Rapet Père et Fils & Ludovic Belin dinner

Cousins Vincent Rapet and Ludovic Belin were in town and William organised a dinner around their wines at the ever-reliable Kingyo. The dinner was focused on the wines from the North of the Cote de Beaune where the respective Domaines are situated. We had a great time catching up with our friends from Burgundy over some great food, good conversation and lovely wines covering a series of very strong vintages. The 1985 Corton was a real stand-out, but I also really loved the 1978 Aloxe villages, and what we saw of the baby 2010 whites, which bodes well for the vintage. Dinner was adjourned to an after party, for which I have posted separate notes.

• NV Sélection Ludovic Belin Crémant de Bourgogne l'Exception Blanc de Blancs 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Crémant de Bourgogne

  Enjoyable. This was a fresh, lively wine, from its gentle drifts of lime, white fruit and mineral on the nose to a bright, zippy palate marked by more citrus notes on the attack, a green apple midpalate and a nice minerally tail. Nothing too complex, but this was a nice mouthful with its fine mousse and fresh feel. I thought it was perhaps a tad better when we last tried it in Burgundy, but I would happily have this as an aperitif in any dinner.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Rapet Père et Fils Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru En Caradeux Blanc 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru

  Good. This was probably the most approachable of the whites we had today. Double decanted and left to breathe in the bottle for an hour, it showed a beautiful nose bursting with white flowers - very perfumed, almost white musk-like here - along with peach, pear and sweet grapefruit aromas. There was a bit of almond nut mixed in as well. Really attractive. The palate came across as really, really young though. Its creamily textured attack was still dominated by lots of primary fruit, with sweet green apples moving into cirtussy lime and grapefruit notes, all still couched in a little layer of vanillin and almond oak notes. The wine had lovely balance with lots of fresh acidity, a good bit of stucture, and a nice finish - a lot to like here, but this needs time yet to shed its puppy fat and for the oak to mellow a bit. Nice stuff though. This too needs a couple of years after release to start showing well I think.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Rapet Père et Fils Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Sous Frétille Blanc 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru

  Another good, young white with a lot of potential. While the 2010 En Caradeux seemed a bit more approachable, rather friendlier, I thought this was the wine with the greater stuffing. There was still plenty of oak on the nose with some smoky vanilla bean notes alongside sweet fleshy stone fruit and flower scents. The palate had rather more flesh and depth than the previous wine, with a layered expression of white fruit and maybe a bit of peach and a hint of nectarine, lined on the midpalate with a suggestion of mineral and a nice hint of earthiness towards a full finish. There was a really solid grip to this and a lovely sense of balance and focus. Still primary, but this has lots of promise. Very nice.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2009 Domaine Ludovic Belin Savigny-lès-Beaune Sélection de Leo-Paul 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune

  A bottle made from the Domaine's best barrel of Savigny village as chosen by fellow winemakers and named after Ludovic's Belin son, this was decent enough, but needs time - it tastes a bit like a new world Pinot at the moment. There was lots of fruit here, so much so that the nose smelt for all the world like Roundtree Blackcurrant Fruit Pastilles touched with some Savigny earth aromas and fresh oak notes. The palate, again, was very primary, with lots of blackcurrant flavours, some blackberries and a little layer of fine tannins. Towards the finish, that dose of new oak popped out again with coffee-ish nuances. This was a pleasant drink with good depth for a village and good balance, but it needs time. If it was blind, I well may have guess Oregon Pinot with all that fruit.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2009 Domaine Ludovic Belin Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières Très Vieilles Vignes 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  I really liked this once again. It had a nice nose, rather ripe given the vintage, with strawberries and dark cherries, a dose of earth and a lovely waft of flowers. Classic Savigny with just that little show of 2009 sweetness to it. The palate was really lovely. It had an elegant clarity to it that lifted it several notches above the Savigny village on the same flight, a nice sense purity and an easy balance that to its strawberry and black cherry flavours that made it a really delicious drink in even in its youth. It was still very primary though, still showing mostly fruit before a little bit of earth and mineral showed up towards the finish. A bit simple, especially since this was popped and poured, but this has the structure and depth to age. Lovely stuff and solid value at its price.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1988 Rapet Père et Fils Aloxe-Corton 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Aloxe-Corton

  I enjoyed this quite a bit. It had a lovely nose. A bit tight maybe, a bit subtle, but it had a lot of charm in its nice gentle drifts of earth, dark cherries and spice. The palate was typical 1988. It had lovely acidity and freshness, lovely focus, nice enough depth to its black cherry flavours, but the earthy, minerally finish was a little austere, with a characteristic layer of firm, slightly woody tannins in the back-palate. No complains though, this was really nice for a village hitting its 24th year and an excellent food wine given the structure on it. Good stuff.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1978 Rapet Père et Fils Aloxe-Corton 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Aloxe-Corton

  This was an amazing village - a real display of just how good a vintage 1978 was. It had really beautiful nose that could not have come from anywhere but Burgundy with its gentle aromas of earthy undergrowth, stony mineral, a bit of meat and then some dark cherry and berry notes. Really nice. With time, this was met with just a hint of herbal spiciness. I liked that, but it was actually the palate that wow-ed me more. It was hard to believe that that this was a village past its 30th year. It was beautifully balanced, still really fresh, but with a deliciously resolved feel to its dark fruited flavours lined with earth and stony minerality. The finish was not the most powerful, but that would be nitpicking. It certainly had plenty of depth, beyond what you would expect from many a young village wine, with a delicious mouthful of dried strawberries and haw flakes that started filling-in at the midpalate and carrying on into the finish, where it was met with a spicy herbal lilt. Superbly integrated and a joy to drink - this was a fine wine quite at peak.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1985 Rapet Père et Fils Corton 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  This was beautiful. Far and away the wine of the night. I loved the nose here, with its notes of dried longans and red dates, a deep layer of earth, a bit of cooked meat, all surrounded with a halo of dried flowers. Beautiful, but as with the 1978 Aloxe that preceded it, the palate was even better. This was quite amazing. Still super fresh, really lively, with a fine dance of silky tannins and bright acidity streaming through wonderful pure, almost transparent flavours of fresh black cherries - this was a wine where every sip just called for another. Delicious, and it had all the elegance and finesse that you would expect from a good 1985 Grand Cru as well. Perfectly balanced, wonderfully structured, and ever so long in the mouth, it ended with a lovely spiciness in a deceptively fresh and light-feeling finish. Deceptive, because there was actually plenty of power in there. This was quite the complete wine. Beautiful stuff at a nice place for drinking now. Great with a Pork Shiogayaki dish too. I loved this.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1976 Rapet Père et Fils Corton 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  A nice enough wine with plenty of Grand Cru depth, but perhaps lacking a bit in finesse, especially since it had the misfortune of coming behind a fantastic 1985 Corton. There was lots of spice on the nose with this one, almost Vosne like with its notes of cloves, star anise and other wood spices. Behind that though, there was a nice ring of dark fruit with a bit of 1976 roasted toastiness to it. The palate was very rich, very 1976 in character indeed, with a slightly roasted edged to its dark cherry and earth notes packed with firm tannins. It was nicely balanced though, with a good bit of acidity to its rich, warm vinatge flavours. Finish was very dececent with a nice bit of dried strawberries and some black tea notes. A decent wine, if maybe a little on the rustic side.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2002 Domaine Alain Michelot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains 91 Points

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

  From a magnum, this was way too young to drink. Still though, this was a nice glimpse of a wine of some quality. The nose was really tight on first pour, only slowly opening up with nice little notes of black cherries and earth, gentle bits of spice and plenty of wet, stony mineral aromas. The palate was really tight too, with some primary dark fruit, maybe black cherries, rather buried under a layer of fine but super-frim tannins. This could only either be a 2002 NSG, a Pommard of a Corton with that amount of firmness wed to a superbly balanced dark fruited character. I guessed Corton, but really should have known better from the way the finish licked away at the back-palate with a whole lot of spice suggesting territory closer to Vosne. This needs a lot of time yet. It is still quite a structured beast at the moment, but it should come good in a decade of so.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Rapet Père et Fils Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Le Clos du Village Blanc 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru

  I thought this was quite good. It had a rich nose, with ripe yellow fruit aromas touched with a floral undertone. Very expressive. The palate carried on the same line, with a plump fleshiness in its ripe, sweet lemon notes shading into stone fruit territory by the midpalate. Ripe, plenty of fruit, but there was also lots of bright acidity to balance it all off. A bit simple at the moment, but this was enjoyable and should improve over time.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Rapet Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  Lots of promise, but definitely too young at the moment. Double-decanted a couple of hours before serving, this was still tightly closed on the nose. It took quite a bit of air to coax out subtle notes of chalk and toasted almonds at first, and then some stone fruit and apple flesh scents, and finally a little flowal lilt. There was a lot of depth promised in those aromas, but they somehow came across as still rather ephemereal and indistinct. The palate though showed quite a bit better. It had a lovely natural richness to it, with ripe yellow fruited flavours on the attack and midpalate, where they were met with sweet lemon notes, and then a bit of toast, earth, spice at a long, lively, energetic finish. A bit of chalk minerality undergirded the whole package like an anchor weight. Like the nose, there was tons of Grand Cru depth here, yet it is well-balanced and linear enough to be a good foil for our Aburi Sushi dishes. This is a wine that shows plenty of promise, but it needs a lot of time.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2007 Rapet Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  This was a really soild wine. Like the 2010 that preceded it, rather too young to drink, but it was at least showing a bit more development, allowing us tantalising glimpses into its future. I really liked the nose. Chalk, flint and earthy aromas floated around a core of fleshy white fruit scents, a hint of flowers myabe and some savoury mushroomy nuances. Very nice. The palate was really solid too. It had plenty of ripe fruit, with rich red apples notes shading into stone fruit territory, nectarines maybe, along with a little bits of toast and earth and macadamia nuts. Plenty of depth married to the lovely sense of structure, focus and balance that I so love in the best whites from 2007. It had a really long finish too, with more nutty accents playing alongside white fruit and mineral notes. This was a very solid white Burg that should be a great drink in years down the road. I would give it 4 years at least, 6 or 7 to be very safe.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2004 Borkülönlegess Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos Édes 92 Points

  Hungary, Tokaji

  This was really enjoyable. The nose spilled out of the glass with gentle swaths of raisins and sultanas coated with a maple and honey aromas. This was met with a really well-balanced palate dripping with more sultanas, honey and dried figs. Not the strongest, deepest nor the most complex Tokaji, but boy was it yummy and well-balanced. A sweet treat to end the night.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No