Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Rousseau Deslandes 2018

Unlike other wines, Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Rousseau Deslandes 2018 (Pinot Noir) and other Hospice de Beaune wines are available only through annual actions attended by a select group of wine buyers worldwide.

Wonder what’s Hospice de Beaune anyway, and why such a hustle with an auction?

Hospices de Beaune and Rousseau Deslandes Story

A hospital foundation dating back to the Middle Ages, the Hospices de Beaune is one of France’s most prestigious historical monuments in Burgundy near Dijon (like in Dijon mustard).

When in 1443, Chancellor Nicolas Rolin founded the Hôtel Dieu (Hospices de Beaune), Beaune was coming out of the 100 Years War, a period of unrest and plague that decimated the countryside. Hôtel-Dieu of Flanders and Paris was built for France’s poor and the most disadvantaged. 

Over time its role has evolved. Initially, it welcomed orphans after plague epidemics, later becoming a senior nursing home. 

In 1645, Antoine Rousseau and Barbe Deslandes founded the Hôpital de la Sainte-Trinité, later called the Hospice de la Charité. It joined the Hôtel-Dieu to form the Hospices de Beaune during the Revolution. 

Today the Hospices de Beaune is also famous in the wine world for its 60 hectares of vine estate, producing prestigious wines sold at auction on the third Sunday in November. The funds go to maintaining and providing services at Hospice the Beaune. 

The production is limited, and only select wine stores can access this wine in limited quantities. Sometimes just a few bottles. We were lucky to get a couple of bottles from our local stores. 

Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Rousseau Deslandes 2018

In the Bottle

With 60% of the vines planted between 1944 and 1958, Les Cent Vignes is at the heart of this prized Cuvée. Close to Pommard, Les Montrevenots represents the balance of the Cuvée, with all its vines planted just before 1966. Why does all of that matter? For two reasons.

First, it comes from Beaune Premier Cru, one of the best places in Burgundy and the world to grow Pinot Noir grapes. Second, the vines were between 50 and 70 years old. 

While the first is self-explanatory, why the age of the vine, not the wine, is a big deal? It’s a perfect example of when less is more. With age, vines produce fewer and fewer grapes. It means less but more flavorful wine because vines concentrate their energy and nutrients on fewer berries.  

Well, enough wine geek talk! Let’s taste it!

In the Glass

The first sip of Rousseau Deslandes reminded us of our careless childhood when we raided our neighbor’s garden with friends on hot June afternoons. 

First, we “helped” them thin out the morello and black cherry trees’ staining our tees and smelling like crushed cherries, leaves, twigs, and cherry tree tar. Then we took “a tasting tour” of strawberries and finished berry season by raiding raspberry bushes. 

All those aromas and flavors of fresh raspberries, blooming tea roses, and strawberry jam slowly boiling in copper pots rushed down memory lane and took us back to our innocent years.

While the flavors came through as ripe berries, this Pinot Noir can hardly be described as fruit-forward California-like wine. It’s well-balanced by bright acidity, pleasant cherry pith-like bitterness, and black Rowan berry tannins.  

Aftertaste

As we tasted Rousseau Deslandes, we couldn’t help comparing it with our Pinot Noir from other regions. We compared American and French Pinots before, but our local wines are near and dear to our palates because we tasted hundreds, if not thousands, of them and can recommend at least a dozen Oregon Pinots to try right now. 

We love our local Pinots and sometimes wonder if it was grown in Oregon first, would the Bourgogne still be considered a benchmark for the rest of the world?

If we consider only primary flavors like fruit or berry, Oregon can easily challenge Burgundy. Still, on average, even Village and Premier Cru have the edge over Oregon Pinots in the textural and structural components of the wine. 

Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Rousseau Deslandes 2018 confirmed that, and, in short, felt like a more substantial wine when compared with wines from individual AVAs of the Willamette Valley of Oregon. 

What are your thoughts on Hospice the Beaune Pinot Noirs? How do they compare to your local Pinot or other world regions? What would you recommend to try?