Tasted in Romanèche-Thorins with winemaker Emeric Gaucher, 10 February 2020.
Vins Georges Duboeuf
208 rue de Lancié
71570 Romanèche-Thorins
Tel: +33 3 85 35 34 20
www.duboeuf.com
More reports for Maison Georges Duboeuf
Emeric on 2018:
“I had doubts at the start as the acidities were quite low but the wines are round and very commercial – round and pleasant. It was more a vintage of vinifications as they harder wines to make than in 2019 because of the necessity of following the fermentations very closely – precision was needed. We can forget 2003, I think, but 2009 was the first really solar vintage, then 2015 too, but 2018 is more gamay, less south of France…”
The wines…
As always, generally tasty, well-made wines – but there are also a few gems that I’d consider purchasing myself!
When I visit Duboeuf, I never quite know what I’m going to get – this year a slightly different angle to the tasting, comparing their ‘flowers’ label with the ‘signature’ (large red script) label – plus a few of their domaine contracts too. As Emeric explains “Flowers, that’s the traditional vision of Duboeuf, of the easy fruit of each cru. The signature wines are the things that we have found to be especially good. Lastly, there are the ‘domaine’ wines that reflect that place.”
They have moved to DIAM for the whites “as the variation was much higher than for the reds – we can tolerate the reds but it’s too much for the whites.” It was also nice to see that the wines weren’t too warm this year – there’s an improvement! The wines were mainly bottled by June in 2019:
2018 Domaine de la Colletière, Beaujolais Vin Biologique
Easy, wide fruity. Hmm, that’s quite a nice freshness, practically saline with a depth of easy Beaujolais flavour. Quite tasty with more than a little mineral energy in the finish!
2018 Beaujolais Villages – Fleur
‘This is our reference cuvée for the company Exported to over 100 countries. The product of 400 vignerons and 13 coops.’
More colour. A narrow but deep nose – darker fruit too. Certainly more width and depth of flavour – worth paying the (modest) extra for. Concentrated, nice definition, slowly, mouthwatering. Some finishing bitters – that’s actually quite serious and you would be repayed by waiting a year or two!
2018 Beaujolais Villages – Signature
Maybe a hint less colour. Here’s a nose that is more in the direction of the easy fruit of the BJ. Mouth-filling – plenty of energy here. A little tannin – more extraction then, but nothing bulky or over-concentrated. More persistence in the finish – and a very tasty finish it is too. This would have been even better with the nose of the last, but it’s still excellent.
2018 Brouilly – Fleur
Pretty high tones, almost towards floral. Wide and energetic – a growing intensity but never sharp. The floral aspects of the nose very clear in the finish too. Easy, a little floral – but certainly delicious.
Here’s a little more precision to the high tones and certainly depth. Fuller, more impact, more mouth-watering – lovely texture – becoming almost juicy. Excellent finishing punch! Bravo – that’s a wine that gets better with the time that you spend with it – so much finishing fireworks and so persistent too!
2018 Domaine de Lafayette, Brouilly
Plenty of colour. A more compact nose, but losing nothing in attractiveness and precision. Mouth-filling a little rounder in style – also a nice big wave of finishing flavour. Just a little less strict, less chiselled – but very, very tasty wine. Excellent.
2018 Fleurie – Fleur
A width of easy floral aroma – attractive though – more compact in other directions. This is interesting, there’s a nicely structural aspect though half-hidden by the depth and deliciousness of this fruit. Easy, but properly put together – this is excellent!
2018 Fleurie – Signature
Much more dimension of aroma – in practically all directions. More vibrant, more mineral, a drag to the texture from the tannin – but no grain. Precision and intensity. Really a different style – excellent again. Persistence, rather than explosive in the finish like the Brouilly Signature. Excellent wine in a very different style.
2018 Domaine Quatre Vents, Fleurie
‘Very traditional – they haven’t changed their approach for almost 3 generations.’
Hmm – that’s a lovely nose – almost a MaV complexity, faintly floral, slightly herbed but in a good way. Also in the mouth, there’s a lovely line of flavour, saline, herbed again, complex. A little MaV style to this wine – and very tasty.
2018 St.Amour – Fleur
Much less colour. This nose starts with a lot of salinity, but at the expense of much else – it’s tight. Lovely in the mouth though – round strawberry-raspberry fruited – so easy but so rewarding. It’s my guilty pleasure – a delicious wine of finesse.
2018 Morgon – Fleur
Also a more compact nose – a little saline supported by tight dark fruit. Mouth-filling – also with energy too. There’s a small grain of tannin here – but why not when a wine has this much energy. A quality expansion of finishing flavour here – a little structure at the same time – I look for even more from Morgon but this is still good Morgon if not great!
2018 Morgon – Signature
Only a little more open – saline and interesting all the same. More drive, more precision, more weight of flavour from the middle to finish too – darker fruit than the last. A small drag of tannin. Here the lip-smacking finish is on a higher level – I’d say that this is excellent.
Saline like the last but more airy – more interesting too. Here is the structure I’ve been waiting for; tannic but without grain – more architectural wine. A little burst of juicy finishing flavour – holding a great finishing flavour. Excellent wine – and I think the chance for great.
Here the aromatic salinity has been exchanged for a round but still very attractive floral fruit. Rounder in the mouth – really mouth-filling – but no easy wine here – it’s proper Morgon, maybe with a little barrel cream creeping into the middle flavours. A big finish – chewy, long, complex – a great finish.
2018 Domaine Versauds, Morgon Les Charmes
A broader, much more open and interesting nose. Ooh – that’s deep, concentrated, creamy almost – practically confiture, fortunately there’s some acidity here. The finish is excellent though.
2018 Juliénas – Fleur
Energy, good depth of aroma – almost a hybrid of flowers and pyrazine – so with air just flowers. Almost a little jammy again, but here with more energy and a little less concentration – it’s a more refreshing and accessible drink. Again a really great finish – overall excellent I think.
2018 Juliénas – Signature
Extra depth of colour. Fresh, wide, a little herb in the complexity. Concentrated, sweet but also with sweeping lines of flavour and depth to the flavour. Quite enough energy – concentrated finishing too – but slowly mouth-watering from the ingraining flavour. A wine that’s almost too much in many directions – but always keeps on the right side of the line – it’s excellent, but I still shy away from bravo…
2018 Chateau des Capitans, Juliénas
Bought in 2003, 12 hectares
A nice freshness – nothing in excess – but this is holding my attention. A wine that starts compact, almost generic but grows and grows – filling my mouth with delicious fruit – red – a depth of flavour and is framed by good acidity, almost a sparkly finishing complexity – small fireworks. Holding the flavour well – less in all directions versus the Signature but in this case, less is more – excellent.
2018 Chateau des Poupets, Juliénas
A sweetness, a clarity of fruit- that’s very inviting. More direct, more structural, a little chocolate in the dark-fruited flavour – perhaps a little alcohol too. Some bitters – lots of flavour here. Long, but alcoholic, certainly struggles to follow the last two.
2018 Chénas Les Darroux
Not a big nose – but I like the complex width. Bright. Clarity of flavour, good direction a little tannin. Mouth-filling, layered – I like the structure too. Excellent – easy!
2018 Moulin à Vent – Fleur
The glass needs working but the delicate floral note that emerges is certainly endearing. Mouth-filling – open, good fruit – lots of energy, a little drag to the texture from the tannin. Extra floral impression in the finish with a little bitters too – not austere but anyway keep this a while – excellent wine!
Not a very deep colour. Like the previous nose, but here filled ut with some fruit too. More structural – fine acidity, – really growing in intensity – but this is a baby – wait 2+ years but clearly no rush. Excellent balance and a more structural style – because you can keep this without concern I’d say an extra level here – bravo!
2018 Domaine des Rosiers, Moulin à Vent
Here’s more colour. A polished and attractive nose. A little more traditional MaV – round but full, underpinned with a grain of tannin. Depth of flavour – concentration. Very wide finishing – long. Classic MaV – I have to say excellent again.
A touch of reduction and then, as it fades, more floral. Big, round, concentrated – that’s a very big wine. Sweetness of oak in the mid-palate but I don’t find it in the aromas. Impressive finishing. Wait 5 years – I’ve not much interest as it stands but seemingly everything is here – despite my ‘indifference’ today, this could be great wine…
2018 Moulin à Vent – Eleve en fût de Chêne
Plenty of colour again. An aroma that’s well-integrated but more overtly barrel than fruit. Lots of flavour dimension and a really great concentration with not bad energy to match – but today it’s far too oaky for this palate – I’d wait 5 years in the hope that it fades – I know there’s a clientele that love this, but…