En Remilly & Clos St Jacques night

Lovely idea by Sidney to organise a focused tasting night of Chassagne En Remilly, a small 1er Cru of ~1.5 hectars and quite a few producers. The wines are a bit off the beaten track and difficult to find.

The format was single blind 2 flights of 4 white wines each, where the producers and vintages of 7 of the 8 wines were known (all being Chassagne En Remilly) and 1 wine was a mystery Chevalier Montrachet.

After that we had a flight of all 5 Clos St Jacques producers from the 2007 vintage.

• 2002 Hubert Paulet Champagne Cuvée Risleus Brut 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  Served blind to kick off a terrific evening. Beautiful champagne - my guess was blanc de noirs grower, brut with dosage ~8g. This had some deft oak on it but it was integrated enough and I quite enjoyed that wood influence here. Apparently Hubert Paulet sells half his grapes to Billecart. based on this showing I am a fan!

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• 2015 Maison Harbour Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly 92 Points

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

  Identified correctly as 2015. This was immediately seductive and showed lovely honey tones but had some structure at the end to it although not as much as the more structured Lucien le Moine. My #2/4 favorite after Lucien Le Moine 15 in this flight.

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• 2015 Michel Colin-Deléger et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly 90 Points

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

  Identified correctly as 2015. A pleasant wine and drinking very well now but too my palate a bit too obvious and simple with the sweet ripeness of the vintage offering very enjoyable honey and sweet pear but not enough structure. My #3/4 of the flight - a wine that in my mind is better drunk young as I don't think the structure for a long life is there.

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• 2015 Lucien Le Moine Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly 92 Points

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

  Identified correctly as 2015 Lucien Le Moine as I felt it had some more pronounced sulfur then others which I had found in some of Lucien Le Moine's reds before. So while I never tried any of their whites there seems to be some kind of "house style" that is distinguishable across reds & whites. This was my #1/4 in the flight and out of all the 2015s I would think has the best ageing potential. In fact I noted I was not 100% if it was 2015 but ultimately felt it, this has the benefit of the lovely ripeness of the vintage without sacrificing structure. Well done! 92+

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• 2015 Bruno Colin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly 90 Points

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

  Identified correctly as 2015. This and the Colin Deleger were very similar and too my palate while perfectly enjoyable a bit too obvious and showing too much sweet honey and pear without having the acidity I would like to see. This was my #4/4 but close call with the Deleger for #4 spot. Not to say a bad wine but I would think an early drinker rather then a keeper.

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• 2010 Buisson-Charles Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly 92 Points

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

  After a flight of 2015s only this was the first served in flight #2. Correctly guessed as 2010 I very much liked this and after the almost overripe and obvious 2015s it came to show that 2010 is a lovely white vintage in that it marries both structure and ripeness perfectly. While no detailed notes I do remember thinking great wine. I only ultimately ended up scoring it #3/4 in flight number 2 but in flight one it would have tied for 1st. 92+

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• 2016 Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly 89 Points

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

  Correctly guessed as 2016. When it was poured by the sommelier I put my nose in the wide Burg Zalto glass and noted a very ripe fruit attack. I smelt lovely but a bit obvious. The wine went downhill from there on the nose. On the palate it was nice for a few seconds but then died in a very quick finish making me guess 2016 as I noticed this before in other white Burgs from the vintage. Conclusion for me is that 2016 white Burgundy is not by favourite. I preferred the 2015s served in the first flight although I also don't think 2015 is the very best of vintages for lack of structure for many wines. This 2016 was my #4/4 in flight 2 and my least preferred of all white wines served that evening. Still on its own though it would have made for a perfectly nice glass of wine. But the context did tease these conclusions out.

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• 2013 Philippe Colin Chevalier-Montrachet 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Well we know that there was one Chevalier among these 8 whites (all others being Chassagne En Remilly). This was identified by pretty much everyone in the group (including myself) as the mystery Chevalier. After a bit of air it did show another level of depth the other 1er Crus never reached and I noted "Grand Cru?". This showed very well and even though from a weaker vintage made a case for Grand Cru vs Premier Cru. It is nice to confirm this under blind conditions. Well done.

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• 2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Remilly 93 Points

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

  Guessed correctly PYMC 11 En Remilly. This was the most structured and interesting of all 7 En Remillys for me - just ahead Lucien Le Moine 15 and Buisson-Charles 2010. It was probably just my favorite of them all and it came #2/4 in this flight only because there was a Chevalier Montrachet which did just pip it. Strong showing and only the second wine I have had from this producer - on both occasions it delivered. I take note.

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• 2007 Sylvie Esmonin (Michel et Fille) Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques 92 Points

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

  After having this poured in my glass I felt it was sex in a glass. Such full ripe cherry I took a few sips and the sample served was gone very fast. When I had a repour I let it sit for a while and while I had felt it could have been a Rousseau or Fourrier initially it unfortunately died down a bit with air and became less and less interesting. Shame! Still my #3/5 in this flight but while at first I would have been in the purchasing camp my latest impression left me a non-buyer still. If I had this I would look to drink soon and serve pnp. The fruit is dying.

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• 2007 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques 94 Points

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

  A wonderful wine. One of those where after a long blind tasting you take a sip and take note and think that ought to be from a special producer. Drinking great now with a bit of air this and the milk lamb were a combination to die for. Lovely fruit but also some maturity, what's not to like? I kept going back and forth between this and the Fourrier version of same vineyard and vintage. Both were so amazing and only a hair breadth separated them. Ultimately my nod went Fourrier so this was #2/5 in this CSJ 07 flight. Very tight call though. 94+ Drink now-2025.

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• 2007 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Vieille Vigne 94 Points

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

  My red wine of the night - this proved just superior to Rousseau's version of the same vineyard and vintage, by a hair's breadth. Spectacular with the milk lamb. I kept going back and forth between this and Rousseau. As did the group. Grand Cru quality for sure and hats off to Fourrier. My red wine of the night and #1/5 in the flight. 94-95. Drink now-2030

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• 2007 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques Domaine Louis Jadot

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

  The only wine of the whole night with TCA issue - faint but just noticeable and there was not much to bring out of this wine. Shame. My guess is it would have been the worst wine in the line-up still, but obviously that's speculative. #5/5 in the flight.

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• 2007 Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques 89 Points

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

  Out of all the reds this was (aside of a TCA tainted Jadot) my least favorite by a mile. This was super short, had little to offer in terms of fruit. Did not scream 1er Cru leave alone CSJ. Disappointing and an average red Burg at best. #4/5 in this flight but clearly behind Esmonin and light years behind Rousseau and Fourrier.

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• 2007 Château Climens 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

  Always nice to conclude a great wine evening with a bit of sweet. This from half bottle was liquid gold and showed nice acidity, lovely creme brulee, not cloying and with good length.

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Terrific evening. A lot of fun and generally the quality level of the wines was high and fairly consistent. It did come to show though that it is a 1er Cru and not a Grand Cru with the Chevalier Montrachet being picked out by pretty much everyone in the group and also being named as white wine of the night.

The red flight showed that Clos St Jacques produces some wonderful wines and makes the point for Grand Cru level (in the hands of Rousseau and Fourrier). It was a good point to catch these 2007s as they were showing open and were highly enjoyable. Fourrier & Rousseau were the clear stand-outs - again identified by the group as best wines and as either Fourrier or Rousseau.