Burgundy 2011 Day 5: Visit to Domaine Taupenot-Merme

This was the very last tasting visit of the trip, and a great way to end a long, tiring week. Romain Taupenot was the consumate host, nothing flashy or show-offy, but we all appreciated his quiet passion for the vines and wines of the Domaine. In a sense, his wines very much reflected his personality - very friendly and a real pleasure to be with, yet with a quiet sense of class and intellect undergirding everything. Best of all, the quality was consistent accross the board from a little Auxey-Duresses 1er to his superb pair of Charmes and Mazoyeres-Chambertin. Between Dujac, Clos des Lambrays and Clos des Tarts and Taupenot-Merme, the little village of Morey has a surfeit of top-notch producers ran by some of the nicest, most interesting people you will find in Burgundy. I must add a note to say how much of a relief it was at the end of a long week to have a tasting where we were all sitting down in comfortable chairs in a homely little attic. Kudos to Romain for making this a wonderful experience.

• 2010 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Charmes-Chambertin 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Excellent - this shows great promise. A touch reductive of the nose at first, but as it takes on air, it shows a very attractive nose with cherry pastilles, strawberries, flowers, a bit of Gevrey meat and earth, all shaded with a touch of oak. Really nice. Lovely palate too, with really fine tannins and a beautiful freshness framing a melting, creamy mouthfull, which spanned out in a spectrum of pure red fruit. The long finish showed bits of spice and mineral and a linger of floral notes. Focused, well-integrated, lovely concentration - a beautiful wine. I thought the Mazoyeres might have had just that slight edge in terms of depth and structure, but this was clearly faster out of the blocks, at least in terms of ready, accesible and immediately delicious it was. No pun intended, but this was a charming wine from head to toe.92-93

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• 2010 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Mazoyères-Chambertin 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazoyères-Chambertin Grand Cru

  I have always really liked the Domaine's Mazoyères, and this sneak peak from the barrel showed just how good they can get. From 54 year old wines, this tasted every so different from the Charmes and, in my opinion, was just that notch better. A bit reductive on the nose to start off as well, but when it got going, it showed a deeper, darker bouquet than Charmes, more meat, more earth, some root herb scents at the front, and then lovely deep fruit aromas of cherries and red berries seasoned with a little layer of oak. Really solid stuff. I thought the palate was rather deeper and darker than Charmes aswell. This had a lovely velvety depth to its fruit, really pure, really long, an almost intense expression, with a mix of dark cherries and sweeter morellos stretching away in the mouth, and then just a light seasoning of spice and mineral with a floating floral linger alongside. Lovely balance, lovely finesse in its structure, a beautiful wine. This had a bit more in its tank than the already lovely Charmes, and should age just that bit better. One to watch out for upon release. 92-94

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• 2009 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Bel-Air 92 Points

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

  Wow - I really liked this, it was certainly punching above its weight. Very Gevrey on the nose here - some red peppercorn scents sprinkled over sweet red cherries and raspberries, a bit of meat some ferrous mineral. Very nice. It was the palate that really grabbed the attention though. This had a lovely clarity - pure, so transparent, it had some lovely sweet red strawberry fruit, but you could almost see straight through that into another deeper layer of earth, mineral, metal and meat. Well-structured, but all beautifully integrated as the wine slid into a long finish where there was a surprising kiss of gently mouthwatering acidity at the very end. An excellent 1er Cru which showed well on the day, but also promised much more for the future.

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• 2009 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Corton-Rognet 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  Clearly a shift south in terroir as we got to this wine, but no drop in quality. This was very nice as well. The nose showed lots of mineral and earth aromas peppered with spice, herbs, pine cones and dark cherry scents. A slightly change of gear on the palate though. Here, there was a lovely cool expression of blue and black fruit showing plenty of power and ripe succulence. It was well supported though, with a very firm but still surprisingly refined backbone running the length of the wine. The wine actually had lots of finesse for all that muscular structure. Past the mid-palate, the fruit rode on a background of earh, spice and mineral, with a lovely drift of floral notes that carried the wine into the long finish. A very nice wine, but this needs plenty of time to unfurl.

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• 2008 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru La Riotte 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru

  The run of lovely wines continued into the 2008s with this one. Lovely nose here, with sweet baking spices, dark cherries and flowers. Really attractive, and very nice on the palate too. What really stood out for me was the beautiful balance and complexity on such a young wine, with melting acidity and velvety but still grippy tannins framing succulent flavours of blue and red fruits with a background of meatiness and white pepper notes. Focused, precise and lovely to drink. The nice finish contirbuted with quite a bit of length too, with a linger of spice and mineral. So many things were showing even at its age. Very nice indeed, this is one that would be nice to cellar.

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• 2008 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  The second of the 2008s, and this was perhaps even more impressive. What a lovely nose here, with tons of wet stone, spice, black and blue fruit scents and bits of dark chocolates with cherry liquer centres. Deep, dark and intriguing, with some gorgeous minerality. I really liked the bouquet on this one. The palate was surprisingly friendly, with lovely melting tannins and nicely integrated acidity on the attack and very pure black and blue fruit flavours. However, there was still a clearly firm NSG sense of structure, just that the wine came together with such finesse and poise. At the finish, a firm layer of fine tannins coated the mouth, as if reminding you of where the wine was from, before leaving a touch of spice that pulled away into the distance. Very good indeed - this is another one for the long-term.

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• 2008 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Mazoyères-Chambertin 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazoyères-Chambertin Grand Cru

  A brilliant effort. What an incredible nose on this, pure redcurrants, earth, meat, some floral notes. So very Gevrey. The palate was absolutely beautiful as well. This wine had just perfect, perfect balance. It literally seemed to melt across the mouth in a velvety glide of pure, deep red fruit. Just tons of concentration, but so incredible fine and classy. Not quite weightless, but absolutely poised, focus and precise, with an incredible, integrated length riding on a rather more savoury back-drop of meat and earth. Drop-dead gorgeous, this deserves to be kept aside for many years yet, but it should be a beautiful wine when it hits its stride.

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• 2007 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru Rouge 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru

  This wine stood out for me, not so much because it was better than any of the other wines on show, but for the great QPR it offers. A blend from two of the top 1er Cru plots in Auxey, it had a very pretty nose, with lots of pure cherry scents wed to some earth and mineral. The palate was round, soft, and elegant, entering the mouth with a caress of dark cherry fruit leading onto a fleshy midpalate and then a long, spicy finish buttressed with fine grippy tannins. So friendly, drinking wonderfully now, yet it was certainly not a simple wine. A wonderful example of well-made 2007 red.

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• 2007 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Charmes-Chambertin 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Last wine of the line-up, and this was showing very nicely. Lovely aromatics here. It started out with Some cheesy Epoisse notes, but those blow out slightly. What really stood out was the fresh cherry fruit aromas, along with a lift of cherry tomatoes and lovely floral scents layered over just a little touch of meat. This led nicely into the palate, which had beautiful cherry fruit just gliding across the mouth with great energy and freshness and showing surprising depth for a 2007. There was just a bit of spice and earth as it danced into a long, detailed finish. Not the longest aging wine I think, but this was an incredible charming wine with a lot of elegance to it. Everything a good Charmes should be. Beautiful to drink now, but it should continue improving in the short to medium term.

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