While an expanding circle of high-profile friends has given Buisson access to small lots of elite appellations in recent vintages (growers heavy with blue chips are happy to trade for some Saint-Romain fruit to diversify their offerings), they have also become increasingly mindful of their need for balance at the more price-friendly end of their lineup. To that end, they have begun producing a sterling duo of regional-level wines.
When Saint-Romain secured appellation status in 1947, sixth-generation Henri Buisson was the first in the village to bottle his own production: five hectares of prime plantings throughout the valley. With son Gilles by his side, he began farming without synthetic chemicals in the early 1970s—a radical choice in an era where chemical shortcuts reigned supreme. Gilles’ two sons Franck and Frédérick, cut from the same boundary-pushing cloth as their father and grandfather, began adopting biodynamic practices upon assuming control of the domaine in 2008, achieving certification with the 2018 vintage.
Franck and Fred’s star has been on a meteoric rise as of late, with Vinous Media’s esteemed Neal Martin naming the domaine as one of six candidates when asked in 2020, “Who is Burgundy’s next superstar?
Solely sourced from Pinot Noir planted just above Saint-Romain’s Sous Roche (one of the lynchpin crus of Buisson’s lineup), the 2022 Bourgogne Rouge offers a similar expertly rendered balance of seriousness and breeziness as the Blanc. Saint-Romain’s tendency to produce kinetic red wines of palpable minerality is on full display here, with bright cherry fruit given lift by tremendously vibrant acidity, and while the wine is lithe and without flab it possesses admirable sap and bastes the palate with dense, mouthwatering fruit.
Was $45
End of Bin Price $32
