Domaine René Leclerc, Bourgogne Rouge

The secret to finding great Burgundy is simple: Go to Burgundy and knock on every door. Whenever I visit the region, I inevitably run into other sommeliers, importers, and consumers doing just that. There’s no substitute for direct experience, so whether it’s in Burgundy or at my desk in Sonoma I’d estimate a good 20+ Bourgogne wines get passed over before we land on a standout bottle like today’s.First off, I always perk up when I get a shot at a red from 2014—most vendors have moved on to more-recent vintages, meaning most of the ’14s are safely hidden away in restaurants and private cellars. Second, this ’14 from René Leclerc is the kind of transcendent Bourgogne Rouge I’m forever on the lookout for: Put your nose in the glass and this wine smells like a $60+ bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin. That’s no mistake. Domaine Leclerc’s cellars are in Gevrey-Chambertin, with an impressive 20 acres of vines, some as old as 80 years. Fruit from the estate’s younger vines in the village is bottled