Maison Harbour tasting

After reading the story of Maison Harbour awhile back, I was very much interested in trying Nicholas’ wine. I read about the Nicholas and Gary’s excellent east coast adventure this morning and I was able to connect with Nicholas. The tasting was generously hosted by Gray F at his house.

As soon as Nicholas told us about his journey, his passion and dedication shone through. He and his wife gave up the stable professional careers and followed their passion. I am very envious of their vision and dedication.

Now about the wines, I thought they were very solid and consistent, nicely displaying the terroirs of Gevrey, Vosne and Pommard despite the 13 being their first vintage. All except the Pommard had very similar style that is fresh, mineral and structured. The Pommard was the only one with any hint of very ripe fruit expression. Perhaps due to the vintage and terroirs, none of the wines show a lot of finesse for my palate. Nevertheless I am very much impressed about what Maison Harbour and its wines.

I tend to use Alan Weinberg’s binary system regarding the producers and I am 1 on Maison Harbour. I am quite certain that Nicholas will be an exceptional wine maker as he refines his craft and fine tune the winery. He also plans to find opportunities to farm the lands which will improve his wines even further. From the beginning, I didn’t really buy into “the other” story which received much greater publicity. I don’t think Maison Harbour will be an overnight sensation as, sorry Nicholas, the story line is not as sexy as that of the other winery. I bet that we will talk about Maison Harbour twenty years from now! It is also nice to see the father and son sharing common passion in wine.

The emphasis in freshness, mineral expression and structure.

• 2013 Maison Harbour Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Medium nose displaying white and yellow fruits, lemon curd, honey, mineral and limestone. Medium concentration, bright acidity and medium finish. Good structure and freshness.

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• 2013 Maison Harbour Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Caillerets 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Mostly white fruits, apple and pear, white flowers and mineral. Medium concentration, cool and precise, bright acidity and medium length.

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All of them were well made. They are young but quite enjoyable already.

• 2013 Maison Harbour Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin

  Crunch red and black fruits, blackberry and black cherry, earth, mineral, pepper and lavender. Medium concentration, cool, nice mineral expression, bright acidity and noticeable but unobtrusive tannins. Fresh and structured.

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• 2013 Maison Harbour Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Combe au Moine 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  More red fruit driven compare to the Justice. It is also a bit sweeter and warmer. Medium concentration, sweet delicate red fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity and nice structure.

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• 2013 Maison Harbour Vosne-Romanée Champs-Perdrix 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  Medium nose displaying black fruits, blackberry, mushroom and a hint of pyrazine/green which made me to think stem inclusion but 100% destemmed. Medium concentration, mineral, bright acidity and noticeable tannins.

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• 2013 Maison Harbour Pommard 1er Cru Les Chanlins 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru

  Nicholas mentioned Pommard typicity and I agree. The fruit expression is much riper here than the other reds, licorice, blackberry jam, sweet spices, treebark and earth. Very good concentration, dark jammy fruit driven palate impression, earth and noticeable tannins.

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It was a fun and informative tasting. I sincerely wish Maison Harbour very best!