2018 Regis Bouvier En Montre Cul Bourgogne Rouge 750 ml

We were lucky to spend time in Burgundy in the 80s, an era when $100 was enough to snag multiple Grand Cru bottles from Aloxe-Corton or Vosne-Romanée, with enough left over for a baguette and a slab of foie gras. 

Today, things have changed quite a bit, but the 2018 Régis Bouvier En Montre Cul brought us right back to the incredible steals that ignited our own love affair with Burgundy. A single-vineyard gem from 50-year-old vines on steep slopes outside of Dijon, the 2018 serves classic Burgundy pedigree—fresh strawberry and violet swathed in earthy complexity—in a joyous, highly crushable style with a price to match. 

The Montre Cul vineyard, which supplies the dazzling Pinot Noir in this bottle, is much more akin to a Premier Cru site, planted on steep slopes with vines averaging 50 years of age. The old vines deliver complexity, nuance, and a Burgundian signature that can’t be replicated. 

When we first got to Burgundy in the 80s, Bouvier was just starting out. He founded his eponymous domain in 1981 on a mere 7.5 acres in Marsannay in the Côte de Nuits. Steadily, he grew his estate to the current size of 27 acres, which includes the tiny four-acre Montre Cul vineyard—one of the only vineyards in Burgundy with a fanciful name, which loosely translates to “showing your rear” because the slope is so steep.  

Four decades of winemaking pedigree are on display in Bouvier’s 2018 En Montre Cul, which shows its aged wisdom in sleekness, precision, aromatic nuance, and a subtle spice touch—and its lively acidity and red-fruited exuberance make this wine an absolute crowd-pleaser.