Medium, medium-plus colour. A deep core of fruit with layers becoming ever darker at the edges. The silkiest mouth-feel of any of these wines and undisguised power at it’s core. Undemonstrative yet impressive.
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Bouchard Père et Fils
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Chapelle-Chambertin
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is showing rather more dark oak and faint caramel over the darker-hued fruit. Softer and silkier in the mouth – clearly more oak. The acidity is a little more forward than the last wine, but it’s stunningly long finishing – though the flavours are dominated by the same dark barrel notes as from the nose. A lot of buttery oak texture but the wine survives and impresses despite that. Another stunner but I prefer the Faiveley today.
2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze
The same supplier for the last 17 years – so Philippe Prost suggests it can virtually be considered ‘domaine’. Wide and complex if not so deep as Le Corton. In the mouth it’s intense and complex with super acidity and plenty of tannin. It’s very long, though a good proportion of that length is oak derived. Always an excellent bottling.
1998 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne
From magnum. Medium golden. A nose that eventually gave up a creamy width and some savoury tones but consistently focused on the mineral. The palate was likewise mineral with good acidity and a number of waves of flavour prolonging the finish. Vibrant and tasty and stayed strong in the glass for the 2 hours we were together.
1948 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet
From a merely ‘average’ vintage. Possibly recorked twice but otherwise never moved in almost 60 years. The wonder of an old wine – deep colour, almost orange – it must be oxidised right? The nose is deep and truffle-laden but not a hint of oxidation. The aromas are those of your favourite woollen pullover, a little faint hard cheese and eventually creme brulee. The palate also shows a truffle flavour and an immense length. The texture is soft though there’s just a sharpness to the leading edge of the acidity, but what follows is perfection. For 3 hours this grew and grew in the glass, both aromatically and from a flavour perspective, not even a hint of oxidation. Based on comments from the other tables this was very consistent from bottle to bottle. Possibly the greatest wine I ever drank – a privilege.
2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet
From 2.5 hectares of vines – BP&F own one third of the appellation, all purchase in the 1800’s. The nose focuses on fruit, higher and mineral tones. Fantastic, mouth-filling, clean, pure and mineral. Long, very long, eventually with a little cream – superb. I delayed as long as possible tasting the Charlemagne as the taste of this lingered for minutes…
2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne
Aromatically a little deeper, with fewer high-tones. This is more mineral and with more acidity defining the spine of the wine. This is also superbly long and perhaps with even better focus. It’s driven by minerality rather than the waves of creamy fruit of the Chevalier. Today I would drink the Chevalier, but in 10 years? I’ll duck the question, but I’d love to make the comparison!
1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Chambertin
Medium-plus ruby-red. The nose starts deep and wide – still primary – slowly providing a soft, savoury bacon-fat background. In the mouth this is intense, wide and mouth-filling. There is still plenty of tannin, faintly astringent and with a bitter chocolate edge that adds a little cream before going very long in the finish. There is a ton of structure here but it’s very well matched by the extract. Excellent, and wait a minute – hmm – I can still buy this cheaper than some ‘mid-range’ 2005 premiers…!