JACQUES BOURGUIGNON PINOT NOIR 2018

JACQUE BOURGUIGNON PINOT NOIR 2018

82 PTS (AP - 08/11/2019)

Recently, I got the chance to taste the 2018 Jacques Bourguignon 2018 Pinot Noir. My intention was to familiarize myself with this particular product so that I can decide whether this was something I really wanted to stand behind in the future. I had never heard of Jacques Bourguignon and initially thought it may be an ad campaign for a cheap pinot out of Bourgogne (Burgundy) France. The front label is super simple with "Pinot Noir" in big black thin letters, "Jacques Bourguignon" below that and "Vin de France" in small letter font. "Vin de France" scares me a little, as this could mean ANYWHERE in France. The back label says 89144, which is the cedex number for Ligny-le-Chatel in the Chablis canton (county) of the department of Yonne. This told me a few things. 

One thing I got from the region this wine comes from is that this wine is grown in a rainy, hilly country where Pinot Noir is not usually grown. Chardonnay for Chablis is the dominant grape in this area and there's a small amount of Cabernet Franc for Irancy grown here. Pinot Noir, not so much. I was a little weary. 

I unscrewed the cap, poured it and found a colorful medium "Bing" cherry shade. This was good. Gave it a little whirl in the crystal and put my nose to it. Sniffy-sniff!!! Nothing! Another whirl and another sniff...still nothing. "Maybe it's a bit tight?", I thought. I ran it through my aerator and tried this step again. Nothing! I decided to just try it! Upon sipping this pinot, all I really got was a light dark cherry black rock flavor. Nothing else really! Nothing mid-palate, nothing on the end. Absolutely NOTHING!! I'm hoping that it's simply way to young at this point and hope to try it again in two years or so. Maybe by that time, I won't need to try it again and will have moved on to bigger and better pinots. This wine was really a disappointment and a waste of my time. I wouldn't buy it for a couple reasons and neither should you. The micro-region where the address is, the vintage considering were in mid-2019 and this is 2018, the gimicky name and the vague front label. Nope, not my kinda jam.