Tasted in Beaune with Véronique Drouhin, 12 December 2022.
Maison Joseph Drouhin
7 Rue d’Enfer
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 24 68 88
www.drouhin.com
More reports with Maison Joseph Drouhin
Véronique on 2022:
“Formidable! And it’s good too, maybe like 1959 – generous but good. Only the prices give pause for thought!”
Véronique on 2021:
“All suffered – every region and yes, of course, worse in white than red – and worse in terms of volume than even 2016. It’s this consistency by region that makes it hard to compare – we have vintages like 2012 that are hailed but only in the Côte de Beaume for instance – but yes it’s a tiny vintage for us. The lectures in terroir, the sense of place, is very strong in this vintage. We liked to play a little with whole clusters in this vintage too.”
The wines…
As noted in one of my tasting notes – ‘This is a vintage that plays to the strengths of this domaine’ – clarity, purity and perfume – proper structure with nothing overdone. Two great entry wines, Gevreys to die for and classy chiselled whites – a full house! Bravo!
All still with natural cork – ‘we are dinosaurs here,’ laughs Véronique – ‘but all the half bottles of whites are bottled with DIAM and certain importers request in screw-cap – and so that’s honoured for them.’ Only one of the Macons has been bottled at this stage:
2021 Rully
Unfortunately also very badly affected by frost in this area. 500-litre barrels for this.
Good colour. Vibrant but actually very good depth and concentration of fruit. Supple, silky – delicious wine.
An extra precision here – that’s really attractive. Energy – cool fruit, fluid in style – growing broader and intense, lots of pure cherries. Beautiful wine at this price-point!
2021 Volnay
Again that’s a lovely freshness – extra perfume again – stylish, narrow but fine-focused. Direct, more intense, a little creamy accent to this fruit too. Very long – a wine for keeping some time to make more generous – but I’m mightily impressed by this.
Beautifully perfumed – a layer of florals over a more structured red fruit. Larger scale in the mouth – silky again – a little tannin frames these flavours. Fine berry fruit here – cut from stone – or maybe ice as the clarity is so impressive. Potentially a great Beaune!
A similar breadth of aroma but the volume is more – fine but different florals. Another wine that’s more fluid and energetic – a little like the Chorey. Silky with an impressive weight of finishing flavour – probably a slightly better wine than the Cras but the difference is more of style than substance!
3 village parcels and 3 1ers assembled – including Damodes and Murgers.
Also a top note that’s fine and floral – a little more smoky depth to this nose. Extra depth of flavour too, beautifully fluid and mouth-watering. I hate to say this, but I find this a step up from both Beaunes – what a great ‘villages’ – bravo!
2021 Vosne-Romanée
Some Chaumes 1er included in this.
Extra depth of aroma – more wild – but narrower and more direct than the Nuits today. More generous, again silky and mobile – the finish like the last – drops of cherry flavour just leaving the cherry stones behind. Lovely!
Yes – great perfume – fabulous. Incisive, fluid, broad, cool fruit. Long, creamy finishing bravo!
2021 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
6 different 1ers here.
A smaller nose but a very pretty one. Another wine of fluidity and texture that melts over the palate so endearingly. This is a vintage that plays to the strengths of this domaine – here a sparkly finish with lots of pretty complexity.
Quieter top notes, broader – a deeper perfume but still perfume. Hmm – what a lovely creamy finish here – broad and so long-lasting – the first impression is round, dark red fruit but with freshness, great texture – some structure – totally different to the last but a great wine without a doubt.
Simmering fresh, red fruit. Hmm – simply gorgeous, seamless wine – wonderfully textured – growing with a volume of perfume in the mouth – not the finishing density of the Amoureuses – but this wine has that in places that the Amoureuses doesn’t. Beautiful!
A blend of estate and purchased grapes.
A darker depth of aroma – more spiced and wild. Hmm – the character of the other Gevreys here – Clos Prieur and Griotte with this beautifully fluid style – am I back tasting 2019s? So broad and fine, and impressively impressive!
Les whites:
Only the Mâcon in bottle for now:
That’s a very forward and very attractive nose – such an invitation. Super – broad, mineral, incisive – you drink glass after glass. What’s not to love? – for its level (like the Chorey) – great wine!
A small AOC of 50 ha. Of course, the less well-known than neighbour Pouilly Fuissé. From Chateau Vinzelles – but not allowed to write on the label as they have the rights to that – and they own 17ha, Drouhin controlling 12 just now. One-third in 500 l barrels, none new, the rest in stainless-steel
Also very perfumed. Less forward, more classically mineral chalky. Yes – chalky, a wine of overt clarity – hmm almost a little strict – and you know I like strict. Bravo – the first vintage that I’ve really loved this cuvée!
A nose of direction and fresh energy. Extra width, extra intensity. So gorgeously mouth-watering with beautiful intensity. Bravo – the best yet – no surprise!
2021 St.Romain
Drouhin are buying a domaine in St.Romain with a bit of Auxey and Meursault thrown in but principally these 13 hectares are red and white St.Romain.
Good breadth of citrus and almost a little spice too. More volume – more mouth-filling – also with a growing citrus intensity. Vibrating beautifully in this finish – such personality – a simply excellent wine.
Hmm, that’s a really perfumed Puligny – energy and complexity here – a great invitation. Seamless texture – direct, silken but intense and nervous – great villages! The barrel is present but just a faint echo… Sparkling with finishing complexity.
2021 Meursault 1er Perrières
A core that’s deep and concentrated, slightly creamy – but still surrounded with freshness and floral energy. Hmm – another wine where the mineral silk is king – that’s a wine of sweeping flavours and accessibility too – like the nose some barrel cream in these finishing flavours – wait 3-4 years and it’s probably gone.
2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Morgeot
A width of floral aroma – different flowers. Extra intensity – certainly a strictness to the acidity vs the others – but with concentration and a fine complexity of citrus. Small but persistent waves of fine citrus finishing flavour – I love!
1921 purchased, 1928 the first white vintage.
A chalky-floral hybrid – more subtly accented with barrel-cream. Hmm – a wine that absolutely doesn’t suffer from following the previous two ‘names’ – intense, melting with minerality – silky wine of intensity. Maybe a less focused finishing flavour vs the previous illustrious names – but only ‘maybe.’ Great Beaune!
From Les Languettes – older vines. One of the first Drouhin vineyards to be converted to biodynamics in the mid-1990s. Separately there is also a Maison Corton-Charlemagne.
Broad – a nose with some density and a little more barrel but also a more beautiful floral perfume – that’s so good! Again a certain strict style – a structure – a chiselled style – but this is great: Intense, melting, mineral – so wide yet still so persistent – a great wine!