Ruchottes-Chambertin Dinner

Boka - Chicago IL
Tasted Monday, April 9, 2012 by Burgundy Al with 726 views

Introduction

My Burgundy tasting group. the Lieu-dit Cru, got together for an evening focused on Ruchottes-Chambertin. This is the 3rd of of our clockwise Gevrey-Chambertin Grand Cru "cycle," in which we started with Chambertin and will end with Latricieres-Chambertin

Flight 1 - Champagne to Start (1 Note)

  • 1996 Bollinger Champagne R.D. Extra Brut 89 Points

    France, Champagne

    You either like this style or you don't. I don't...but understand how others will. Plenty of ripe fruit behind fairly assertive bready and yeasty character on nose and palate. Powerful and long, but nothing really bright or fresh about this wine.

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Flight 2 - Blind Whites (2 Notes)

We typically have two whites wines with some undisclosed relationship, served blind. I brought these two. One vintage apart, my favorite producers of Batard-Montrachet and Bienvenues Batard-Montrachet.

  • 2000 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet 94 Points

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

    Powerful stone fruit aromas with slight traces of mint and licorice. Peach and ripe apple flavors, lean and precise, with an expanding finish. Very vibrant and fresh, lots of energy. Long life ahead for this wine.

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  • 1999 Louis Carillon Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

    Mature ripe apple and tropical fruit aromas with new oak spice. Similar palate with more prominent spice. Also fairly mature. If representative, i would have imagined this as better a few years back, but still drinking well.

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Flight 3 - Older Ruchottes (5 Notes)

  • 1989 Frederic Esmonin Ruchottes-Chambertin 83 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Funky, slightly dirty, also a bit over-ripe, so many of us were able to identify this as the 1989. Reasonable black fruit flavors with a good earthy complement. Less interesting on finish, which didn't come across as particularly pristine.

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  • 1988 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Ruchottes-Chambertin 87 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Fill was good but cork not perfectly snug, some liquid under the capsule. Mature black fruit on nose and palate with lots of tannins and acidity. Not perfectly balanced, even slightly coarse on finish.

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  • 1986 Maison Leroy Ruchottes-Chambertin 88 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Lean red cherry with modest spice. Elegant but short. This didn't come across as particularly "Leroy" to any of us tonight. Not as good as another bottle from 6 months ago.

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  • 1988 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes 92 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Charming nose combining black fruit, cooked mushroom and meaty spice. Palate showed both black and red cherry, very powerful and friendly today. My wine of the flight, just a slight partial step over the lovely Roumier 1980, but most others preferred the Roumier.

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  • 1980 Christophe Roumier Ruchottes-Chambertin 92 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Perfumed nose with black fruit in balance with mushroom aromas. Palate was slightly more earthy, still showing black cherry, also lots of structure and power on long finish. Still fairly firm. This was one of my favorites, but WOTN for several people in our group tonight.

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Flight 4 - Middle Aged Roumier (3 Notes)

  • 1995 Christophe Roumier Ruchottes-Chambertin 93 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Black cherry on nose and palate, some plum in background. Lots of power, acidity and tannins. This is a firm wine today with incredible potential. I preferred this wine more than most others tonight. I expect this will be even better in another 5 years.

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  • 1997 Christophe Roumier Ruchottes-Chambertin 91 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Rich red fruit nose, very approachable with some earthy hints. Red fruit flavors as well with good textures. Very easy to enjoy now. I was surprised to see this was the 1997, it showed no hints of being too ripe.

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  • 1998 Christophe Roumier Ruchottes-Chambertin 90 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Good red fruit, simple and direct. At its peak now. I was surprised to see this as the 1998 when unveiled, this wasn't nearly as interesting as another bottle from a year ago.

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Flight 5 - 1996 (4 Notes)

  • 1996 Christophe Roumier Ruchottes-Chambertin 86 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Decanted 2 hours, a sad error on my part. My least favorite wine of the flight, a very perplexing wine. Plenty of red cherry, modest spice. Lean almost thin red fruit with way too much prominent acidity, even a little bit green tonight. Didn't really show the good aspects of 1996 character to me.

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  • 1996 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes 94 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Decanted 2 hours. Powerful black fruit with dense meaty spice aromas. Lush fruit on palate. Everything comes across as big. I've rarely been a big fan of Rousseau Clos des Ruchottes, but tonight's experience, particularly with this wine, has changed my thinking. Close call, but this was my Wine of the Night.

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  • 1996 Frederic Esmonin Ruchottes-Chambertin 90 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Good black fruit on nose and palate, with black pepper aromas. Moderate intensity and nuance but overall good flavors. At its peak today.

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  • 1996 Louis Jadot Ruchottes-Chambertin 92 Points

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

    Tasted single blind. Lush black fruit nose with lots of power and ripe aromas. Palate also shows lots of black fruit power and concentration to start, just a little simpler on finish, with modest spice. Very easy to enjoy, this is at its peak now.

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Flight 6 - Young Ruchottes (3 Notes)

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