Domaine Armelle et Bernard Rion, Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Blanc Vieilles Vignes 2019: tasting note

A grower from Vosne-Romanée, one of the most famous wine villages in the world… offering you a Hautes-Côtes de Nuits! Is this the smart way to taste the craft of a great village without breaking the bank? That is today's question.

The estate

Domaine Armelle et Bernard Rion has been based in Vosne-Romanée since 1896. Five generations from father to son… and now from father to daughter: Alice, daughter of Armelle and Bernard, joined in 2008 and now makes the wines with her husband Louis. About 8.5 hectares, from simple Bourgogne to Clos de Vougeot. A useful note: it has nothing to do with Domaine Daniel Rion & Fils, in Prémeaux-Prissey. In the Côte de Nuits, Rion is a common name!

The appellation

The Hautes-Côtes de Nuits are the hills overlooking the Côte, just behind the great villages. Higher and cooler, the vineyard almost vanished after phylloxera and was revived when the appellation was created in 1961. Here we are tasting a white, from Chardonnay. "Vieilles Vignes" (old vines) is not a legally defined term: each estate uses it its own way, usually for older vines that yield less but better.

The vintage

2019 began with frost in April, then a very dry summer that cut yields. Little wine, but good quality: at the time, producers praised balanced wines with lovely freshness. And in the Hautes-Côtes, cooler than the Côte below, hot dry years often turn out well.

On the nose

A white built on ripe fruit: flat peach first, juicy and generous. Behind it, the barrel makes itself felt, a little more marked than in many whites of the Côte, with a round, enveloping side that hints at what follows.

On the palate

And the palate delivers: lovely roundness, broad and generous, carried by the barrel ageing and those ripe fruit notes. A plush white rather than a taut one, playing on texture and comfort. Lovers of round, oaky Chardonnay will adore it; those looking for the bite of a Chablis, a little less!

Verdict

My score: 16/20. So, Vosne without Vosne prices? Not quite, let's be honest… and a small surprise: this is a white, rarer in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, where Pinot Noir dominates. You can clearly taste the hand of a serious estate: a round, ripe Chardonnay with confident oak. For a Hautes-Côtes, it is a real success, and a lovely way into the estate's wines. As for ageing, allow about 8 years.

At the table, its roundness calls for creamy dishes: chicken in a cream sauce, a veal chop with mushrooms, or a well-aged Comté.

Have you tasted it? Tell me about it! Ciao ciao!