Tasted in Beaune with Caroline Parent-Gros, 06 November, 2015.
Domaine AF Gros
16 Rue Pierre Joigneaux
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 24 61 26
www.af-gros.com
Caroline on 2015:
“2015 is a very nice vintage – we are happy despite small yields in the Côte de Beaune. The grapes had nice degrees and maturity – it reminds a little of 2005. I think a great vintage. We started on the 5th of September and our last grapes were picked in the Hautes Côtes on the 25th.”
Caroline on 2014:
“2014 is a very classic burgundian vintage with a better balance than 2013, the wines in a similar direction to 2012. After 12 months we will make a racking, then put the wines back into older barrels, planning to start to bottle in December and January followed by the more important wines in February/March. So we are just a little faster than for that vintage.”
The wines…
They’ve replanted a part of Richebourg, and now the are doing Vosne Maizières too. Apart from the first wine, all the rest are in barrel.
The oak is always an ever-present at this address, but the wines I’ve cellared shed it, if only slowly. Behind, there are some great wines in 2014.
2014 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits
The one wine that’s assembled.
An attractive, slightly smoky nose. Supple, indeed quite silky, wide with a more mineral finish but this is very attractive already.
30% new oak.
Nice depth of colour. Wide, modestly spicy, more high-toned. More structured in shape, more attack, more intensity – this more, more, more and is very lovely. Lovely spicy finish this tastes great.
2014 Vosne-Romanée Clos de la Fontaine
A lovely nose here, more open, oaky dark notes but no loss of attraction. A little more structured, a little darker, just a hint of reduction, a very nice savoury note in the middle from the oak and sweetly lingering.
2014 Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas
Plenty of triage here and for the Richebourg due to suzukii – so about 30% less.
A wide, silky not so overt spice, or oak. An extra intensity, but more cushioned intensity too, lovely mid-palate width and growing flavour complexity. Smoky oak again but that will pass. Very tasty.
Bought as grapes. No new oak.
Here is a very lovely direct aroma, higher toned approaching black fruit, with a really attractive and inviting floral dimension. A direct, slightly mineral, beautifully mouth-watering flavour. This is super today!
2014 François Parent, Gevrey-Chambertin
Bought grapes, again no new oak.
Lots of colour. Big perfumed nose – yum! Sweeter, just a little wider, again with cool energy and a growing reserve of flavour that’s oak inflected but very tasty all the same.
2014 Chambolle-Musigny
A blend of fruit from 5 different parcels.
Much higher toned, there are flowers here over the barrel notes. Lithe, mouth-watering, indeed melting flavours. Always the warm barrel note behind, which on one hand is a shame, but on the other it’s quite tasty.
Lost 75%. Some of these rows and others of the domaine had nets for testing against hail – of course there was no hail and they were complicated to set up, but there were no differences in maturity or the humidity, so from that perspective it was a success.
A deep nose. Round and slightly padded in the mouth, really a beautiful weight of ever-changing flavour – the oak is still here but this is super-attractive, indeed excellent.
2014 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Clos des Guettes
More marked by the barrel. More direct, a hint more overt structure, hard to follow the Beaune but here the addition is the fresh fruit finish, indeed an exquisite finish. Today I’d still take the Beaune in preference.
‘Decimated in 14.’
There is oak here, a little sweeter and less dark oak but, still, it can’t hide a very impressive aromatic. Just a little padding to the leading edge of flavour, but here is a weight of melting complexity. The tannin is not overly present and has hardly any grain. Fruit and oak in the finish but nicely blended. This will be very fine, but I think a 10 years wait if you want the purity of the wine without barrel. Still excellent!
2014 François Parent, Clos de Vougeot
100% new oak.
Deeply coloured. Silky, a deeply floral perfume. A faint oaky reduction too. Lithe, powerful wine but with strength and sinew rather than mass. Bright, beautiful finishing flavour – always underpinned with oak but tasty all the same, and very long too! Super!
At 90 years, the oldest vines of the domaine.
Also lots of colour. Beautifully floral – a simply beautiful aroma. Wide, with a little texture from the tannin, but also floral inflections in the mouth too. Excellent finish – bravo!
Here is quite a widest and still large-scaled nose, there’s plenty of oak in here, in a similar vernacular to the Beaune, i.e. adding to and widening the aromatic profile. Really wide flavour impression and with incredible intensity too – here is a massive presence – this time with massive oak to match, and here the flavour rather than texture. You will have to wait, of-course, but it will be a wow. Really fine persistence. Potentially great wine.