Tasted in Meursault with Paul Delorme, 18 October, 2021.
Domaine Roulot
1 Rue Charles Giraud
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 21 21 65
www.domaineroulot.fr
More reports with Domaine Roulot.
Paul on 2021:
“The maladies started with oïdium and then came the mildew – fortunately, despite the wet, for a long time it was a little too cold for the maladies to really develop and there was always 1-3 days where we could get into the vines to treat. This worked out well for the mildew but not really the oïdium as from the end of June until mid-July we couldn’t get into the vines due to rain – so the oïdum took a stronger hold.”
Paul on 2020:
“2020 was the earliest harvest ever here 20-29 August only the aligoté came later – in September. A wet winter. We had see some minus temperatures in April but were fortunate to avoid frost-related losses. The yield was 30-35 hl/ha on the hillside, just a little more from the vines in the plain. 2017 & 2019 are a little more solar – Jean-Marc loves 20 as it is more pure and direct.“
The wines…
Some vintages my timing is perfect and everything here just sings – in other vintages, the wines are more complicated. This year was a mix, but on average, they were grand vins! Bravo!
All the wines were racked just before the harvest in September – their future bottling is slated from January to April 2022:
All in the commune of Meursault – 2 plots – but 5 hectares worth, some sold in bulk but 20k bottles are produced.
Really a perfumed and direct nose – in fact, so perfumed I wish I’d checked the smell of the glass before the wine was poured! Concentrated, nicely, modestly, structural. Fine, aromatic, slowly fading in a mouth-watering style. Clearly a great Bourgogne…
2020 Meursault
Mostly from Clos de la Baronne but also Crotots and a little Gruyaches plus new from Sous la Velle
Also very aromatic – some green-skinned fruit on this nose. Fuller, more overtly concentrated – fat almost – yet there is fine and mouth-watering energy too. Extra finishing extract – the finish is currently the best part but I think this will come together as one with more elevage.
2020 Meursault Les Vireuls
Planted by Jean-Marc’s father in 1968. At the top of the hill on the Auxey-Duresses side with a NE exposure – so a little on the colder side. Not much topsoil.
Crystalline, a pure impression but also a tighter expression – it needs to open more. Less fat, rather more of an energetic width vs the previous. Extra rippling clarity of finishing flavour here – I find a clear step-up today vs the last though as the former comes together, maybe the gap will be smaller. This is, however, simply excellent.
2020 Meursault Meix Chaveaux
Bottom of the hill this time.
A more stony nose, faintly herbed – not a large aromatic but with fine clarity and obvious invitation. Ooh – seering, direct, faintly framed with a tannin. A little saline accent to this too. Overall I think of this as a little better than the last though the finish of the Vireuils was slightly my favourite. Excellent again.
In the middle of the hill and almost between the previous two.
Not a big nose again but what a beautiful depth and clarity. The most vibrant, the most mouth-watering – juicy wine – seamless – faintly complex – ooh – currently a little discreet yet the most complete wine of these – bravo!
“Tillets – there is none, it was pulled out after 2015 harvest but is now replanted.”
It was Jean-Marc’s father who wrote ‘A Mon Plaisir…’ East-facing with the same altitude as the Luchets
Also a discreet nose but this is the first with that slightly reductive vibration of aroma. More mouth-filling, full of freshness, again a faint framing of tannin and again a complete wine – I have a sneaky extra preference for the previous wine for its juicier style – but that’s a question of style preference not quality – also a great villages!
There is a higher and lower section but the higher was replanted, so for a few vintages the grapes came only from the dessous section. 2020 is the first harvest that includes the younger vines too.
Wide, vibrant, with mineral and citrus clarity too – a great start. Bubbling, energetic but not too much, melting, almost juicily over the palate – not too much rigour. A seriously great Poruzots!
‘Charmes is earth, Genevrières is the air, Perrières is the fire,’ suggests Jean-Marc. Old vines that were planted in the 1940s. Vines in the bottom, north.
Extra depth and width to this aroma – highly attractive. A wine that melts over the palate, there’s some extra concentration to the wine but not overtly extra weight. I love this and it’s so deliciously complex finishing too. My new favourite!
2020 Meursault 1er Clos de Bouchères
This 1.3-hectare clos is a monopole of the domaine – 2011 was the first vintage, before that they had ‘simply’ Bouchères. Today, one-third of the vines are 25-30-years-old, the rest are over 45. The first vineyard to be harvested yet always with the highest degrees – 13.5° in 2020.
A wide and interesting nose – perhaps a little more airy with yellow-citrus complexity. Here a prickle of gas – a touch of tannin too. The finish like the rest of the wine just a little discrete – fine but I’d like to see a little more after the great last wines.
2020 Meursault 1er Les Perrières
Vines from the 1950s.
Here’s a narrow top to the aroma, below is much more width and an overt, mineral, clarity of character. Cooler fruit/mineral/citrus hybrid, layers that are held close to the core but they are there. A slightly chalky impression to the middle and finishing flavours. Another wine that’s a little guarded but the quality is there for all to see.
2020 Corton-Charlemagne
Three plots from purchases – Hautes Mutottes, Languettes and Le Charlemagne. 9 barrels on 2020 but only 2 in 2021… The prices have doubled here in only 2-3 years
Ooh – that’s a super nose – a mineral width but spicy-accented as opposed to the often clarity of the Meursaults. Fuller, almost burly but with great, slightly saline complexity. That’s a super wine.