruby color in the glass for a Burgundy, with lots of cherry skin and dried dark fruits in the background. The Mongeard-Mugneret house is based in Vosne-Romanee, the heart of the Cote de Nuits, and all the fruit for this wine comes from the Nuits, which really shows. The palate is initially light but sneaky complex, with the fine tannins providing length to the dark fruits and cedary tones to the finish. Time open brings some volume to the fruit on the palate and some intensity to the aromas, but this is always the picture of elegance, ideal for moving seamlessly between dishes or sipping and enjoyed on by itself.

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