2020 Jacques Bourguignon Pinot Noir Vin de France

Of the many thousands of wines tasted by Wine Enthusiast each year, only a tiny percentage made the cut for their Top 100 Best Buys.

Can you imagine the amount of flavor and personality that a bargain bottle of Pinot Noir has to bring to the table to not only make the list, but to be #28?

To make such a high-quality Pinot Noir at such value requires tossing out the rulebook—specifically, the very stringent rules for producing Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) or Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) wines. These require a wine to come from only one region and be made according to sometimes stifling regulations.

Bourguignon’s solution? The Vin de France appellation, which gives vintners total control over how they craft their wines. Grapes can come from anywhere in France, which allows winemakers to flex their blending skills and create the most harmonious, balanced, fruit-driven wine possible.

Wine Enthusiast’s Fiona Adams explains: “This freedom from French wine tradition has led to a wealth of creative, boundary-pushing wines.” Jacques Bourguignon’s Pinot Noir—a blend of wine from two zones in the Languedoc in the sun-drenched south of France—is a prime example, with all the earthy minerality and snap of Burgundy and the sappy, generous fruit flavors of a southern French red. 

For drinking by the stove, by the grill, or just to offer a welcoming glass to greet your guests, this juicy, utterly crushable red keeps the focus on the fruit. Because it’s made entirely in stainless steel, it’s bright and fruity and will pair beautifully with a tarragon roast chicken and potatoes or something as simple as a golden beet salad with goat cheese.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 13.00%
• Enjoy right away
• Drink Up
• % Pinot Noir
• Serving temperature – 58°
• Screw cap