MCF Rare Wine

A December Tradition at MCF

You can pretty much mark the calendar with this one — if it’s December, I’m going to be talking about my favorite Cheateauneuf du Pape - Bois de Boursan’s Cuvée Tradition.  

Now, of course there are plenty of great Chateaueuf out there, many of which cost 5-10x more than this one, but for me, this is always a favorite, especially in a vintage like 2014!

The most elegant, terroir-transparent of the producers in the most elegant, terroir-transparent of vintages?  

For me, there’s not much more you could ask for.  

I know, yes...everyone is hyper-focused on the 2015 vintage right now, but for me, hype-vintages in Chateauneuf are always a let-down.

Sure the wines have power, but to me, Chateauneuf from ripe, warm vintages always end up being hot and raisin-y...you know...lackluster and one-dimensional.

No doubt, there are people out there whose ears are smoking right now, but that's just my personal taste and I'm sure there will be plenty of monumental wines in the 2015 vintage.

But...I'll happily be drinking this cool, elegant, balanced and tremendously terroir-driven 2014 from Boursan over the next 10 years, because it's this expression of Chateauneuf that I like the best.

The Versino family chooses to focus on allowing the legendary terroir of Chateaunuef shine through by keeping the elegant red fruit front and center.  This allows the stony, mineral, animale notes to do their thing without having to worry about being buried under the dense darnkness and tannins.  

I know that may sound like it means this is a cheerful, forward wine that isn’t meant to age but, on the contrary, Boursan ages beautifully!  

This Versinos have been on a role with this wine - there literally has not been a bad Cuvée Tradition since the difficult 2002 vintage and the seven vintages leading up to 2002 were all pretty fantastic as well.  

But, back to this charming 2014, a wine that is, at once, wildly expressive and effortlessly balanced.  The classic, earthy nuance of Chateaunuef lurks beneath this pure, supple, chalky fruit.  As this beauty gains wisdom, I expect a whole trove of meaty, mineral goodness to emerge as well (something that a little bit of day-2 drinking will show pretty clearly).  

Right now, though, if anything from a roast chicken to an earthy, warming stew, to a braised lamb shank is on your plate, this is gonna be a pretty damned good thing to have in your glass. 

Oh, and if you're planning to do a goose on Christmas (thanks to my sister's endorsement), this is the wine to have.




Matt Franco

MCF Rare Wine, Ltd
249 West 13th Street
New York 10011
mcf@mcf-rarewine.com
212.255.8870
www.mcf-rarewine.com