Maison Champy 2008 and 2009 Wine Tasting

Most of the Lieu-dit Cru, my Chicago-based Burgundy dinner group, came to Burgundy and our first stop (no rest allowed) was to visit our friends Pierre Meurgey and Dimitri Bazas at Maison Champy. They had arranged an amazing tasting of dozens of 2008 and 2009 red and white Burgundies for us to taste. We went through red 2008, white 2008, then barrel samples of 2009 red and 2009 white. Many of the 2009 reds hadn't finished (or even started) malolactic fermentation so I didn't take notes on those.

Thank you to Pierre and Dimitri for your incredible hospitality, as always!

• 2008 Maison Champy Pommard

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard

  Tasting at Maison. Big structure, firm black fruit, borderline rustic, well supported with good mineral and acid elements.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Volnay

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay

  Tasting. Perfumed, elegant start with charming red fruit. Classically Volnay, this will most likely be a great value young drinking wine.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Vosne-Romanée

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  Tasting. From a lieu-dit, Basses Mazieres, just below Suchots. Mostly red fruit, overall quite attractive with subtle spice hints on nose and palate. Hints of power on finish.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Chambolle-Musigny

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  Tasting at Maison. Modest fruit aromas with good spice. Well textured with a firm, spicy, textured finish. Very Chambolle. From a plot just below Charmes.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Beaune 1er Cru Les Cras

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

  Tasting at Maison. Bright fruit, very fresh, but also lots of depth and power. Well balanced start, good length, slightly firm finish. Will be very good for its level with 3+ years in the cellar.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Les Fichots

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

  Tasting at Maison. Good red cherry start . Finished a little less interesting with rustic, tannic edges.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots

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

  Tasting at Maison. Bright red cherry and strawberry start, never would have thought Pommard if smelled blind. More "Pommard" on palate with assertive tannins right now slightly hiding the bright fruit. Moderate length.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds

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

  Tasting at Maison. Red cherry and raspberry aromas with lots of fresh herbs and delicate spice. Floral support makes this classically Volnay. Similar flavor profile with good fruit intensity. Very long, persistent finish. This will be a very good value wine.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Corton

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  Tasting at Maison. Big and dense black fruit aromas and flavors, very classically Corton in style with lots of firm character and structure at this stage, so not providing much pleasure right now.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers

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

  Tasting at Maison. Black fruit aromas with some gamy hints, licorice and black pepper. Well structured but good balance given great fruit depth and intensity. This will be a great value wine.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  Tasting at Maison. Wonderful spice start with red fruit. Charming start as well on palate, picking up weight and density towards finish. Needs cellar time. Probably also a very good value.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Echezeaux

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

  Tasting at Maison. Impressive Vosne spice to start with black cherry and a slight floral note. 100% new oak will need some time to integrate. Very good.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Clos Vougeot

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

  Tasting at Maison. An interesting contrast to the Echezeaux just tasting, which I slightly preferred. This is less alluring and more firmly structured but also with slightly greater density. It will be interesting to compare again side-by-side in ten years.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Mazis-Chambertin

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

  Tasting at Maison. Often a personal favorite from the Champy lineup, this showed lots of sulfur that never really dissipated so impossible to fairly assess, but clearly lots of great fruit concentration.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Charmes-Chambertin

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

  Tasting at Maison. Slightly reductive to start. Big, bold black fruit aromas and flavors. Good meaty character and textures with robust, hearty spice.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Murgers des Dents de Chien Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

  Tasting at Maison. Floral and spice driven start with apple and pear. Give some time for oak to soften, but a very good value, prob best 2013-2018.

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• 2008 Maison Champy Corton-Charlemagne

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

  Tasting at Maison. Lots of great raw material here. Sweet, ripe orchard fruit aromas and flavors, perhaps slightly candied with some new oak spice still a bit pronounced. I'd expect this to easily be in "90+ point" territory with another year or two in bottle.

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There were also several wines in the very early stages of ML showing great promise, most notably the Gevrey-Chambertin LSJ and the Charmes-Chambertin.

• 2009 Maison Champy Pommard

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard

  Tasting at Maison. All black fruit on nose and palate. Dense and powerful, impressive for its level with plenty of structure and stuffing. Prob better in 2019 than today.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Chambolle-Musigny

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  Tasting at Maison. Lots of red fruit that was already east to enjoy. This had 100% finished malo already. Some good density and flavors, just not quite the charm and textures that make me think Chambolle. Probably very good 2012-2017.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots

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

  Tasting at Maison. Most of the way through malolactic fermentation. Lots of black fruit power and density coming through already, showing great potential.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds

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

  Tasting at Maison. Big and bold fruit aromas with robust spice. Large scaled for now for Volnay but already close to balance. Exciting energy on finish. Interesting that this was completely finished with ML while the Villages Volnay was still in its early stages. Often one of my favorites from Champy, I don't think Taillepieds will disappoint in 2009!

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• 2009 Maison Champy Corton

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  Tasting at Maison. Slightly reticent start that reluctantly shows great black fruit concentration and power. Not as backward as I expected from Corton, this is showing balance and incredible charm already. Perhaps a rare early drinking Corton? Certainly great "90+ point" potential here.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers

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

  Barrel tasting at Maison. Good combination of red and black fruit, fairly firm and powerful. Good balance and integration already but the structure that makes me think this will need close to 10 years in the cellar.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Mazis-Chambertin

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

  Barrel sample at Maison. Mostly black fruit aromas, slightly floral, great spice. Exceptional blackberry and boysenberry flavors, fresh, long and powerful. Easily 92+ point potential. Typically this is my favorite Champy Grand Cru and 2009 doesn't disappoint at all.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pernand-Vergelesses

  From barrel at Maison. Bright tart apple aromas, same on palate. Probably will be a great value young drinking 2009.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Sous Frétille Blanc

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

  From barrel at Maison. A step up from the Villages wine, lots of apple and lemon with good mineral and textural components. Very good.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Beaune 1er Cru Les Reversées Blanc

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

  From barrel at Maison. Slightly more ripe than the wines from Pernand Vergelesses just tasted, this was rounder and fleshier, so perhaps prettier and easier for anybody to enjoy.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Chassagne-Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet

  From barrel at Maison. Also ripe and fleshy, with more subtle hints of being from Chassagne.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Castets Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

  From barrel at Maison. Floral and perfumed start, then apple and lemon on palate with lots of verve and energy. I preferred this to the Beaune and Chassagne just tasted.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Murgers des Dents de Chien Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru

  From barrel at Maison. Impressive with youth vibrancy. Floral and charming aromatic start with lemon and lemon zest. Good concentration on palate with helpful minerality and acidity. Worth seeking out.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Meursault 1er Cru Blagny

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

  From barrel at Maison. Apple and peach aromas and flavors. Big fruit, lots of extract, but this seems less balanced than a few others today, so I think will need more cellar time.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes

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

  From barrel at Maison. Floral start with ripe apple and peach. Fleshy and fat fruit flavors, but with the energy and tension to hold everything together. Attention getting, worth seeking out.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot

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

  From barrel at Maison. Apple and pear, some peach in background. Much more subtle than the Chenevottes just tasted, also slightly less power.

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• 2009 Maison Champy Corton-Charlemagne

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

  From barrel at Maison. Big, fat and buttery start, then slightly more firm and elegant from middle to finish. Certainly will have "90+ point" potential, but probably best as a young drinking Grand Cru.

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