Medium, medium-plus colour. Some high, tones, even hints of mint over a red and blueberry fruit with vanilla/coconut accents. Sweet, growing in the mid-palate with creamy, ripe fruit and very good underlying acidity. This is large-scaled and very long finishing, but it’s mainly in the vanilla-coconut register, which I find a shame today. Very easy to drink but in a, perhaps, non-Burgundian way. I’m sure that time will cure all my concerns.
Bouchard Père et Fils
2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is very fine; there’s latent oak that brings a little espresso macchiato into the equation but essentially it’s about a fresh, dark red fruit and occasional faint whiffs of bacon. Smooth, fresh and intense, it’s a classic middle-years wine – forward acidity and a narrow, lean complexion, but long too. This will be excellent – eventually! I won’t open another for 5 years, but I expect I’ll need to wait another five for real dividends. Super.
2007 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus
2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus
1997 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus
The nose is reasonably fresh and quite wide. In this company the palate is very fresh yet still appears balanced. The fruit is tight yet ripe, but is wrapped in fine tannin that adheres to your teeth – they seem ripe enough. This is the youngest wine I’ve yet come across in this series of ’97’s, I would not hesitate in saying leave these for another 5 years. Seems to have real potential.
1998 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus
1998 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus
1998 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus
2003 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus
Despite the heat of 2003, in the company of the older vintages it manages to neatly display it’s origin, a little redder in the face, a little louder and carrying a few extra pounds, but it’s without doubt Vigne de l’Enfant Jesus. Silky, slightly fat palate with a little oak still to meld. Good tannins and mouthwatering. At this young age the concentration and ripeness of the fruit smothers attempts at complexity, but there’s time for that in the future. It will be very interesting to make the same comparison in 10 years.