Our weekend get-together, where I culled the notes for those super Remoissenet bottles, also included a ‘walk-round-tasting’ of bottles supplied by the attendees, followed (after a quick shower) by an evening dinner. Before we started dinner, I counted 21 bottles at our table – which sat 9 people I think! – though (memo to self) we sadly had a dearth of sweeter wines. Perhaps the glasses could have been better, but the company surely couldn’t. I only offer you here the burgundy notes from our Paulée-style evening, but be assured that our glasses were generously augmented by Germans, Australians and, amongst others, teeth-staining Bandols. This first installment offers you the whites, tomorrow (I’m a slow typist) the reds. 1993 Leflaive, Bourgogne Blanc
A medium, in fact quite young looking yellow. A little creamy, mature lanolin underpins the aromas of a younger wine. In the mouth it is linear and quite mineral until a small burst of interest in the mid-palate and a nice finish. Whilst the acidity is the defining feature of the wine, it has just enough padding that it doesn’t become jarring. Everyone around the room was sure it was a Puligny… Rebuy – Yes 2001 Leflaive, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Pucelles
A much deeper colour than the 93 bourgogne. The colour made me rush to smell – but no problems with oxidation here, only caramellised butter and hints of citrus for freshness – it was actually very nice. In the mouth it definitely needed time to unwind and I’m sure it never fully did, but the texture and impression is of density coupled to long, lingering flavours. Not much complexity today or even excitement come to that, despite all, it still made a strong impression around our table. Rebuy – Yes 2003 Louis Jadot, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Folatières
A few hints of oxidation on the nose, but it’s largely fresh and interesting. In your mouth this wine is all over the place and despite evident complexity and some additional dimension – not just oxidation! – in the mid-palate it’s frankly a mess. Poorly judged acidification or just an impossible vintage? I don’t know but it seemed to have plenty of acidity. Rebuy – No
2000 Veronique Drouhin, Vosne-Romanée 1er Lest Petits Monts
Medium ruby-red colour. The nose is lovely, slightly baked fruit, forward with a ginger edge and some deep herby elements. In the mouth there is sweet fruit but the acidity that comes along is bright indeed sharp finishing – it rather dominates the palate despite the slowly lingering flavours. I can’t get at much else as the problem with the acidity is so prominent. A badly stored bottle? I don’t know, but I can’t recommend this. Rebuy – No
Well, here we are. Burgundy, in the dead of winter. People are busy working in the vineyards, mainly burning clippings. Things are a bit more chilly than they seemed looking at Bill’s photos from my home in California. Suprisingly, our daughter has adjusted quite well to Burgundy at the ripe age of 7 months. Many of the people that I have read about, domaines which I have dreamed about are just a short stroll away from Puligny-Montrachet where we have been centered most of our time in Burgundy.
Everyone has been extremely helpful here. We have met with a great deal of established winemakers and courtiers and the possibility of working with quality grapes this year from the Cote de Nuits seem quite high…thank goodness!
Also, while we have spent some time with Olivier Leflaive, he has taken it upon himself to present our project to a few of his friends, which one in particular in Pommard might have a facility for us to use for the project.
Another note, speaking some French is better than speaking none at all. I can’t get close to counting the possitive comments I have heard from people in Burgundy for trying to speak the language. I beleive it has made a difference in how I have been recieived.
While I wish we could stay until harvest to go forward with the project right now, the trip has already paid for itself with the great experiences and contacts we have made. We have just over a week more in France and I intend to make the most of this opportunity in Burgundy.
Back from travelling in the UK and I thought I’d share with you my notes of some lovely wines that were presented to bunch of enthusiasts in Scotland at a meeting organised by Tom Cannavan. Our presenter was Bernard Repolt of Maison Remoissenet.
First – a comparison of Gevrey Cazetiers and Combottes
Mainly from vintages ending with a 9! The Cazetiers being the more sinewy/wiry and the Combottes showing way more width, not unlike a Chapelle or good Charmes-Chambertin: 2007/2005 Gevrey 1er Cazetiers
The 07 is just a little soft-focus due to the fresh oak showing on all aspects of the wine; nose, palate and finish but it is ripe and creamy with just a hint of astringency – should be a lovely, precocious drink but personally I’d wait 1+ years for less barrel influence – not too much to learn about Cazetiers at this age. The 2005 is an archetypal 05 right now; tight, acid-forward and a world away from the lush, mineral density of 12 months ago. Clearly more intense, but then there’s no obvious oak putting a soft focus on the acidity. Needs to sleep.
1999/1989 Gevrey 1er Cazetiers
The 99 was fresh, full and ripe – started with a hint of mustiness on the nose but that soon disappeared – good intensity and length. This really surprised me as other 99’s I’ve had from the producer have been dull and unfocused. Still an astringent edge to decent tannins. Young, and whilst far from a great Cazetiers, it is verily a tasty beverage. The 89 showed more high-toned aromas and a little herb too. Less full on the palate and more secondary flavours coming through. Ripe, and brings a feeling of warmth, perhaps needing an edge more of acidity to give it sparkle but another tasty wine.
1979/1969 Gevrey 1er Combottes
The 79 displayed a beautiful dark chocolate, sweet nose that still seemed fresh. Really mouth-filling. Starts a little narrow but then really fills your mouth with broad panorama of flavour – very gevrey grand cru in style if (possibly) needing a bit more intensity for that badge – very sweet fruit but the acidity is balanced. Plenty of astringent tannin and slowly fading flavours – a gorgeous mouthful – and there’s no rush to drink. The 69, if anything, showed a younger colour. More mineral and medicinal aromas. In the mouth much more mineral and muscular – yet with the same panoramic, faintly astringent width as the 79. Faintly long and very sprightly. There is a perfect skeleton here for a longer life than the 79.
Afterwards I had a discussion with someone who he asked me if I thought the 69 was ‘adulterated’ as someone on his table said straight away that it was. Frankly I’ve had no more than 7 or 8 69’s, and all have shown in a similar way – darker colour than all other older (save 59!) wines I’ve seen and darker than most younger wines from the 70’s – including most 78’s! Maybe they were all adulterated, including the DRC’s! – though the La Tâche was beginning to fade! Anyway, I found nothing obviously ‘false’ about the wine, and clearly it came from impeccable storage. I also think that no more than a handful of people in the UK could say yes/no adulterated with a greater than 50% accuracy level – in this case I certainly can’t – and I don’t think any of these people were at our tasting 😉
Re the ‘gout Anglaise’, my understanding is that this manipulation was very common indeed and most obviously practiced in the cellars of UK merchants who had bought in barrel. Based on discussions with people in Beaune, except where a wine was clearly destined for the UK, it was more discreetly done in France (where done) because the bottles mainly ended up on French tables for French palates. Whilst far from irreproachable, wines destined to lay in a (french) cellar for 40 years were significantly ‘lesser targets’ for such practices.
Second – The Whites
I was lucky enough to taste all the 06’s in November 07 from barrel and even some gassy 07’s, so lovely to put that context next to the uniformly excellent bottles. On that day, the Bienvenue showed better to me than the Bâtard or even the Montrachet – we didn’t get to compare it to the Montrachet this time, but I still prefer it to the Bâtard. 2007/2006 Meursault 1er Charmes
A blast of toasty oak needs to fade on the 07 before I can get near it – but it only takes a minute or two of swirling – plenty of clean citrus aromas and good depth are the reward. Lithe, some fat balanced by vg acidity. I sometimes find Meursault 1ers a little too soft – but not here, lovely. The 06 has hints of lanolin on the nose which I normally find only on substantially older wines. I find a texture on the palate that implies some dissolved gas, but I also find fine complexity and good balance – very good for an 06!
2007/2006 Puligny 1er Garenne – from memory a blend of Garenne and Les Garennes
High-toned complex aromas from the 07. Lovely mouthwatering acidity plays with savoury elements and intensity. Lingers beautifully – really super wine. The 2006 shows denser aromas of riper fruit and initially a little yeast. Despite the riper aromas this has a nice mineral spine and again very good balance. I’d happily drink both, but would buy the 07…
2006 Bienvenues / Bâtard
The Bienvenues shows creamy, dense, very wide and complex aromas – wow. In the mouth there is fat and concentration, yet there are nicely clean flavours, delicacy and balance – thanks to fine acidity. The finish is very long but majors on barrel components right now. Simply super. As a contrast the Bâtard has deeper but much tighter aromas. In the mouth likewise, it’s hiding it’s complexity. If there is one area where this pulls rank, it is the intensity of the mid-palate, but overall this is showing in a very tight way so gives an ‘easy win’ to the Bienvenues for drinking today.
Like the 1995 Corton of about 1 week ago, this is far from satisfying, but certainly better than that wine. 1995 Joseph Drouhin, Clos de la Roche
Medium, medium-pale ruby-red. A little sweetness and minerality on the nose, faint red and orange fruit but for the first hour rather undemonstrative. On your tongue there’s perfect acidity and an intensity that builds all the more over time, though needs at least 1 hour to start becoming interesting. The tannin is relatively background and eventually a little fat develops. This becomes almost good without ever becoming really interesting. Rebuy – Maybe
Whilst this book actually covers 399 pages, I’m basing this discussion only on the 59 page section about Burgundy – including appendices. Despite my skin-deep approach, this book can be truly described as a reference work for its time. My copy is a 1960 reprint from the original 1928 work, and is clearly and largely based on that original text as there is no mention of AOC – merely a few statistics are changed to reflect reprinting dates. AOC is later discussed in quite some detail, but only as an appendix. [Edit: I later note from Mr Shand’s Wikipedia page that he actually died in April 1960]
The burgundy section opens with an erudite discussion of the enigma of the region – Maisons de Négoce – followed by a few meandering and largely unexciting pages that cull quotes from authors past – Dr Middleton, Brillat-Savarin, Stendhal – all extolling the virtues of burgundy wine. We then move onto a travelogue of sorts, taking the now traditional route from the northern Yonne outposts to the southern (essentially Rhône valley) vineyards of Beaujolais.
The text is actually very interesting once you get past the puffery, as there is detail that you don’t find in modern manuscripts – probably because the information is culled from a generation who still remembered the tracts of vineyard land that were perhaps lost to phylloxera – but those little addressed areas such as the Tonnerrois, Auxerrois, Châtillonais and particularly the Côte du Chalonnaise, Mâconnais and Beaujolais receive wordy treatment with the author listing primary vineyards, many of which that seem to be lost from today’s labels. e.g. a short passage from ‘Beaujolais’:
According to the délimitation cadastrale of 1919, both Moulin-à-Vent and Thorins (each of which is partly in the commune of Chénas and partly in Romanèche-Thorins) were entitled to the appellation ‘Grand Cru’ – a privelige enjoyed by 32 named vineyards of a total of 284 hectares in Moulin-à-Vent (the most famous being the Carquelin, or Grand-Morier, known as ‘le rognon du Moulin’ from its situation), Rochegrès, Combes, La Roche, Les Champs de Cour, Les Savarins, Les Brasses, Les Grolliers, Les Caves, La Rochelle and Vérillats, and 46 named vineyards, covering 291 hectares, in the case of Thorins.
There is (before the AOC appendix) some attempt at classifying vineyards: Chablis is quite straightforward with 1st, 2nd and 3rd class wines. The first class list extends to La Moutonne, Les Vaudésirs, Clos, Valmur, Les Grenouilles, Blanchots, Pointe des Preuses and Pointe des Bougros. Preuses and Bougros themselves are second class. Bringing up the rear are “the wines of Clichet and Milly (Lechet), together with the wines known as Chablis village and Petit Chablis”. As for the Côte d’Or, the author makes a large table and tries to make a distillation of the work of Lavalle, Danguy et Aubertin and Camille Rodier using the ‘Tête de Cuvée’, ‘Premier’, ‘Deuxiemme’ and Troisiemme’ levels.
The appendix on AOC is much more detailed than you will find in most publications, offering allowed vines, alcoholic strengths etc. e.g. for:
Appellation Contrôlée ‘Rosé de Riceys’: (Aube): decree of Dec 1947.
This appellation is confined to rosé wines grown in the Commune des Riceys, some 20 miles south of Troyes, from Pinot noir vines to a minimum 75% of the encépagement with a maximum 25% of Svégnié and Gamay. The maximum production allowed is 30 hectolitres per hectare and the musts are required to contain a minimum of 170 grams of grape-sugar per litre and develop not less than 10 degrees of alcohol after fermentation. The production of this rather delicately flavoured wine is very small; it is rarely met outside its more or less immediate area.
Summarising: Whilst P.Morton Shand doesn’t deliver up a personality like that of Harry Waldo Yoxall or Philip Youngman Carter, what he puts on paper is, as you can see, extensive and rather comprehensive for its time. Certainly a book worth picking up for the relatively low outlay required in a ‘pre-owned’ bookstore.
PREMIERS CRUS BLANCS
MEURSAULT Les Charmes 2007 75cl 85.00
MEURSAULT Les Genevrières 2007 75cl 89.50
MEURSAULT Les Perrières 2007 75cl 95.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Perrières 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Clos de La Mouchère 2007 37,5cl 47.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Clos de La Mouchère 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Caillerets 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Pucelles 2007 75cl 99.00
PREMIERS CRUS ROUGES
BEAUNE Clos du Roi 2007 75cl 59.50
VOLNAY Les Fremiets 2007 75cl 75.00
VOLNAY Les Caillerets 2007 75cl 79.00
So – what to say? Beaune Clos du Roi 2x the price of the Bouchard Père version. Corton-Charlemagne 25% higher than Bonneau du Martray, Montrachet another 100 francs per bottle even than Louis Jadot’s aspirational 2007 prices. I probably can’t quibble too much with the Meursault Perrières pricing at 95 SFr given that I paid 89 for the stunning Pierre Morey 2006 – but it will have to be amazing. Another list that I’m afraid is (in my humble opinion) disconnected from reality…
Nicolas Potel 1999 Volnay 1er En Chevret 1999 Nicolas Potel Volnay 1er Cru En Chevret
Medium-plus colour. Deep dark, brambly fruit at the core, pepper at the top and just below there are hints of toffee and dark chocolate. In the mouth the acidity is faintly prickly which accentuates the tannin a little, but it’s padded with some fat and shows a little burst of red fruit in the mid-palate and more creamy edge in the finish. Every bottle from this case has so far had an unruly edge, but has been brim full of personality and complexity. Great fun still… Rebuy – Yes
Joseph Drouhin 1999 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Not wanting to bore you with a long list of Drouhins, I’ll make sure that the next bottle is from someone else, but here is a ‘domaine’ bottling that I often find rather subdued on release, but this shows quite some class – normally a blend of 5 different 1ers – Hauts-Doix, Borniques, Noirots, Plantes and Combottes. 1999 Joseph Drouhin, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
Medium cherry-red colour. The nose is deep, just a little plummy at the base and higher-up has lovely red cherry fruit – it just misses a little higher perfume. A really lovely extra dimension of fruit flavour that becomes more intense in the mid-palate and is borne on excellent acidity, except that it has a slightly sharp edge. The tannin is an understated fine grain as you head into mineral finish. Tightens-up considerably in the glass after about 1 hour – it becomes only half the wine it was before, so pop, pour and drink, or leave in the cellar another 3-5 years. Not perfect, but very good. Rebuy – Yes – I’m planning on buying a few more.
To finish today’s ‘Drouhin Bulletin’ 3 more things that may interest you:
I have added their recent thoughts on the 2008 vintage to the last post about the harvest
Finally some vineyard acquisition news from them, no info on who the vines were acquired from
Domaine Joseph Vineyard Acquisition
As another step towards developing its supply of quality grapes, Maison Joseph Drouhin has decided to purchase a vineyard of Pommard Chanlins.
With their excellent position in the southern part of the appellation, these vines are a welcome addition to the Joseph Drouhin estate, already comprising 73 hectares (183 acres) in the best appellations of Chablis, Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune and Côte Chalonnaise.
At the end of last year, Joseph Drouhin had already acquired one hectare of Savigny-les-Beaune and Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Fourneaux.
Whilst this book actually covers 399 pages, I’m basing this discussion only on the 59 page section about Burgundy – including appendices. Despite my skin-deep approach, this book can be truly described as a reference work for its time. My copy is a 1960 reprint from the original 1928 work, and is clearly and largely based on that original text as there is no mention of AOC – merely a few statistics are changed to reflect reprinting dates. AOC is later discussed in quite some detail, but only as an appendix. [Edit: I later note from Mr Shand’s Wikipedia page that he actually died in April 1960]
