Nice deep colour – already quite ruby-red at the core – looks good the glass. The aromatics are relatively muted, a little earth and faint underbrush, only occasional glimpses of nice red fruit.
The palate is soft with good apparent concentration, enough acidity and tannins that only show themselves with a little grain as you move into the finish. At its price-point this is a very successful wine, I was only missing a little ‘character’.
Medium lemon-yellow. The nose is sweet, shows a little exotic fruit and honey. Slightly fat, good concentration and apparently good acidity given the mouthwatering finish, but falls short of racy. Rather lumpy and borderline harsh on first opening – never really improved over two hours – so only ‘okay’.
Bottled in January, 2-3 months after the other whites. The vines are at the fop of the hill and north-east facing, Philippe believes that this cooler spot helped to preserve acidity this year. Lovely nose, hints of green, cream covered apricots. Instantly classic palate with tons of complexity – really good mouthfeel. The finish is a strong one, fading only slowly. A very good wine that speaks more of Corton-Charlemagne than of 2003 – excellent.
On the nose there’s a little less ‘punch’ than the ’03 Enfant’. It’s higher toned and mixes red and black notes, slowly giving up a concentrating cherry edge. Super softness, creamy and concentrated fruit with a complexity that is not today apparent from the ‘Enfant’. A slight dry edge to the tannins on the finish. Lovely.
Only 40% of the normal crop from this vineyard despite being planted in the north-south orientation, hence, affording some protection from the direct 2003 sun. Jumps out of the glass, amazing nose, it’s pure, fresh blueberry. Mouthfilling with, by a significant margin, quite best fruit I’ve ever seen in a Monthélie! Grainy tannins and an unexpected freshness. Bravo, I expect this wine will be a steal!
The nose starts with an off-putting cheesy/metallic note, swirling gets rid of this to reveal a mix of red and black shaded fruit that becomes more complex and pure by the minute – Bouchard own vines in 21 of the 44 Beaune Crus, most are represented in this wine. Fat but fleet of foot the fruit flavours are shaded towards black and backed up by velvetty tannin and nicely balancing acidity. This is usually a reliable wine but is really quite something in 2003.
This is a vineyard from the northern side of Beaune, according to Philippe often quite smokey in presentation – like Volnay Caillerets. Very forward fruit and quite high-toned for a 2003. The palate has a very ripe coulis of fruit, good tannins but not quite so sophisticated as the ’03 Clos de la Mousse that preceded it. A good, mouthwatering and very long finish – just a little raisin fruit on the end.
This is always a warmer vineyard than the ones that surround it, hence, it’s often a rush to pick – 2 days later and it can be a very different wine. Philippe believes that this is potentially one of their best vineyard sites. A quite lovely nose, round with a sweet core of fruit. Mouth-staining, concentrated fruit flavours that follow through very well into the mid-palate. Tannins are dry but well managed – in a word gorgeous.
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