At the forefront of change: Joseph Drouhin & Albert Bichot plus 8 top wines

On a cold February Monday evening in Manhattan, 28 friends and members of Harvardwood (Harvard University alumni in the arts, media and entertainment industries) gathered to enjoy the wines of Albert Bichot and Joseph Drouhin and celebrate the launch of my new book The 100 Burgundy.

I spoke about each of the wines but I had a bigger message: to share my thoughts on the modern Burgundy renaissance.

Scroll down for Jeannie Cho Lee MW’s top Drouhin and Bichot tasting notes and scores

The seeds of the modern renaissance can be traced back to the awareness of vineyard health starting in the 1980s and the focus on quality over quantity.

However, it is more recently with the confluence of the Asian market catching up with the Americans’ thirst for Burgundy that the pace of change hastened.

And keeping up with these changes are successful négociants like Albert Bichot and Maison Joseph Drouhin.

Drouhin has always been one of the pioneers of organic and biodynamic farming for their 78 hectares and Bichot is following suit committing to organic farming throughout their 100ha spread throughout Burgundy.

Wine cellars are changing just as dramatically –better yield and rot management, careful sorting in the vineyard and winery, less or no pumping when moving wines, more vigilant temperature controls, gentle macerations, less new oak, micro/small parcel vinification, better closures and overall, greater consistency.

There are many similarities in these two successful négociants:

• Both are still family-owned, Bichot in its 6th generation, Drouhin in their 4th generation;
• Both are serious land-owners with important vineyards such as Clos des Mouches (Drouhin) and Chablis Moutonne Monopole (Bichot);
• Both are successful export market leaders;
• Both have refined their styles over the past 25 years and offer great value-for-money, excellent whites and reds.

Not all négociants are good at red and white wines but Bichot and Drouhin excel at both. There are no harsh or tough tannins even in cooler or challenging vintages like 2013 and no fat, broad white wines in warm vintages like 2018.

Drouhin’s wines, with Veronique Drouhin at the head of winemaking, are about purity, preferring delicacy over power and restraint over concentration. The four siblings currently managing the business work harmoniously together, each with their own area of expertise, and this formula has served them well.

Drouhin makes affordable and delicious Beaune reds and Chablis whites but at the top end, they have serious wines in their portfolio such as the Montrachet Grand Cru Marquis de Laguiche, Bonnes-Mares, Clos de Beze, Grand Echezeaux, Griotte-Chambertin and Musigny. In Chablis, they own parcels in 4 out of the 7 grand cru vineyards.

Albert Bichot has been led by Alberic Bichot since 1996. He has transformed the company, choosing to keep the six properties in their portfolio separate: Domaine Long-Depaquit in Chablis, Domaine du Clos Frantin and Chateau-Gris in Nuits-Saint-Georges, Domaine du Pavillon in Pommard, Domaine Adelie in Mercurey, Domaine de Rochegres in Moulin-a-Vent Beaujolais.

Even in their négociant business, Bichot’s wines, especially the reds, have transformed over the past 20 years.

Tannins are better managed, the fruit has greater definition and the wines are harmonious and approachable young.

Their reds are so vibrant and juicy that I have often selected them to be served on First Class in Singapore Airlines.

Drouhin and Bichot are at the forefront of change, securing quality grape supplies, expanding export markets for Burgundy and experimenting with better ways to farm and make the best quality wines at the ideal price point.

They are competing with a wave of dynamic, young generation of growers who understand global trends, consumer markets and have both technical and marketing savvy.

In addition to quickly improving family estates, they have to compete with talented micro-negociants snatching up their former grape supply and selling wines at eye-popping prices for their micro-cuvees.

The global thirst for Burgundy at the moment seems unquenchable – thus I am grateful to Drouhin and Bichot for providing value-for-money Burgundy wines at all price points.

See Jeannie Cho Lee MW’s top Drouhin and Bichot tasting notes and scores

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