Bouchard Père et Fils – 2016

22.12.2017billn

Tasted in Beaune with Frédéric Weber, December 05 2017.

Bouchard Père et Fils
15 Rue du Château
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 24 80 24
www.bouchard-pereetfils.com

Fred on 2017:
I’m very happy with 2017. A good vintage from a season that was favourable and uncomplicated – virtually all the facets proved easy – we made a good yield and whilst the quality is hard to say at this stage, the whites are aromatic and fresh with a good definition. Reds are much harder to say with big differences in yields and harvest timing but I’ve some confidence. It’s not a great concentration but there is elegance – the malos are just starting so we will see. I gives me great pleasure to see a full cellar after 6 complicated vintages!

Fred on 2016:
2016 started with a wet winter, not too cold, but it was marked by the frost at the end of Spring which meant that overall we lost 50% – so that’s a vintage of similar size to 2003 – but unbelievably complex – some areas that were a catastrophe and others with a normal yield. We have 6 hectares of Meursault villages, but it was decimated. Nuits, Vosne Chambolle were all complicated, Gevrey was fine. The month of June was really hard from the perspective of mildew. But afterwards it was warm with almost a heat wave in August – it was generally dry at this time. It was really hard to decide when to harvest – many parameters were turned on their head – in the end 21 September – 06 October for harvesting. It took so long because the small yield in the frosted vines matured very quickly so we were very early compared to non-frosted places. Whites often came into the winery between 13° and 14° in 2016 – it was a very good maturity…

“It was necessary to choose the best tank for fermenting as some cuvées were small. This vintage I used less whole-clusters, choosing to do more of an infusion, still with the classic cool maceration but the extraction was really a function of the style of the grapes as they came in. Red malos were quite fast here yet the whites were slow. I think it’s a little like 2010 in how it shows the differences of the terroir – it’s not 2010 as the maturities were different, but it’s croquant and fine…

I noted that Bouchard have new labels this year – “It’s every 10 years,” jokes Fred. “Styled a little more to aid discovery, before it was the same label for all the levels and some people struggled to appreciate the difference in the hierarchy – Pouilly-Fuissé was exactly the same as Montrachet with more than 20x price difference!

The wines…

For the second vintage in a row, BP&F have simply knocked it out of the park – so many fabulous wines – occasionally I think I’ve never tasted better here!

 

2016 Château Poncié, Fleurie
“I think the best vintage since we took over the Château” – Fred – 50% destemmed, bottled 2 weeks ago.
A relatively modest nose – but with a good, faintly herbed depth. Supple, layered, a richness of both flavour and texture. Really this is very attractive and a much finer wine than those I’ve tasted in Fleurie in the last two years. An interesting slightly bitter chocolate finish. Yum!

2016 Monthelie
From 6 (owned) hectares: from Meix de Mypont (south), and 1 ha below Les Duresses where there’s more clay. A very small harvest, about 50%.
A more floral nose, limited width but good aromatic depth. Lovely volume in the mouth, fresh, nice energy and a modest tannin in the finish. Very tasty wine, just a hint of richness in the finish. Yum! Fresh and pretty last notes.

2016 Pommard
5 ha from the domaine plus some purchases.
A tighter but bright pinot nose. Fresh, direct, super texture, very slowly adding some tannic drag – but no grain. Wide and fresh – delicious finishing.

2016 Chambolle-Musigny
Not too bad in the context of the vintage in Chambolle – only lost 40%!
Hmm, now that’s a delicate and pretty nose. Hmm – wow – lovely in the mouth open and floral with delicious fruit – but not just facile fruit – here is freshness and a good supporting structure and long. Simply excellent!

2015 Gevrey-Chambertin
Not proprietors but exploit the vines – about a dozen hectares – virtually untouched by frost. A later harvest, almost into October with some whole-clusters.
A little freshness and spice. Fresh, the structure of the Chambolle, but the fruit is something that grows from very little to, bit by bit, covering the structure and softening the wine – there’s lots here – it’s a little to wait for so drink the Chambolle first but here’s a really lovely wine – very lovely texture and again a great finishing flavour.

Now all barrel samples:

2016 Beaune 1er Beaune du Chateau
From 26 hectares only 12 hl/ha!
A red fruit and floral background to the spice of the last wine – really attractive. Supple, good volume, really a concentration here – wow! A very fine grain of tannin, enough energy. Perhaps the greatest of the this cuvee I’ve tasted. Bravo! A massive overachiever!

2016 Beaune 1er Clos de la Mousse
This is a 3.36 hectare monopole next to Les Avaux. It’s a deep clay soil that’s rich in lime so needs 5 or 6 days more time to mature compared to Grèves – but it never suffers from drought as there are some springs – still 50% losses.
A little extra fineness of aroma, the spice of many wines here but on a much more subtle level. More direct, more fresh, open, lots of volume. More overt pinot style than the last. Structure to finish but with a very fine grain. Also excellent.

2016 Beaune 1er Grèves L’Enfant Jesus
Four different plot with different vine ages – 45 and 65 years old at the bottom and 25 plus 35 years old at the top – that’s one day difference in terms of ripeness – 0.5 ha recently replanted. The miracle of Beaune – almost the best yield – 30-32 hl/ha. Rare for this cru it was quite a later harvest relative to other vines
A wide and fine nose, very slowly adding volume. Wide, fresh, a grand cru depth of flavour – lots of well-managed structure, and a floral halo to the fruit. Really a wine to wait for but a great wine all the same. Extra finishing dimensions – bravo!
2016 Volnay 1er Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot
A 3.75 hectares in 4 plots, the hail impact different in each plot. A sunny place so maturity comes very quickly here, so together with Enfant Jesus (Grèves) usually the first to be harvested – just 50 cm of soil before the limestone. A normal harvest 40 hl/ha!
Ooh – wow – that’s Caillerets! Pure, crystalline fruit! Wide, complex, a shade austere but with that line of pure fruit through the core of this great wine!

2016 Le Corton
3.65 hectares. Always the last harvest a – it merits a high maturity – harvested 4-5 October, clean and not touched by frost. Still in barrel will probably rack at the start of next year.
Deep, wide and spicily complex. Lots of textural richness here – in terms of concentration redolent of the Beaune du Chateau – that’s how good that wine is! Open, floral inflected fruit a good but completely covered structure – might hardly guess that you were in Corton. Delicious and today, far too easy!

2016 Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Cailles
One hectare from this 3ha, flat, appellation. Small chalky pebbles. One of first to be harvested in Côte de Nuits; 40 year-old vines, Badly touched by frost in the villages Nuits, Les Cailles was not bad, but les Porrets was half a harvest.
Ooh, that’s a beautiful nose of depth, and purity – floral-inflected. Supple, floral, hyper-elegant yet with a balancing energy, the fine-grained tannin is more of an anecdote. Just a simply delicious wine. Bravo.

2016 Echézeaux
No domaine wine this year as the combe was badly hit – this from near Grands-Echézeaux.
Modest top notes but a fine depth of aroma. Very good width, a freshness of fruit and a very tasty depth too – this has a bubbling, mouth-watering energy that’s highly infectious, the flavour is fine too. Simply a very tasty wine with a little lick of tannin as a reminder!

2016 Bonnes-Mares
This a little high-toned, practically volatile at this stage of elevage. A little gas, lots of volume, ultra-fine tannin. Right in the finish this has great and complex flavour – the rest we will have to wait for.

2016 Chapelle-Chambertin
Bought grapes – 0.5 ha worth. This and the Bèze half a harvest.
Also high-toned, more floral, not quite volatile. Big wine, of scale and plenty of freshness. This has a super almost vibrant flavour, really lovely. A weight of finishing flavour too. Too early for this wine, but what great material!

2016 Clos de Bèze
The nose here is the twin-brother of the Chapelle yet more incisive, more direct. Fresh, lots of energy – really a concentration and intensity that roll into one. Great texture – a great wine in the making here. Such a large wave of complex and fresh finishing flavour. Wow!

Les Blancs…

2016 Bourgogne Chardonnay La Reserve
Final cuvee – will be bottled later this month. ‘For us it’s a good vintage – the maturity of 15 with better acidity. Only the malos were very long and they never taste good at this stage so there was a lot of waiting!’
Bright, vibrant depth of ripe fruit – almost pineapple in style. But rather more mineral, structured and calm than the nose suggests. There is much to admire here for the label. Really a very fine Bourgogne, calm and elegant – expressive is a nicer way of saying it.

The next three are all in bottle – all the rest will be bottled this week.

2016 Beaune 1er du Château
Like the red, between 10-18 hl/ha depending on the vineyard – for 10 hectares worth of vines.
A much finer freshness of aroma – though a heavier, muskier, depth is hinted at but never overt. Big in the mouth a richness of texture with concentration too – there is freshness perhaps more-so than the red. Overall a rich, concentrated wine that supports itself well. Very good.

2016 Beaune 1er Clos St.Landry
2 ha monopole
A width of freshness – a nice nose. Super freshness in the mouth – layers of ripe but perfectly delivered fruit. Always mouth-watering. A generous but fresh and delicious wine. Well done, almost a tannin in the finish.

2016 Meursault Les Clous
8.60 ha of domaine vines, high on the hillside. White clay and limestone not far below the surface. They harvested 3 hl/ha in some places – but here it was 40!
A modestly overt but beautifully classic nose of faint spice mixed with an attractive sweetness. Round, supple, not overly concentrated, complex and with enough freshness. Simply a delicious wine…
2016 Meursault 1er Genevrières
2.65 hectares from two plots; one from above the road to Chassagne which is a steep slope of old vines. The second, a more stony plot that brings freshness and minerality. They are separately vinified, before eventual blending.
Ooh – now it’s getting exciting – this is like the last wine with a mineral vibration at the base. A little distracting gas. Lots of volume, really lots of energy and complexity – changing, bubbling over the palate – great energy – not the bottle for calm contemplation – but it will work for just about everything else!
2015 Meursault 1er Les Perrières
From 3 different plots totalling 1.2 hectares. Again with separate elevage but blended together at the end. ‘The maturity of 15 with the acidity of 14…’
A nose like the last wine – a little narrower, but deeper – very attractive. Much more volume in the mouth, a little less gas, but seemingly more energy and complexity. Seriously great wine here this vintage – bravo, bravo!!
2016 Corton-Charlemagne
300m height, 3.85 hectares at the top of the hill, just above their Les Corton, east oriented with rows planted north-south, the intention being to preserve freshness.
Less overt, calmer but a deeper, finer, purer fruit on the nose – if that’s even possible. Ooh – perfect texture, a little cooler style, direct, really mineral but without austerity, cut from the rock. The finish simply stays with you… Great wine!
2016 Chevalier-Montrachet
2.30 from the 4 terraces, now assembled, completing elevage in tank. More complicated – we have 2.3 ha in the 4 terraces, some parts were very badly touched by the frost. Cabotte was fine – but forgot to take the sample!
How can this be? An even greater nose – a vibrating thing of ultra-fine complexity and beauty. Really concentrated, really complex, a more sedate, calmer wine than the CC, but no escaping how great this is. Hard to spit, but what a finish too…
2016 Montrachet
The bottom of the vineyard was very frosted but at the top of the rows it was normal – half a harvest, but really a Montrachet de dessus this year!
A calmer nose, but it vibrates like the last, and here is an additional floral dimension. Almost an oily consistency to the texture. Like the Chevalier with a little more intensity to the flavour. Intense, ingraining flavour, I’d rather drink the Chevalier (or much rather the CC) today, but this has a number of extras that might make me change my mind in 10 years. Great wine again. I retaste the CC – there’s less amplitude following the Montrachet, but still more energy – it’s much harder to make my previous drinking statement with hindsight like this!

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