An American Hears the Call of Burgundy

By ERIC ASIMOV
NYT

NUITS-ST.-GEORGES, France

BEFORE his 29th birthday, Ray Walker became the first American ever to make Le Chambertin, the grand cru red Burgundy that is one of the most revered names in wine. How Mr. Walker came to make this wine is a story of passion and perseverance, family support and great good fortune, naïveté and surprises, not least of which is that Mr. Walker had never drunk a Chambertin before he made his own.

Happily-ever-after tales are rare in the wine business, which generally operates on the more down-to-earth plane of crafty marketing and cut-throat competition. But Mr. Walker’s entry into the famously insular world of Burgundy, with little money, no connections and virtually no experience in winemaking, seems straight from the annals of fairy godmothers and Prince Charmings.

Today, Mr. Walker — tall and lean with sculptured good looks — and his wife, Christian, are the proud proprietors of Maison Ilan, a small négociant business here in the heart of the Côte de Nuits. It is named after their young daughter, Isabella Ilan Walker.

Up to now, they have made only a little bit of red wine, including two grand crus, Le Chambertin and Charmes-Chambertin. The wines are elegant, fresh, structured and graceful — astoundingly so, given they were made by a novice.

(More here.)