Tasted with Thomas Dinel in Nuits St.Georges, 13 December 2018.
Marchand-Tawse
9 Rue Julie Godemet
21700 Nuits-Saint-Georges
Tel: +33 3 80 20 37 32
www.marchand-tawse.com
Thomas on 2017:
“Some wines were light – probably because of the size of the crop – but after malos, they picked up weight, they picked up density – they are proper Burgundies – probably more concentration than in 2014, actually I think better than in 2014 – without suzuki too! The 1er crus and grand crus of 2017 really show why they are so classified…”
The wines…
I’m a big fan of Pascal Marchand and his team’s work – every year there are quite a few gems outside of the quality that I expect from the grand crus. I see fewer great wines in 2017 vs 2016 – but that’s the vintage. The domaine (ex Maume) wines are simply top class in 2017 though!
Marchand-Tawse reds first:
2017 Côteaux Bourguignone
‘In tank, so-far it’s only the Bourgogne in bottle – mainly because we needed a lot of space for the 2018s.’ All gamay, all whole bunch – aged in an oak vat. Two vines – one in Vosne the other in Flagey – 40 and 70 year-old vines, blended. All hand-picked. Always the last picked – after Mazis! Picked at 12.6°
Nice colour. A big nose, a vibrant nose. A big and fresh attack. Intense, great line and freshness – super wine.
2017 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
It could be a Côte d‘Or, but wasn’t registered as so. 15% Cd B, the rest CdN. Half in vat, half in barrel – 30% wc. For January bottling.
Rounder, great fresh depth of aroma. A great combination of fruit and freshness – direct, intense – this is lovely wine – very pinot, very Burgundian in the fresh style.
2017 Bourgogne Pinot Noir 47N
‘The Avalon replacement and the name seems to be catching on’ – so many components here – CdB, CdN, even some 1er cru grapes.
Hmm – here is more width of aroma. More volume, more complexity in the freshness – such energy. So fresh! A modest tannin in the finish.
2017 Cote de Nuits Villages
Comblanchien-Corgoloin, all barrel aged with about 40% wc, 25% new oak
These samples have similar noses – it’s more the intensity of aroma that is changing – this quite forward. More intense, concentrated but with a lovely freshness. Saline, complex – absolutely delicious. Highly recommended!
This like all the previous wines in tank. Quite a number of cuvées were relatively early racked as needed the barrels for 2018. No whole cluster here – normally it’s more a function of geography than the particular vintage – ‘we should also take a risk – most of the time it pays off!’
Wider, good depth of aroma. Ooh, intense, juicy, wow-delicious. That’s so great with a fabulous depth of flavour. Bravo!
2017 Pommard Vignots
80 year-old vines with a tiny yield – All destemmed, near the Vignots of Lalou. 30% new oak.
A rounder, more finely textured nose. Fuller, more direct, a wine of concentration and fresh, dark-red fruit. Very tasty wine…
2017 Nuits St.Georges
2/3 Premeaux, one-third from the north of Nuits. 30% wc, 20% new oak.
Modest width but an attractively deep nose. Full, mouth-filling, a touch of tannin, great freshness. Love the length.
2017 Nuits St.Georges Les Longecourts
Just below Les St.Georges, ‘working with this since 2014 – 50% new oak and all wc – it’s such a great selection of pn that you can almost do whatever you like. 4 barrels’
Ooh, a vibrant flavour, deep fresh, a touch of wc complexity. Layered finishing. This is super!
2017 Vosne-Romanée
‘Our old VR could be tending towards the rustic, a lot from the Nuits side of the village. 4 parcels, hautes and bas Maizières, Champs Perdrix plus one more – currently still in barrel.’
The first nose that’s a little different, tighter, silkier, fine fruit. Supple, more direct line, more intensity. Layered, very lovely finishing flavour.
The block above La Tâche, like the last, all wc – a wine of altitude.
A little more aromatic volume with a touch of spice. Ooh – fresh, direct, intense, a touch of tannin, really great fruit. Long – love this!
Lots of plots included here. A little more than 20% whole cluster – and it’s still in barrel.
Fresh a little spicy. Ooh, this is wide, complex, beautifully energetic – mouth-watering, super finishing flavour here. Bravo!
2017 Morey St.Denis Rue de Vergy
60% wc, still in barrel.
The first nose that clearly has a different character – deeper, a little rounder. Supple, concentrated but also wide and fresh. Such a wine to drink, just delicious – I think I have been ‘forced’ to buy some of this in the last few vintages.
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin
From the bottom blocks – climats – approaching 20% wc and similar for new oak.
A more composed nose. Ooh that’s nice, more fresh and direct after the Vergy, wide, melting flavour – great flavour. Love the mouth-watering finish – almost juicy. Yes!
1 barrel, new, all destemmed. Rugiens from the middle – two plots a mix of 20-25 yo and the older is 60 – but the better selection is the younger parcel. Second vintage.
A nice core to this aroma. Wide, more energetic, more dynamic wine. Juicy, ingraining, insinuating flavour – so great!
2017 Nuits St.Georges 1er Les Corvées Pagets
All wc. An organic vineyard for over 25 years, in barrel. Next to the Clos St.Marc
A little vibration of wc in the depth of this nose. Full, nice energy – of-course some tannin, Supple, flavours that have a nod to the wc. Long, slowly mouth-watering flavour. Another wine that I always covet at this producer – excellent!
2017 Morey St.Denis 1er Les Millandes
Old vines below csd with 70 years
A wide nose, more modest intensity. Ooh that’s nicely open and airy, a transparent quality on the palate. Mouth-watering, and modestly intense but very long, deliciously long…
2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Suchots
From the top part of Suchots. All wc, 50% new oak.
A deep nose some vibrancy of aroma. Round, clearly a wc flavour profile, some tannin framing the flavour, melting flavour – still some structure to wait for but this is very, very good!
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Champeau
This a Marchand-Tawse, not domaine Tawse wine – all destemmed, 50% new oak.
Hmm, here is a different nose, deeply, darkly fruited with a fine depth of texture. Wide – lots of volume – energy, complexity – excellent wine – sinply delicious
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs
Neighbour of the last wine. ‘Very old vines and concentrated.’
Big, round, deep but fresh. Hmm, almost a little mineral, wide, melting, fine flavour. Wide in the finish, with faint coffee. Lovely.
2017 Corton
Rognets and Renardes blended for 4 barrels.
Narrower but with high-toned freshness and great depth of flavour. Vibrant, energetic, growing in volume. Melting with flavour. Simply delicious wine – with a great finish!
25% wc, 50% new oak. Almost 70 yo vines.
Hmm – the best nose so far, vibrant, deep, fabulously inviting. Intense, structural but deeply concentratedly flavoured. So great!
Treux and Rouges du Bas 70-75 yo vines
Higher toned, intense fruit – a little narrow though. Mouth-filling, complex, plenty of tannin, full, even more complex – such a changing wine – also some floral complexity. To wait for, but absolutely the most delicious thing!
Domaine Tawse
The name Maume has disappeared from the labels. The 2017s were all done here in Nuits. Some Bourgogne, Cherbaudes and all the En Pallud has returned to Bertrand Maume to work – though his uncle, Jean-Louis Maume, remains the proprietor of the En Palluds. After 5 years of organic cultivation the vines have gone back to conventional farming, so from this 2017 vintage the team here now buy the En Pallud from Bertrand – so it’s no-longer a domaine wine.
First three wines all racked into tank:
2017 Beaune 1er Teurons
A rippling, deep – lovely pure red fruit – some wc included here. Fresh, open, transparent. Long, mouth-watering thing – modest density of wine, but no lack of intensity. Super-tasty!
2017 Beaune 1er Tuvilains
Almost 50% whole cluster here. Bought in 2011, now 6 years of biodynamics and changes to the pruning ‘seem to have really helped here.’
Supple, deeply flavoured – more than you expect from the more modest colour. But a super line of long-finishing flavour.
2017 Beaune 1er Clos du Roi
2014 was the first vintage, ‘very conventional at the start, neutral, lacking acidity, already seeing more texture and personality – this, the first vintage that is showing some potential. – These are old vines so we mustn’t prune too hard!’
A wide nose, modest depth but what depth is of concentrated, very red fruit. Round, again very red, inflected with the wc spice – good energy here. Lasts very well too.
2017 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Lavières
Again wc here, this time about 40%, always the last vines harvested as the grapes are usually quite acidic – no problem in 2018 though.
A little more aromatic impact. Lots of energy and volume in the mouth, very red, purer red fruit – ooh this is excellent, finishing with acidulated red fruits – so fine!
2017 Volnay 1er Fremiets
50% whole cluster. All these wine probably for bottling between February and March.
More transparent, more line to the fresh and intense flavour. A weight of finishing flavour with some tannin in the finish. Super!
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin
A blend of vineyards, about 70% in the area of Crais but some Combes, Roncevies, Justice, Fourneaux and Clos Prieur Bas. Biodynamic since 2012.
Ooh a deep nose, touched by reduction but depth of aroma. Supple, concentrated – wide, melting with concentrated flavour. No shirking-violet. Here you have big wine and should wait a little.
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Etelois
Just below Griotte, not so old vines – 20-30, some replanted after the frost of 2009.
Deeper colour. A little rounder than the last, more driving and intense. No fat, lots of intensity and here a touch of salinity to plenty of tannin – quite serious and for a little patience. Delicious finish.
Bought in grapes, did everything between 2012-16, 0.67 ha, all biodynamic in that time, now no-longer. Now need a négoce label. ‘This a wine of elevage there was some volume in 17 and it started very lite – it grew with elevage. This is the key for many 2017s’
A different nose – profound, complex, dark fruited. Supple, concentrated, layered, deep – simply great villages! Bravo – and so long…
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Lavaux St.Jacques
One new barrel from 5
A narrow but deep and fresh nose. Lots of volume in the mouth, a touch more structure, more floral flavour, less lush and finely textured. More for the future here, but Pallud is more interesting today.
‘Replanted in 1983 it gains more complexity every year, as though these are still young vines…’
Hmm a deep and cushioned dark fruit. Round, supple, sweet, delicious mobile and freshly complex despite the darker fruit. This is simply great, delicious wine!
Two small parcels of old vines, near the bottom of the vineyard but they are old vines – ‘The ‘Maume’ vines produce very consistent wines from Gevrey, we have a hard time to believe the consistency of the Gevrey vines!’ 2 barrels, one new.
Deep and oh-so concentrated, dark fruit to match the deep colour. Supple, very concentrated – this is as good a ‘Charmes’ as I can remember in 17 – bravo!
‘The Petits-Mazis of tiny bunches, 85 year-old vines, it makes no sense to try to destem them. The father of Bertrand made the wines in 80-90s, Bertrand started really from about 2001 – his wines were great in great years. Their vines are really great – more than one great vigneron of Gevrey will tell you so. If possible would make masalle selections from the vines of Maume – the wines of those vines have such a magical energy – clones are all the same but these vines have personality.’
A nose of width and more of an implied depth. Bigger, more structural, dripping with concentration, depth of flavour, oooh that’s long – the extra usp here – great wine!
2017 Musigny
As usual, a made-to-measure barrel so 100% new oak – about 280 litres and always new. ‘These grapes are always hand destemmed, so it ferments are really slow as there is so little juice to start with.’
A full nose, some coffee action here too. Not the biggest, not the most fine textured, a wine of modest energy and clarity, but a wine of clear mid-palate concentration. Layers in the finish and a super depth of finishing flavour
Les Blancs:
The following is the only wine in bottle, all the rest are in tank:
Sources change quite a lot and to buy in grapes is also not the easiest, here some Yonne, Viré-Clessé, and the bottom of Meursault and Puligny.
A nose of great volume, and good freshness. Full, chiselled, line, melting flavour, great structure, long, deliciously long – Bravo!
2017 Viré-Clessé
From Quintaine on the hillside.
Wide, plenty of high-toned volume. Supple, cushioned, a little soft and rich but lots of flavour energy here. Long. Actually cheaper than the Bourgogne – though I have to say that I prefer the Bourgogne.
2017 Rully
‘We have lots of interest in this area, this from Les Chaumes from an organic producer’
A nice width of aroma, less overt. Nicer in the mouth than the Viré, open, melting flavour, beautiful flavour – excellent!
2017 Meursault
Yes! Spiced, wide – inviting aroma. Great energy, growing in intensity a mineral base to this. Just so mouth-watering I the finish – deliciously juicy Meursault!
2017 Puligny-Montrachet
Have looked for good suppliers for such a long time – started not badly in 2016 next to Enceignieres.
Intense – wide and fresh. Mouth-filling and with an intensity that grows and grows. There’s a certain style here that makes me think more of Meursault, yet it’s open fresh and very, very tasty. Yum!
2017 Ladoix 1er Les Gréchons
Fully, round, golden fruited. Silky, round but with structure too – ooh this is very, very good. Long, mouth-watering, absolutely delicious finishing.
2017 Domaine Savigny 1er Les Vergelesses
14 the first vintage
Such a very pretty nose – wide, cushioned yellow citrus. Volume, a weight but not blocky, this is open and deliciously accessible.
2017 Domaine Puligny-Montrachet 1er Champs Gains
Not so wide but a very lovely depth of agrume fruit aroma. Supple, fresh, extra intense – extra delicious – so much more here. Simply excellent wine.
2017 Meursault 1er Genevrières
2 barrels, one new.
A narrow but concentrated nose. Plenty of volume but still freshness – a proper and quite forward Meursault ginger spice. Quite a structured Genevrières but a very tasty one too!
2017 Domaine Corton-Charlemagne
All south-facing, quite steep in Charlemagne. Have to be careful as it can get quite ripe here – this year 14°
A width of aroma, a depth too – oak for sure but not objectionable – ripe yellow citrus. Rich, powerful, there’s a lift to the flavour though that makes this so drinkable. Forget the alcohol, forget the vintage, forget everything – just drink. It’s such an excellent wine!