2015 La Paulée Grand Tasting

Metropolitan Pavilion, New York
Tasted Saturday, February 28, 2015 by drwine2001 with 855 views

Introduction

Despite my best efforts, I missed some great wines (e.g., Faiveley Clos de Bèze, Bouchard Chevalier-Montrachet--drat) and passed on others due to palatal and physical fatigue as well as running low on descriptors that could characterize the wines in a meaningful way. This was a great event with producers exhibiting exceptional generosity with their rarities, sommeliers displaying good humor and patience in the face of the Burgundy-crazed masses, and New York restaurateurs putting out a marvelous array of small and not so small snacks to fuel the festivities.

Flight 1 (87 Notes)

Closing

Reflecting on both this event and the Verticals session, there were producers that outperformed and those that failed to deliver. Wines that exceeded my expectations included Paul Pillot's Chassagnes and Anne Parent's Pommards. Pierre-Yves Colin is hardly unknown these days, but he makes such fine wines at all levels that he deserves mention. Similarly, Olivier Bernstein has taken critics by storm, but I had never tried the high end examples, and they were remarkable. On the flip side were the big names with small results. I would include Méo-Camuzet, Lafon (for some of the Meursaults, anyway), Lafarge (nice of you to bring awful 2011 Volnays instead of '12s), and Clos de Tart.

As for what I learned about the 2012 vintage, I would summarize by saying that these wines are relatively easygoing and hard not to like. 2012 is definitely better than 2011 for the reds, but to my taste, there is not much of a quality gap between the whites from these 2 vintages; both seem very good with relatively few high peaks. Whites from both vintages can be a little soft, and I imagine that both vintages' white wines should be drunk over the near to intermediate term. The reds are no match for 2010; there are far fewer exciting, profound wines with the sort of structural tension and balance that the best '10s possess. Reading through my notes, I see that only rarely did I mention high acidity or particularly rough tannins. These are charming, fluid, red fruit leaning wines that are generally well balanced and should also have a broad, midterm drinking curve. I think they have a lot in common with 2002s, although the acidity levels seem a tad lower, and we'd be lucky if 2012s turn out as well as many red wines from that vintage.

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