The weather has caught a few out. Midweek it was forecast to be dry and mainly sunny for the weekend; it has actually lightly rained today, and will probably be the same tomorrow and maybe Monday too. A few domaine’s that planned a quiet(er) weekend have been in the vines today, others wait.
As Ardhuy finished their harvest yesterday, there is now time for Carel Voorhuis to share some of his ‘holiday’ (I mean harvest) snapshots…
2004 Nicolas Potel, Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes
A good, medium, medium-plus colour. The nose alas is a mix of cedary green and mushroom, there’s a pretty red fruit trying to peek through but frankly it’s drowned. In the mouth it’s nicely concentrated with good fat and a lovely red fruit base. The acidity is good but slides you into a finish where the green raises its head again. Such a shame.
Rebuy – No
Carel Voorhuis of Domaine d’Ardhuy provides today’s scribbled summary while on the move:
Triage : potentially nothing, or at least not much. Quite amazing, it really came to a surprise, but I had a whole crew ready for the sorting table, but the worst we’ve had was Clos des Langres (organically grown, even if not certified), with maybe 10% in the vineyards plus another 2-3% on the table.
Potential alcohols were OK : I expected them to be lower, and even feared that we sometimes wouldn’t reach the legal minimum, but in fact, they were quite comfortable, starting with an 11.1 for the Bourgogne rouge, and reaching 13 (clos des Langres) to 13.5 (Charlemagne)
Colours of the first pinots we’ve picked seem a bit light, but the ones we picked later seem fine. But we’ll see.Have to go back to work, cheers, Carel
Carel provides us also with some pictures of this year’s last grapes to be picked at Ardhuy, today in Corton-Charlemagne:
CHABLIS DOMAINE WILLIAM FEVRE 2007
PREMIERS CRUS – DOMAINE
CHABLIS Montée de Tonnerre 75cl 39.50 SFr
CHABLIS Fourchaume 75cl 39.50
CHABLIS Fourchaume Vignoble Vaulorent 75cl 55.00
GRANDS CRUS – DOMAINE
CHABLIS Valmur 75cl 79.00
CHABLIS Bougros Côtes de Bouquerots 75cl 79.00
CHABLIS Les Preuses 75cl 79.00
CHABLIS Les Clos 75cl 89.50
Interesting not only that the top wines are about 80% more expensive than the 2002 vintage, but also that the Le Clos is now being described as ‘rare’. Do they mean undercooked? – I have the feeling you can find it anywhere, perhaps allocations are down…
Carillon is a benchmark for village Puligny, so given that I bought some M&M bottles and I finally got some Carillon delivered, this seemed a worthwhile comparison. By a ‘nose’ I gave the aromatic laurels to Carillon, but taking the package as a whole, I just find the M&M more fun right now and at least as concentrated. Based on the number of bottles I already bought, the result went in my favour, but both are easy recommendations!
2006 Louis Carillon, Puligny-Montrachet
Pale yellow. The nose starts with a waft of oak that subsides to brioche over an understated but slightly volatile pear-drops note. Good texture and lovely acidity, the fruit has a similar, slightly lifted pear fruit, but it’s largely buried by the toasty, savoury flavours in the mid-palate and a really good, sweeter length. The fruit is better – the volatility is gone – on day two, but the aromatics are slightly less good.
Rebuy – Yes
2006 Mischief and Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet
Just a little deeper yellow. Wide, fruit driven nose – still some brioche but of a lower order than the Carillon, a little toffee too. Similar pear-fruit but just a little fatter texture. Good texture and a more creamy fruit driven experience in the mid-palate. The finish is very good, but it would be easy to miss the reprise it brings to another level. Less structured and today more ‘comely’.
Rebuy – Yes
Les vendanges, débutées le 24 Septembre, se déroulent sous le soleil malgré la fraîcheur matinale. Le vent du Nord qui a soufflé ces derniers jours a favorisé la concentration et la pleine maturité est atteinte partout. Les degrés en rouge se situent entre 11,8 et 12,8 %. Du fait de la grêle, la récolte est relativement peu importante et lres rendements en jus sont peu élevés. Les poudrage à l’argile et les pulvérisations de silice après la grêle, nous permettent de rentrer une vendange très mûre et saine.
Merci la biodynamie!
Chantal, Domaine Michel Lafarge
DOMAINE LOUIS JADOT – millésime 2006
VINS BLANCS
PERNAND VERGELESSES Clos Croix de Pierre 75cl 36.00 SFr
CORTON CHARLEMAGNE 75cl 138.00
CHEVALIER-MONTRACHET Les Demoiselles 75cl 345.00
VINS ROUGES
GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN Les Cazetiers 75cl 69.50
GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN Le Clos St-Jacques 75cl 119.00
NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES Aux Boudots 75cl 79.50
VOSNE-ROMANEE Les Beaux-Monts 75cl 89.50
VOSNE-ROMANEE Les Petits Monts 75cl 95.00
VOSNE-ROMANEE Les Suchots 75cl 95.00
CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY Les Fuées 75cl 75.00
CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY Les Baudes 75cl 79.50
CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY Les Amoureuses 75cl 199.50
CLOS DE VOUGEOT 75cl 119.50
ECHEZEAUX 75cl 148.00
CLOS DE LA ROCHE 75cl 125.00
CLOS SAINT DENIS 75cl 178.00
CHAMBERTIN Clos de Bèze 75cl 246.00
BONNES-MARES 75cl 198.00
That’s the first time I ever saw an offer for the Demoiselles, I shan’t be biting though. Overall I find the prices comme-ci comme-ça, if not completely outrageous, but they are not where I need to energise me to use my plastic: I still have this ‘old-fashioned’ notion that good 1ers should cost 40-60 SFr, and decent GC’s more like 70-120 SFr, hence, I’ll keep buying older vintages where still available, like here, or here!
Wow – harvesting in October – that’s getting rarer!
I would take the weather forecast with a pinch of salt as we’re coming out of a settled period and it seems to change every few hours, but it is what it is right now.
Anyway, as soon as you leave they get all sorts of stuff;
Just a little rain this afternoon, but it was light stuff. The vintage was very scary for growers two weeks ago, but it really has been saved by the weather. The grapes are a little more fragile than 2005 (less thick skins), in that respect they are similar to 2006, but sugars are okay; one cuvée was down at 11.7° but most are 12-13 and a couple are over 13°. Fermentations have already started on some and colour extraction looks not bad.
Anyway everything is in at this domaine except the Corton-Charlemagne and the Gevrey grand crus – a forecast of a fine weekend has delayed picking these until Monday!
Alas, ‘Mark de Morey’ seems lost in action, I hope he didn’t slip into the destemmer…
2001 Sérafin Père et Fils, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Baudes
Medium-plus colour – still holding onto that cherry-red hue. The nose is deep with sweet, dark oak and just as dark cherry floating above. In the mouth there’s plenty of oak-derived sweetness, and it’s dark, well toasted oak that mirrors the nose – on the positive side, it’s so well done that I have no expectation that it will become ‘ashy’ with time. The mouth-feel is plush, and the acidity helps push the mid-palate’s burst of interest well into a long finish. Hedonistic, yet despite trying to discount my lack of favour for the style, I still can’t get over the fact that I feel the chambolle-ness has been lost. Expertly made, very tasty and I expect will have a good, long life. I only miss the sense of place, I suspect that others may disagree.
Rebuy – Maybe
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