Tasted in Meursault with Emmanuel Escutenaire and Stéphane Follin-Arbelet, 15 December 2017.
Domaine de Château du Meursault
Rue du Moulin Foulot
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 26 22 75
www.chateau-meursault.com
Emmanuel on 2017:
“2017 Of course we are really happy with the vintage. At the bottom of the hill, some parts were touched by the frost but we lost no more than ~15%. We had very healthy grapes when harvested – we started checking maturities the 16 august but then came a small heat wave and the sugars were growing 1 degree every three days. So we started a little sooner than first planed – starting on 29th – even this early many parcels showed 13.5°, up to 14° in some 1er cru parcels – there are some parallels to 2009 in this respect. Some red malos have already started, but not yet in the whites. I think a great white vintage with freshness and volume, and certainly a more ‘pinot’ vintage than 2015.”
Emmanuel on 2016:
“2016 meant to us yields of 10-15 hl/hl. We saw enormous damage, and it was worse in the pinot than the chardonnay – not all the whites were touched, but we lost 90% in Savigny. So, unsurprisingly, we had lots of concentration in our reds: There were second generation bunches too – three weeks later than the first, but they caught up well during the great summer. For whites there’s more tension than in the 2015s – maybe less than in 2017, let’s see – but we think 2016 a very good vintage. The last wines are still in barrel with bottling envisaged for Spring. Half a dozen whites are already bottled but just a couple of reds are bottled at this stage. A few reds were not touched by frost but most were badly hit. ”
The wines…
A fabulous result here in 2016 – though I (generally) marginally prefer the whites of 2016, here I most definitely prefer the Chateau’s reds – and what a brilliant range of Beaunes in such a difficult vintage – bravo!
2016 Bourgogne du Château
Lost 80%, from two sectors, one near Chateau Pommard with over 1 ha of vines, the rest 4 hectares in Aloxe’s Boutières but lost 90% here. All done by hand.
Ooh, open, deep a hint spicy – lovely and inviting. Supple, nice depth of flavour – some structure but wait a year – this is really excellent – concentration, energy and good flavours and a pop of floral flavour in the finish!
2016 Savigny-lès-Beaune
Deeply coloured. Hillside vines in Gollardes and Redrescu, cooler, higher altitude vines
A big volume of aroma, no herby aspects just a faint spice to dark red fruit. Supple, ripe, more managed structure really some intensity here – wow – is it too much? 10hl/ha? But again a great finish, part floral and very engaging – I would wait a couple of years but for villages Savigny, that’s a pretty amazing finish!
First vines harvested, sandy soil opposite Bouchard’s cuverie, bottled this week – always a high maturity here and the first parcel picked. 5 barrels from 1.6 hectares!
A more composed nose, transparent, crystalline fresh but dark-red fruit. Very impressive. Supple, layered, delicious – this is more like a Beaune than a Savigny in style. Great Savigny!
2016 Pommard Noizons
The other wine already bottled – just one week. 1 hectare of south-facing vines, also frosted but a little less as the higher part wasn’t touched. ‘A good area and nicely exposed.’
A prettier nose of extra width and freshness, very faintly spiced. A weight of fresh concentration on the palate – the flavours are great and the wine mouth-watering, I’d like more delicatesse, but this is the vintage and what’s here tastes great. Again with a lovely flavour.
2016 Beaune 1er Cent Vignes
2 hectares, one part of 50-year-old vines, just below Beaune Fevres
A fine nose, composed, a little floral – not too energetic but very inviting. Direct, less overtly sweet, melting freshness, long. Needs more time to open but less impact and sweetness, but better for that I think. A lovely finish too…
Over 1 hectares of old vines.
While there is a little less overt impact, there is a very fine floral overlay to a concentration that’s more in waiting. Wide, fresh a little more astringence from the tannin, melting flavour over the palate – a composed wine with a super future. Not the easiest today, but perhaps my favourite so far.
Frosted 80% had to vinify in a new 350 l barrel, doing everything by hand – so all done with a new barrel in the end. The wine is still in that barrel.
The oak is present but as a spice not vanilla or coconut. Supple, concentrated of good line, growing more intense – beautifully textured. Considering the elevage the oak is far from excessive. Tasty, very, very impressive wine. Bravo!
0.70 hectares, a continuation of Cent Vignes, with the same vine age, indeed it’s the same rows of vines, it’s just the higher part, all worked by the same person.
A very forward nose of flowers and dark red fruit – super. Composed, slowly growing in both concentration and definitely intensity – fresh in the middle, achingly long, faintly saline – this is one for the cellar but I think a great wine.
All the bottom of Grèves was lost to frost but this higher parcel not.
A more compact nose, dark fruit of purity but really less here to see today. Very composed in the mouth though, beautifully textured and a little more higher-toned than the last wine, salinity again, really a fine composure of beautiful flavours. Opens out really fine in the finish. I’d keep it I the cellar as long as the last one and that one is certainly showing more today – but this could still be its equal.
2016 Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
One of the rare areas with a normal harvest. 2.5 hectares.
This is wide and attractive – a subtle sweetness of fruit. Wide and really a nice freshness to the fruit here. A very broad wine, mouth-watering, floral in the finish. Excellent, lovely wine…
Just a little frost here. This the last and the next still in barrel.
A fresh and deep nose – pure fruit but not too ripe – nice, slowly adding some floral hints. Supple, sweet, but pure fruit, nothing hard from the structure, mouth-watering. Beautiful wine. The best yet. Great finishing.
There’s a big piece of Marechaudes coming in the next vintages, here a mix of Rognets and Vergennes.
This nose is really very classy – faintly spiced, beautifully silky fruit on the nose. Fine volume in the mouth, silky presence, layers of flavour. Melting flavour always with a fine fresh intensity – simply grand vin.