Cornu Camus Cote de Nuits Villages 2021

Finding a good $60 bottle from the CdN is a tall task, so when I find a fantastic one for under $30/btl on cases, I don’t just dip my toes in, I dive in head first. So when the bottle is from one of our favorites, you know I take every bottle they let me.

For about a decade or so, the high elevation, organically farmed vineyards of Lydia Cornu have been THE go-to source for elegant red Burgundy at Nicholas Wines. The 2021 vintage is particularly fine though, the product of the first cool vintage in years which yielded wildly aromatic, low alcohol Pinot Noir with pristine, pure fruit that finishes fine and fresh and absolutely sings with food.

The only downside and this is a trend that seems to have no end in sight in France and in Burgundy in particular, there are precious few cases to go around. So few, that I swear to god we even lost a few cases from open inventory as I sat down to write this offer (luckily we had a P.O.!).

No estate in Burgundy quite delivers the bang per buck in Red Burgundy. The couple have been managing vineyards in both the Hautes-Côtes and the Côte for decades, growing more savvy along with the vines, and adapting to the changes in weather patterns over the years. 2021 was a year in which some estates struggled, but the overwhelming quality in their CdN Villages bottling is almost staggering.