Tasted in Meursault with Stéphane Follin-Arbelet, 01 December 2016.
Domaine de Château du Meursault
Rue du Moulin Foulot
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 26 22 75
www.chateau-meursault.com
Although the actual red:white production here is roughly 1:1, I’d planned to include this producer, if only for their name, in last month’s white report, but it wasn’t possible to visit in time, so here they are…
Stéphane on 2016:
“Ah, without the catastrophe of the frost 2016 would have been a great vintage. But we didn’t have a problem getting good maturity and our grapes tasted good – so we are happy!”
Stéphane on 2015:
“I can say that for the first time in 2015 we were ready with all the right ages of barrels and the team in place to do everything as we wished.
“2015 in white was a real challenge – mainly to keep the freshness – so we harvested all our best whites in the mornings, aiming to avoid ‘heavy.’ They are, of-course, riper than in 2014, but when harvested at a good time we could keep the acidity. They don’t always have the vibration of the 2014s, but sometimes…”
The wines…
All but bourgogne is still in barrel – the bourgogne is now assembled in tank. Simply a great and consistent set of reds. There is some extraction here, but their balance is top. I would still counsel patience, but the Teurons and Grèves I would drink today – without an ounce of shame!
The whites are not always the most dynamic of wines for drinking young, but they are excellent, and for well-kept bottles in 15 years, you wont care…
From near Aloxe Boutières and another vine from Pommard – 5.6 hectares worth.
Hmm, round, large scaled, some tannin but really tons of material. Tons of fine finishing flavour too. Another excellent bourgogne for your list in 2015!
2015 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Peuillets
Three parcels covering 1.9 hectares. The first vines harvested each year.
A tight nose but with a very fine depth of fruit – and of clarity too. Supple, weighted, long tasty fruit. Faint spice – I always enjoy this climat. Lovely finishing. Super wine!
2015 Beaune 1er Cent Vignes
Two hectares of mainly mid-slope vines.
Deep but tight. Ooh, this feels super on the palate, with fine dark red fruit and plenty of fruit in the finish too.
2015 Beaune 1er Les Fèves
Just as the slope increases at the top of the domaine’s Cent Vignes, this is Fevres – 0.61 hectares of 40 year-old vines. This is the only other producer of Fevres that I know after Chanson.
A little spice and a more open red fruit. More engaging texture if even a hint more of tannin. Really an extra freshness to the red fruit. And a faint mineral impression to the diminishing flavour. This will be super!
The first time separated by the team, more than 0.7 ha – an old quarry whose biggest problem is the rabbits! Very warm here so ripens very quickly.
Deep, silky dark red fruit – beautiful. Supple, layered, very nice energy, some salinity. Ooh this is really easy to appreciate, very tasty wine – simply delicious!
Two parcels at the bottom and two more mid slope like Enfant Jesus. For the first time since Stéphane arrived it was possible to separate out this parcel. Here we have a selection of 1 ha – 3 journaux (0.33 ha is a journal). About 60 yo vines with their own special wooden tank for the fermentation.
A nose that’s not shouting yet it’s still offering very pretty fruit and floral references. Ohh, there is certain power here but it is so elegantly textured and packaged – super silky wine. Really full and beautiful in the mid-palate. Long, long elegant finish. Just a simply super elegant yet concentrated wine. Beautiful.
2015 Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
2.6 ha on the upper part of the hill with white soil.
Tight top notes but a deep well of bass notes. Wider, super intense flavour – plenty of tannin but really very well textured. A florality to the mid-palate fruit. Long leaching flavour from the finishing stricture. A certain suave character here – and, importantly, delicious again.
From 5 parcels that amount to an impressive 3.6 hectares – but delivered a mere 12hl/ha.
Ooh, fresh exciting nose, mineral and floral to add to the deeper fruit. Weight but freshness. Classic 2015 line of flavour, underpinned with tannin but melting complexity. Excellent.
2015 Corton
0.6 ha from Rognets and Vergennes – above Ladoix an old quarry, hot, not much soil. Planted in 1965.
Not a massive nose but a nose of very elegant and fine notes. Big in the mouth – fine volume. Super intensity of fine fresh almost black fruit. Slowly lingering. The main fireworks are at the front-end, but the subtle finish is superbly long. Yum!
Les Blancs…
2015 Bourgogne Clos du Château
Currently assembled – 8 hectares from in front of the château, split into two for elevage; north and south. Vinified in barrel, exactly the same as the Meursault villages. Probably to be bottles directly after the christmas holiday.
Big, open, it smells like a good Meursault with a little oak backing. Ooh, this has weight, a certain fat, but concentration and decent enough freshness. Long finishing, with intense flavour in the finish. Luxurious wine – not dynamic but very tasty.
2015 Meursault Clos des Grands Charrons Monopole
More than 1 hectare. ‘The same altitude as Perrières.’
A width of slightly herbed, spiced notes. Brighter, a little more intense, more lithe, less fat. A beautiful point of finishing flavour – ohh that’s lovely. Super! Long too of course…
2015 Bourgogne Terroir d’Exception
A bourgogne after a great Meursault villages? And one that costs over €30? There’s a plot in Meursault Perrières that was a quarry hole and later refilled. They had the right to plant but INAO said only with a Bourgogne label. The plot sits directly behind the wall of the Clos des Perrières. It was planted in 1977, delivering about 3,000 bottles.
Deeper, a little more mineral, a suggestion of reduction too. Full, mouth-filling and mouth-watering. Wide and beautifully Meursault in the mid-palate. Very tasty and complex wine – yum! Clearly much higher quality than ‘Bourgogne’ though the price reflects that.
2015 Meursault 1er Charmes
Dessous – lower slopes. They made their first test, separating the Charmes in 12 and then went for it with 13 for the first time.
A wider nose, a hint more saline than the rest – subtle touches of yellow citrus. Bright, cushioned citrus, a certain modest fat to the texture, really silky fruit impression into the mid-palate – excellent!
2015 Meursault 1er Perrières
2 parcels that touch but 2-3 days difference in maturity; the old vines are the sooner. The two are always vinified separately, no batonnage today which is quite different to previous vintages.
Directly, the nose is fresh with a nice minerality that’s suffused with yellow citrus. Textured but powerful without fat. Long, long, long – slow burning length of flavour. Excellent.
From the top of the vineyard near Perrières. 100 metres separate this and the last Charmes.
Ooh that’s gorgeous! – I would directly have guessed Perrières – we have a fabulous, mineral, faintly saline nose. Big, fresh, super complex and also powerful wine. Super mouth-watering flavour too. Grand Vin! Bravo!
2015 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Champs Canet
Old vines here. From the Meursault side of Puligny.
A narrower but very interesting nose with good freshness. Bright, pretty, very fine and very different to the last. Silky finishing. Super long. Excellent again but a very different beast.
Bought half a hectare in 2013 so here is the second vintage. Lots of work in the vines to replace fatigued vines et-cetera and to put in new posts and a little organic fertiliser the ‘re-dynamise.’
A deep nose, vibrant like a 2014. Fresh, good energy, here is quite a dynamic wine – very different despite sitting on the border with Perrières. Really delicious finishing flavour. Bravo!
Plain east facing, early ripening with lots of stones. An old quarry delivering 4 barrels worth – usually – 3 in 2015. From young vines, just 9 years old.
A suggestion of lime fruit at the top of this reasonably fresh nose. Supple, layered, with great energy and a super growing intensity. Really grand cru waves of finishing flavour. What can I say? But bravo!