Tasted in Premeaux with Maxime Rion, 03 November, 2015.
Domaine Michèle et Patrice Rion
1 Rue Maladière
21700, Premeaux
Tel: +33 3 80 62 32 63
www.patricerion.com
Maxime on 2014:
“I’m very happy with 2014 – though even more with 2015, but that’s for another day. The 2014s are tasty wines, the smaller of which will probably be bottled in December, the 1ers next year. The wines are fresh and tasty with correct yields of about 35-40 hl/ha. We started our harvest on the 12th September. We have used just a little less new wood to ‘respect the vintage’ – about 30% for our villages, and more like 40-45% for the 1er Crus.”
The wines…
The ‘small appellation’ wines (Bourgognes) were recently racked for bottling – the rest wait in their barrels. None of the barrels have been racked. There’s often plenty of oak shown to the wines here, but I’ve never given a moment’s thought to it from bottled wines at home, and today it’s not obvious from barrel. A very strong set of wines – they showed really well today…
2014 Bourgogne Bons Batons
A pretty and perfumed wine. A little texture from the tannin and a slowly growing in intensity of eventually bright finishing fruit. Tasted very well despite the racking…
A much more open aromatic, just suggesting flowers. More intense, full of energy – really holds well – super wine. On today’s showing, really a higher level of quality than the Bons Batons this year.
Principally from ‘Plateau’ near the Gouges winery, plus a small domaine parcel plus others bought in the same sector.
Deeper aromas, but also with a floral element. More concentrated, bright and intense – really super fruit. Lots of flavour width – this is lovely – ending with a little Nuits tannin.
2014 Chambolle-Musigny
A brighter dark red berry. Higher toned in the mouth too – whole cluster perfume? No, none were used in 2014 – it’s just perfume then! A little more tannin texture and flavour that really only takes its coat off in the finish – but here it is excellent!
2014 Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras
This needs swirling to release some reduction, but I don’t manage it in the time available. Much finer texture than the last wine, together with bright red berry fruit and a hint of barrel vanilla below. Direct but concentrated flavour. Also excellent.
2014 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Charmes
“It’s just the road that separates this Charmes from Amoureuses”
A little tight but really perfumed. Fresh, direct, with a width that grows and grows – a very mineral Charmes that leaves a fine coating of tannin on your gums – impressive and individual.
Beautiful, transparent, delicate, crystal – also wow! Concentrated, weight of flavour, silky texture, still a little mineral. Great wine that lasts very well on the tongue.
2014 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Gruenchers
Not unlike the Fuées, with a little more weight of red fruit. The palate is more supple, less direct, maybe less precise but perhaps a little more tasty – certainly wider in the finish. Super…
A modest nose but of very fine, higher toned perfume. Just a suggestion of gas, but great texture slowly exerts itself. Here is a better definition than the Gruenchers, and finally, some flavour action, the most subtly excellent finish so far. Yum!
2014 Bonnes-Mares
Big, and spicy from the new barrel. Fills the mouth, oak texture and a little of that flavour too, but there is wine here too, wide, wide, wide in the finish – really a weight of impressive finishing flavour. Less far on the elevage road than others here, but great material…
2014 Vougeot 1er Les Cras
Maxime notes that they do all the vineyard work here, then buy the grapes. ‘Great soil here, never heavy with plenty of small stones.’
A relatively tight nose, but pretty. Direct, fresh, lots of tasty energy, a growth of tannin and then an excellent weight of finishing flavour. The silky tannin lightly coats the gums. Fine…
A very open and pretty red fruit nose. A hint of gas and some reductive flavour, but a growing width of complexity, wrapped in soft tannin – a bigger, more demonstrative wine. Super.
2014 Nuits St.Georges 1er Clos St.Marc
New oak spice, but behind is fresh, medium red fruit. Really a little too much gas, but the flavour complexity is evident. A wide panorama of flavour with a little more tannin on the gums. Fading very slowly. Harder to judge than Argillières today, but all seems in place.
Two Blancs…
2014 Bourgogne Blanc
The only wine bottled, here with screw-cap, which has been working well for them since 2004.
A bright, nose with a more honied depth. Round, some nice plush texture but with fine balancing acidity – ripe pineapple with good intensity. Pleasurable…
2014 Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Terres Blanches
As always, contains 10% pinot blanc (from one parcel) which is vinified separately.
A hint floral but with a modest agrume note below. Some gas hides a little the richness, but here is eventually a very nice texture. Fresh width and a very, very tasty wine – a little more exotic fruited than most whites south of Beaune, but I could really enjoy this!