Tasted in Meursault with Michel & Claire Bardet, 29 October 2020.
Domaine Albert Grivault
7 Place du Murger
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 21 23 12
More reports for Domaine Albert Grivault.
Michel on 2020:
“Actually, it was a good harvest – in white. We think the wines will be balanced and floral based on what we tasted from the must. Our 2020s fermented very quickly, much easier than the 19s! The main question mark is more a commercial one – how will the next months go…(?) If our harvest was anything to go by, who knows(?), it was very French; you were allowed to request that all your pickers took a covid-test before they joined your harvesting team, but you were not allowed to ask them the result of the test!!!”
Michel on 2019:
“2019 volumes were a little down, maybe 20%. It’s a very sunny wine the Clos – 14.5° – but lower volumes in the villages, perhaps due to a little frost, certainly due to poor weather at the time of flowering. We started our harvest on 26 August.”
The wines…
A mixture of very good and excellent wines this year. I have a question-mark over the ‘Clos’ this year, one that, probably, only time will answer; it’s certainly excellent, but can it be great?
The wines were all bottled at the end of August this year:
2019 Bourgogne Clos des Murgers
The vines in the domaine’s ‘garden.’
Depth of aroma, a certain richness but such an invitation too. Mouth-filling. Wide, balanced, mouth-watering – long. Completely delicious wine – a hint more energy and I’d be head over heels in love…
2019 Meursault
Also in the domaine’s ‘garden’ – only the age of the vines is different – 48-year-old vines here vs 19 for the Bourgogne.
Here’s a little more airy and floral impression to the nose. There is the energy that I would have liked in the last! Wider finishing, more saline & mineral too, longer finishing. That’s a really super villages.
2019 Meursault 1er Perrières
This nose is a little more vertical, slightly floral above, white flowers, not quite acacia – maybe tilleuil. Wide, extra saline, beautiful energy – modestly mouth-watering and slightly cushioned. Truly beautiful finishing – chiselled, floral – gorgeous wine with that finty finishing tannin on the tongue. Simply excellent wine.
2019 Meursault 1er Clos des Perrières
14.5° vs the 14° of the last wine. This from 30-year-old vines vs 50 of the last – always harvested before the last wine despite only 50 metres apart.
Here is a floral nose – very acacia. Super silky, wide, mineral, mouth-watering – perhaps approaching the limit of showing its alcohol in the middle but it’s never overt – what is overt is the width of mineral flavour, growing with a fine intensity in the finishing flavours – the very long finishing flavours. Today I’d take the first Perrières, but in another 5-10 years I’m less sure. I am sure that you should keep this a little longer in the cellar…
Le Red:
2019 Pommard 1er Clos Blanc
‘Clos blanc works really well in hot years, better than Epenots as there’s more soil’ says Michel. This is normally scheduled for a March bottling but Michel is not currently sure, he may do before the end of the year. All looks to be in place.
This nose is in a really good place, floral and attractive. Hmm, direct, sleek wine over the palate; darker fruit, growing wider, a super texture. That’s lovely.