I had the most amazing opportunity to attend an exclusive evening at Keens Steakhouse with Bouchard Père & Fils. It was an incredible evening filled with food, wine, and great people including the cellarmaster Frédéric Wéber. I especially loved beginning the evening with a crisp glass of Champagne Henriot Millésime 2012 which is one of my favorite Champagne’s.

The winery was founded in 1731 and is one of the oldest wine estates in Beaune. “This desire to build up an exceptional estate in Côte d’Or endured through the generations and acquisitions in the best Villages were added throughout the 19th century and again in the early 20th century.” – bouchardpereetfils.com 

We began with a Beaune Premier Cru Monopole Clos Saint-Landry 2017, which was a delightful and warm vintage. The terroir is exquisite and for whites like this, the grapes matured well and have such finesse and power at the same time. This wine is harmonious, rich, and expressive and really went nicely with the Shrimp Cocktail. This wine has nice white floral aromas and a nice long finish, it’s ideal with seafood and summer evenings on NYC rooftops! But if you’re in the suburbs, it works well for elegant backyard dinners too.

With our second course we enjoyed a comparison of two vintages, the Grand Cru Le Corton 2013 & 2017. The 2013 you won’t find in the market but the 2017 you can. It was great to see how this wine matured, and considering the 2013 vintage was dark, rainy, and unfavorable from the beginning, the vintage turned around by harvest and the reds nice and fruity, fleshy, and have great texture. The 2013 was so elegant and young and fresh tasting still and paired beautifully with the filet and whipped mashed potatoes. The 2017 had nice black fruit and oak with richness and beautiful structure. I loved them both, and can’t wait to taste the 2017 again after some aging time, because it absolutely has nice aging potential.

Our final wines to pair with a delicious cheese course were the Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne 2015 & 2017. 2015 was a great vintage with great wines, and really is described as “sheer perfection”. These wines maintained great acidity levels and the 2015 was really incredible with a lot of generosity and elegance. It is silky and can easily age a bit longer, but I really enjoyed it now too. The 2017 has nice spice and touches of oak with bold red and black fruit. I would like to see this wine age a bit, and see how it develops because it will definitely benefit with some rest. These wines are ideal with cheese courses, as well as meats and vegetable dishes.

This winery is exceptional and has over 130 hectares of vines, of which 12 are Grand Cru and 74 Premier Cru. This is why you’ll find amazing wines from Bouchard Père & Fils at all price points, and it’s great that they can offer such high quality wines for everyone and every occasion.

Always remember eat what you like and drink what you love. Please pair responsibly!