7 wines tasted blind in Beaune, 23 May 2019.

Wines I tasted at domaines indicated Maranges to be a great source of modestly priced but excellent 2017 red burgundy. By comparison, this tasting was a relative disappointment. Many wines to like but few that were outstanding – quite herby wines in the main but with some good energy:

2017 Les Héritiers Saint-Genys, Maranges 1er Le Clos des Loyères
A modest, medium colour. A good nose – full, fresh, a little herby depth but much more this is a nose of good red fruit. Mouth-filling, a little grain to the texture, but there’s a good weight to the flavour and texture together. A little finishing bitters and a really good finishing width of flavour. Approachable but will be better with patience – a lot of tasty wine here. Excellent!

2017 Nathalie Richez, Maranges
More depth of bright colour here. A nose that starts much narrower and less interesting – but aeration brings some fine dark-red berry notes to balance the (still) more overt herb. Broad, mouth-filling, energetic wine, darker berry fruit like the nose – the tannin showing only at the end after quite a silky start. Lots of herb in this wine – it will, of course, get better, but I prefer the first overall.

2017 Chanson Père et Fils, Maranges 1er La Fussière
Deep colour, like the last. A little herb once more, but here the fruit is in the ascendant – redder, almost a strawberry angle. Open, framed with some structure but lots of fresh energy and super depth of flavour. This is really lovely – with a great finish. Excellent wine!

2017 Ponsard-Chevalier, Maranges 1er La Fussière
Medium, medium-plus colour, less ‘red’ than the last 2. A herby width but supported by sweetness of fruit. Good mouth-filling volume, lots of fine, if slightly astringent, tannin, but the fruit is sweet and has depth to its flavour. Bright, wide, slightly herbed flavour in the finish.

2017 Ponsard-Chevalier, Maranges 1er Le Clos des Loyères
Colour as the last. The herb is much more ‘background’ here – almost tending to floral – pretty red fruit with an almost fumé accent. The best nose so far. Supple, great texture, just a few mm of padding, luxurious texture vs the others. Long, slightly more herbed in the finish, but here is some real class.

2017 Ponsard-Chevalier, Maranges 1er Le Clos des Rois
Medium, medium-plus colour. A nice width of quite fine, red-fruit aroma – not so much depth to start, but the herb – like all slowly starts to grow – but I’d describe the wine as perfumed. The flavour has a nice clarity – almost a suggestion of volatile/floral flavour – but super depth to this flavour. Very fine, ripe tannin – no astringency – but almost chewy finishing. Very good!

2017 Roger Belland, Maranges 1er La Fussière
The heaviest bottle so no surprise – the deepest coloured of this series. Vibrant, high-toned, incisive, approaching volatile aromatics. Mouth-filling, fresh, beautifully silky, driving flavour. The fruit profile is a little non-standard but this is still a very tasty and beautifully shaped wine.