During my short stay in Burgundy for the inauguration of the new cooperage of Taransaud, I also stopped to taste two recent vintages with Philippe Prost, who has now been with Bouchard Père & Fils for 35 year. Although they have been producing their wines at a new, gravity integrated facility in Savigny-les-Beaune since 2005, reception is still at the Château de Beaune, an historical monument that I knew well from the days when I was importing their wines to Germany. To my chagrin, the wines are much better today. They may not quite enjoy the sheer prestige that they did from after the war until well into the 1970s when they were the yardstick for quality in Burgundy, but they are certainly - with Joseph Drouhin, Louis Jadot and Faiveley - again one of shippers that any amateur of Pinot Noir must take seriously. Of the cooler 2012s that we tasted, my nod goes to the Corton and Chambertin Clos de Beze. While the warm and precious 2011 vintage was considered in house as a 'red' year, I found the Chevalier Montrachet to be the wine that I would want to drink, perhaps as well because of the very restrained use of new oak. Comments