Domaine Henri & Gilles Buisson, Bourgogne Rouge

Every so often a bottle shows up that flips the script. A good friend of mine—one of those lunatics who hosts blind tastings for sport—recently put together a ruthless gauntlet of Pinot Noir: big-name Oregon heavy hitters, blue-chip Burgundy royalty, and a couple of quiet assassins slipped in for contrast… including this humble Bourgogne Rouge from Domaine Buisson. When the brown bags came off, this wine landed near the top of the pile—and it was one of the least expensive bottles on the table. He tracked down a bottle to taste, and sure enough, it hits the sweet spot of everything I love in Burgundy. Burgundy is a game of inches and reputation, and this wine proves how eye-opening it is when a so-called “simple” bottle outruns some of the thoroughbreds. I taste a lot of frogs to find the princes, and moments like this remind me why: every now and then you stumble onto real, honest Burgundy that drinks like it did 20 years ago—before prices went off the rails.

If you want to feel the Côte de Beaune at its core, start in Beaune’s old town, then head south past the stern, iron-rich slopes of Pommard and the perfumed silk of Volnay. A few minutes later, turn right and climb into the limestone hills—into the tucked-away villages Burgundy lovers whisper about. Saint-Romain and Monthelie sit here like two secrets hiding in plain sight, blessed with the same bedrock and similar exposures as their more famous neighbors. For decades they were overlooked not because of terroir, but because the weather up here was once significantly cooler: the wines were lighter, more angular, sometimes lacking fruit. Today, with a warming climate and far more exacting farming, these hillsides are producing reds with tension, lift, and finesse that can make seasoned Burgundy drinkers pause. Monthelie has become a quiet obsession among insiders—helped in no small part by Domaine Roulot’s cult-favorite red—and Saint-Romain’s rising reputation follows closely behind. This is where real Burgundy value still grows.

Domaine Henri & Gilles Buisson is the beating heart of Saint-Romain, a family whose roots in the village reach back nearly eight centuries. The modern domaine began in 1947 when Henri and Marguerite Buisson started bottling their own wines, just as Saint-Romain was earning AOC status. Today, their son Gilles, his wife Monica, and their sons Franck and Frédérick steward close to 20 hectares—11 planted to Pinot Noir and eight to Chardonnay—spread across the limestone-rich slopes of Saint-Romain and neighboring villages. The Buisson family embraced organic farming in the 1970s, achieved certification in 2009, and now works biodynamically, guiding each parcel with a philosophy rooted in restraint and respect. Vines are densely planted at roughly 10,000 per hectare; ambient-yeast fermentations and élevage in older barrels emphasize purity over adornment; and minimal sulfur is used to preserve tension and clarity. Their 2023 Bourgogne Rouge draws principally from estate holdings in Saint-Romain with a small portion from Monthelie, delivering a textbook expression of the domaine’s transparent, mineral, Côte de Beaune style.

In the glass, the 2023 Bourgogne Rouge delivers vibrant wild strawberry, crisp red cherry, and tart raspberry, met by subtle earth, rose petal, and a thread of crushed limestone. The palate is bright and finely etched, with energetic acidity, delicate tannins, and that unmistakable Côte de Beaune minerality that makes the wine feel simultaneously featherweight and serious. Pair it with roast chicken and thyme, seared duck breast, mushroom ragout, pork tenderloin, or even a simple platter of aged Comté. This is weekday Burgundy at its most authentic and honest—priced like the Côte d’Or hasn’t lost its mind.