Apparently this is the 47th year that the BIVB have assembled their annual ‘cave prestige;’ the process consists of two tasting panels – a smaller one doing the first triage and larger group who provide the final thumbs up.
For this, the 2018 version, they began with 1,138 samples, which they whittled down to the 218 ‘winners’ which they presented at a large tasting today in Beaune. These wines will be used to ‘represent’ Burgundy in tastings around the world in the coming 12 months. The BIVB says that they ‘buy all the wines selected for the Cave de Prestige. In 2018, almost 14,500 bottles were purchased.‘
Côte Chalonnaise
2016 Domaine Belleville, Rully 1er Les Cloux blanc
Hmm, nice, deep, not so wide, faintly reductive. Reminds a little of a Pernand in depth and reductive style – this is delicious, very faintly cushioned by oak, but well done!
2016 Jaeger-Defaix, Rully 1er Mont Palais blanc
Narrower, this nose with riper top notes. More direct acidity, but lots of depth to the texture and faint salinity. Good.
2016 Xavier Moissenet, Bouzeron Les Corcelles
Modest width after the chardonnays, but a fine, agile core of aroma. Nice intensity, good waves of flavour. Long finishing. Excellent.
2016 Château de Chamirey, Mercurey blanc
A good freshness cupped by a faint oak. Good vibrancy of flavour, a little mineral and saline, this is very good, and the finishing flavours are excellent – the oak very discreet in the flavour.
2016 Michel Juillot, Mercurey 1er Clos des Barraults blanc
Hmm, a little more oak, yellow fruit, faint herb. Plenty of complexity. Wide, oaked flavour but with a melting, minerality and salinity too. Super complexity here, wait for the oak to fade, but this has tons of potential.
2016 Didier Charton-Vachet, Montagny 1er Les Jardins d’Ysabeau blanc
Ooh, modest aromatic volume but with a very attractive freshness. Plenty of volume, melting flavour with lots of fresh energy. Again a little melting minerality in the finish – excellent
2016 Louis Max, Mercurey Les Caudroyes
A compact but interesting nose. Ooh, direct, fresh, showing super line, this is excellent. A beauty!
2016 Seguin-Manuel, Montagny 1er Vigne du Soleil
A compact nose but with some ripeness in the depths. Fresh, direct and mineral. Melting fresh, faintly sweet, flavour of good complexity, a wine to savour!
Chablis
2016 Jolly et Fils, Chablis
A saline freshness, if quite a narrow nose – very good. Good volume in the mouth, melting flavour. Long, satisfying villages of fine depth. Yum!
2016 Louis Moreau, Chablis 1er Vaulignot
A faintly sweet, saline width. Super wine of fine flavour, indeed depth of flavour. A growing circle of super flavour that expands and expands. This is really excellent.
2016 Jean Collet, Chablis 1er Vaillons
A twist of the floral to a tighter depth of fruit. Complex, full of energy, full of complexity. A broader wine that the last, less laser-like but excellent.
2016 Jean Claude Courtault, Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
A tighter nose but of decent width. A hint of reduction, very mineral in style, a wine with lots of rigour, but an impressive length. Not so much fun today…
2016 Gueguen, Chablis 1er Vaucoupin
A more open nose, flinty and saline, but not showing much depth today. Direct, mineral, with slowly melting flavour – significantly less rigour than the Courtault, but still full of definition. Long, slowly mouth-watering. Excellent…
2016 Clothilde Davenne, Chablis 1er Fourchaume
A herby nose but still quite attractive. Direct, completely mineral, not too much rigour, melting with accessible, lovely flavour. I don’t think much of the nose today, but the flavour is lovely…
Modest aromatic width but one that implies a finely textured salinity. Energy. Purity and architecture. This is excellent, not unduly heavy, a wine of intent and complexity but also one that can dance!
More aromatic depth, more open though still only modestly so. A melting well of freshness and beautifully fine texture. Great wine…
Côte de Beaune
2016 Jean Chartron, Chassagne-Montrachet Benoittes
After the Chablis the level of oak here is a shock but it’s still sweetly attractive and the nose remains large and fresh. Still a lovely minerality, layered and mineral yet still absolutely delicious. Excellent…
2016 Louis Latour, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Hameau de Blagny
Less overt oak on a wide but not so deep nose. Lovely freshness and mouth-watering minerality – tension! This is the more pure of these two today, and for me even more satisfying.
A deep, complex, spicily oaked nose. Very mineral, melting, beautifully balanced wine. Lots of earthy minerality. Hmm, this could be my new favourite… a warm wave of finishing flavour too. Bravo!
A much tighter nose, but one that slowly begins to flex its muscles in the glass with beautifully pure flashes of fruit and minerals – no overt oak here. Direct, a great energetic line of flavour. Not as long as the last but with more inherent line and purity. This is a great set of wines…
2016 Gabriel et Paul Jouard, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Les Chaumées, Clos de la Truffière
Awarded with the longest name of the day trophy…
Another nose without much power today, but it’s clean and pretty. Lots of mouth-filling flavour here that’s cooled with fine purity and freshness, long, long, long… lovely wine…
A musky depth of aroma. Fresh, energetic, this is really rather good and displaying such a great persistence of weighted, fresh flavour too – brilliant for the money.
2016 Jacques Prieur, Beaune 1er Grèves Blanc
A width of sweetness, sherbet freshness too. Hmm, vibrant, with sweet quince flavour very tasty wine indeed. Yes!
2016 Domaine Chevalier, Corton-Charlemagne
Ooh – maybe the best nose today so far! Decent aromatic volume, pretty, subtle sweetness and an equally subtle but engrossing complexity – I’ve definitely caught this one at the right time! The palate, like the nose, is not the biggest, but its beautifully tactile, mobile and cosseting without ever losing balance. Could it be fresher – oh yes – but I’d happily wallow in this wine!
2016 Francois André, Chorey-lès-Beaune, Tue-Bœuf Blanc
A much more waxy nose here but with sweetness of fruit too. A good and vibrant width and weight of fruit flavour. Tasty…
Round, faintly herby, but no sharp edges. Vibrant wine and with a cushioned intensity too – like the nose there are no hard edges. This is really quite something flr a bourgogne, and long too – bravo!
Frank, interesting, faintly herbed nose. Hmm, depth, sweetness, but a fine supporting structure too. This is so moreish – the nose is not bad, the palate brilliant for the label – bravo!
A good width of aroma, becoming floral too to mix with the ginger spice. Hmm, here is a premier cru depth and intensity of flavour, modestly but persistently complex and long. One of my favourites! Bravo…
2016 Jean Chartron, Puligny-Montrachet
Really quite a modest nose but layered and showing a simply beautiful line of flavour. Lovely wine.
2016 Gabriel et Paul Jouard, Chassagne-Montrachet Les Baudines
A pretty width of freshness comported with a little sweetness too. Intense, wide, vibrant – ooh, there’s a lot of wine here – vibrantly mineral with a great finish too.
Mâconnais
2016 Vigneronnes des Terres Secrets, Macon-Verzé Croix-Jarrier
Pretty top notes of interest. Direct and fresh, slowly melting width, this is excellent for the label!
2016 Marcel Couturier, Pouilly-Loché Vieilles-Vignes
Really a very modest, compact nose. Nice width, relaxing over the palate, becoming rather juicy in the finish. Excellent.
Hmm, mineral and a little vibrant. Hmm (again), this simply melts, beautifully melts over the palate. Gorgeous wine…
2016 Château Vitallis, Pouilly-Fuissé Vieilles-Vignes
A good width of aroma, sweet freshness above. Wide, supple almost as beautifully melting as the last wine. A good, narrow, long finish too. Super.
Lots of herby freshness, but pretty flashes of florals too. Bright, fresh, open – pure! Oh I love this purity. Composed, not ultra-energetic, but still a beautiful thing!
2016 Domaine les Vieux Murs, Pouilly-Fuissé
An accent of salinity to this wine. Supple, energetic, many dimensions, and with a lovely finish. Hmm, this is actually a gorgeous finish. Excellent!
2016 Domaine Fichet, Macon-Igé Château London
A softer nose but sweet and complex with a little herb. Good depth and a growing intensity of very tasty flavour. Yum!
2016 Château des Bois, Mâcon-Milly Lamartine
A fresher nose with a little more herb poking through. A depth of flavour here, soft and comforting, yum!
2016 Cave des grands crus Vinzelles, Pouilly-Vinzelles
Hmm a width that brings a little freshness and depth, but giving not much away. Plenty of volume, a sweet minerality, modestly long but a very tasty, round, wine.
2016 Domaine Jobeline, Mâcon-Verzé En Previsey
A sweeter, riper core than many, approaching quince aroma. Lots of effervescent freshness, quince on the palate too. Very pretty and something a little different!
2016 Domaine de la Chapelle, Pouilly-Fuissé, aux Bouthières
Classic young Pouilly-Fuissé with a leading edge of sweet oak, followed by a little more dimension of fruit. Hmm, a mineral, not quite hard, but rigorous structure with wider flavour that shows no overt oak. Long and satisfying. Super wine…
2016 Château de Chaintré, Pouilly-Fuissé
Here’s a pretty width of freshness. Lush, but with incisive freshness, lovely on the palate. This is excellent.
2016 Catherine et Didier Tripoz, Bourgogne Chardonnay Vieilles-Vignes
A relatively tight nose. But still with a good depth of aroma. Hmm, despite the modest nose, here is a fine and direct flavour, a hint of quince and salinity to finish too – reminiscent of their bubbles. Very attractive.
2016 Domaine Jobeline, Mâcon-Verzé Clos des Chanaux
Not a wide nose but with good line and drive. Supple, lovely energy. A little salted and faint quince fruited. Tasty…
2016 Manciat-Poncet, Mâcon-Charnay-les-Mâcon
A nose with a good freshness, faintly saline. Round, many dimensions, sweetly mouth-watering. Excellent!
Hmm, a nice seashore nose to this wine – iodine and salt. Round, lots of energy, slowly lingering. A beauty…
2016 Evelyne et Dominique Mergey, Mâcon-Fuissé Les Grands Bruyères
A little green in the width. A bright and quite intense flavour, no hard edges and this is such an alive wine – this is a wine to brighten your palate. Super!
2016 Domaine Michel, Viré-Clessé
Lots of aromatic salinity. Supple, with a suggestion of softness to the blend of energy and ripe fruit. Tasty…