Excellent 2010 Girardin and Chartron White Burgundies

It is already clear that 2010 is an excellent vintage for white as well as red Burgundies.

Meredith of Glengarrys organised this interesting tasting of 2010s from these two very good houses. The wines were tasted in two flights of four, with wines from each climat side-by-side, allowing a good comparison.

• 2010 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières 93 Points

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

  Colour slightly deeper gold than the Chartron Folatieres. Expressive nose of white flowers, spice, citrus, stone fruit, with some chalk. Some aromas of toasty oak also present, but not out of proportion. On palate, relatively sweet entry with bright, racy acids. Acids perhaps a little aggressive at the moment, due to the wine's youth. Relatively approachable but quite primary. Lovely, silky texture. Medium fruit weight, quite robust, plenty of stuffing here for medium term cellaring. Flavours peach and other orchard fruit, blanched nuts, mineral and chalk. Classy, to cellar 5+ years. From a large 1.5 ha parcel situated in Au Chaniot and Peux Bois.

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• 2010 Domaine Jean Chartron Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières 91 Points

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

  Colour pale gold. A dumber bouquet than the Girardin, dominated by lactic aromas: clotted cream and almond croissant, with lemon. Spicy oak is more prominent on the nose. On palate, this has heavier fruit weight but seems a bit monolithic, clumsy and unbalanced. Also, the acids dominate and the wine finishes a little shortish. But my sense is that the components are all there for the future and that this will come together in five or so years, when it may merit more than 91. Apparently, from vines 21-72 years old.

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• 2010 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 93 Points

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

  Colour of deep gold. The aromas have me thinking of minerality, wet stone, granite and steel. I also found some marine elements. In the mouth, racy, vivid acids to the fore. This wine is all about its lovely acid balance and freshness, but rich and dense. The flavours are citric, finishing on minerality. The acids provide excellent structure and a great acid spine. The wine is long, finishing on back palate intensity. Some tasters thought the wine oxidative, I thought it perhaps finished a little oxidative. A way to go for the wine to integrate, again I would give this at least 3-5 years cellar time.

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• 2010 Domaine Jean Chartron Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Pucelle 92 Points

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

  Bright gold colour. An attractive, fresh nose of citrus with a touch of honey. A silky, smooth entry to the palate. Good fruit weight, with fully ripe fruit and acids well integrated from front to back palate. Finishing on back palate intensity and minerals. However, to me, the Chartron is less concentrated than the Girardin and a bit too dominated by its acids at this stage for me to rate it as highly. From a monopole 1.16 ha of vines, aged 30-60 years old.

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• 2010 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne 94 Points

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

  Colour deep lemon. An expressive bouquet of stone fruit, chalk, churned butter, brioche, almonds, some cinnamon and spice, the best nose of the second flight of four wines. Also, a vanilla bean note, perhaps reflecting elevage. On palate a beautifully balanced and proportioned wine, not more than medium weight, but with sufficient Grand Cru level dry extract. Beautifully balanced acids, almost Grand Cru Chablis-like, but with additional weight. Needs medium term cellaring. From a mix of Aloxe and Pernand vines.

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• 2010 Domaine Jean Chartron Corton-Charlemagne 93 Points

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

  Gold colour. A nose of citrus and freshly buttered toast. Also a little spicy oak, more visible than on the Girardin and showing some oxidised winemaking. A little awkward and unbalanced on the palate, the components yet to fully integrate. On the other hand, there is the impression this is more evolved than most of the other wines here. Lovely texture, mouth feel and acidity, with good depth, fruit weight and power. Some oak is apparent on the back palate, long, finishing on vanilla flavours. Not a typical Corton. Ideally, I would not be looking at this for at least 6-8 years. From 0.08 ha of vines, 29 years old.

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• 2010 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chevalier-Montrachet 95 Points

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

  Lighter gold than the Chartron. A lovely bouquet of tropical and exotic fruits, particularly pineapple, and citrus. On palate, gorgeous texture and viscosity. Dense, driven and seriously structured. Noticeably heavier fruit weight and more concentrated than the other Girardins. Also beautifully precise and focused acids. As a young Grand Cru, shows prominent oak, but this will integrate with medium term or longer cellar time. All class.

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• 2010 Domaine Jean Chartron Chevalier-Montrachet Clos des Chevaliers 96 Points

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

  Colour deep gold. A nose of spice, citrus and blanched nuts. A sweet entry to the palate, rich and powerful with massive fruit weight and structure that hits the mid palate. The acids are there with almost stinging intensity on the back palate. This has even more serious mid palate stuffing than the Girardin Chevalier. At this stage, a bit of a brute but in proportion and elegant. It demands serious cellar time. My WOTN. From a monopole, vines 24-62 years old.

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