Tasted in Savigny with Colleen and Nick Harbour, 20 November 2017.
Maison Harbour
24 Rue Chanson Maldant
21420 Savigny-lès-Beaune
Tel: +33 6 95 59 08 55
http://www.maisonharbour.com/
https://www.facebook.com/maisonharbour
Colleen and Nick on 2017:
“2017 was kind of tricky as there were quite a lot of options, it really depended on whether the grower was serious (about having ‘proper’ yields) or just decided to keep all the extra grapes.”
Colleen and Nick on 2017:
“2016 was very tricky and we were unsure of how it would go as we approached the harvest – it was impossible to get confirmations of whether we would get grapes – and we did lose some wines – Combe au Moines for instance, but that was because it was completely frosted – for the cuvees that we kept, the yields were okay. In 2015 we made 28 barrels, and at one stage it looked like we might only get about 12 in 2016 but we got a late, great, contract of Santenay Blanc so ended up with 18 barrels. To compare we have 40 in 2017!”
The wines…
In 2016 there are equal quantities of white and red produced here. A December bottling for everything which is early but there’s a baby coming!
I sometimes pinch myself with this producer – this is, after-all, just their third vintage – but right from the start the wines were super, yet they still manage to make something a little better each year – in both colours! The house style here dovetails exactly with the vintage – elegance, elegance, elegance – beautiful wines.
A small but perfectly formed, baby, Maison!
2016 Bourgogne Chardonnay
This is from the Mâconnais – so different to 2015. Was racked at the beginning September.
Bright attractive, ripe but beautifully fresh. Supple, a little oak. Round but with a lovely zip behind it, mixed with some oak – almost a tart hint to the acidity but it makes it exciting when combined with the oak notes – and there’s lovely texture. Excellent today, but leave it hanging around!
2016 Santenay 1er Gravières Blanc
Relatively young vines, worked raisonée – ‘A big deal for us to get this, we had to by a new tank!’
Narrower, finer, more depth of aroma – very inviting. Supple, beautiful acidity, long, mouth-watering – long and very delicious wine – such a great purchase.
2016 Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru
The same parcel as last year – two barrels.
More width, a very subtle oak as part of the overall aromatic complexity – definitely from Meursault which is always pre-requisite! Wide and relaxed over the palate, slowly ingraining flavour, accented with salinity, great texture and a proper premier cru finishing complexity – excellent wine…
Les Rouges…
2016 Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice
Here is a modest volume of aroma, but a subtle complexity and a nice purity. The last drops in the glass have a lovely extra berry note. Open, elegant, but with lovely purity and really good definition – the complexity and width really taking off in the middle. A wine that really creeps up on you. Super!
The same side of the road, just a little bit further south. Same producer, vinified in stainless-steel.
More depth of aroma, more perfume and flowers – very attractive. More volume in the mouth, complex, pure, elegant again, more finishing energy and complexity. I love this – the finish is super, it holds a great and concentrated line…
2016 Corton
Only used some stems in the Corton this year. Not allowed to say the climat – it’s in the contract no less! – half whole clusters. ‘Never used that amount before, but the clusters just looked so beautiful’
A modest volume of aroma but with a palpable extra weight – not heavy – you just know that it’s there. In the mouth there is scale and volume – beautiful texture and slowly melting flavour.