Hospices de Beaune
Tasted Saturday, November 19, 2016 by PanosKakaviatos with 422 views
Now the that the Hospices de Beaune auction is behind us - with a very good result overall for important charities - we can talk about some very, very early assessments of the quality of the vintage. Having visited the domain back in late September, and now having tasted many of the 45 cuvées red and white, with some reassuring comments and opinions from fellow wine loving writers Amanda Regan and Michael Apstein, I suppose it could be safe to say that the reds from this vintage will turn out better overall than the whites. And you know what? I'll leave it at that!
Indeed, for some people, tasting 2016 at such an absurdly early stage is "simply useless". That's how one prominent wine author put it over a lunch in Burgundy, but then again, he recently wrote an article on ... the quality of the wines! Lol!
Sure, most all wines have not yet undergone their malolactic fermentation, the whites especially were quite cloudy, out of balance and basically very difficult to assess. But for the past several years, I have enjoyed trying to assess the prenatal wines of the domaine of Hospices de Beaune, one day before they go under the hammer at the celebrated Hospices de Beaune wine auction. Once again, wine writers Amanda Regan and Michael Apstein joined me to trade notes and impressions, focusing mainly on structure, texture and length, while taking into account the aforementioned limited conditions. Indeed, it is quite fascinating to taste reds that have not yet undergone malolactic fermentation. What if the wines already seem rather round and soft? Would the ensuing lactic acid make the wines perhaps … too round and soft? Interestingly, I did not get that impression from the often rather structured 2016s tasted, that had still the malolactic to go.
All in all, quite promising for the reds.
Wine director Ludivine Griveau explained before the tasting that of the 32 red cuvées, only two had undergone full malolactic fermentation (the Beaune 1er Cru Maurice Drouhin and the Volnay Santenots 1er Cru Jehan de Massol). Nearly all of the 13 whites were very cloudy and conveyed a disjointed aspect overall. I recall my visit to the domain when grapes were coming in to the vat room, and how the reds seemed overall better looking than the whites. A few points that Ludivine raised: no whole cluster fermentation, no stirring of the lees this year, and no need to add corrective acidity for either the whites or the reds. Nevertheless, I wonder if they would have ended up doing better, had they acidified for some of the whites ...
2016 Hospices de Beaune Monthélie 1er Cru Les Duresses Cuvée Lebelin Jomain Freres
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Monthélie 1er Cru
This is textbook 2015 in a good way. As fellow taster Michael Apstein remarked, this is a textbook wine from the vintage: rich, dense and sweet and easy to taste! Reminded us of 2009 when tasted from barrel. 90-92+
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2016 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Maurice Drouhin Joseph Drouhin
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
Interesting to taste from barrel, just one day before the sale as this wine is still undergoing malolactic fermentation. OK even if it just had gone through the malolactic, I still get some malic acidity, and I like the structure and intensity of the fruit. It is quite impressive with a depth that should be evident upon release. 89-92
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2016 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Hugues et Louis Bétault Maison Louis Jadot
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
The nose is rather closed, but the palate shows much dry extract and a tannic edge about it. Quite promising. Nothing heavy or flabby about this. Can you say structure? 90-92
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2016 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Cyrot-Chaudron
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
Seems to match a bit of baby austerity with depth and fruit as well as tannin. I like how this seems to be at this stage. The aromatics are darker fruit, cherry, and plum with a touch of spice. And, yes, there seems to be fine balancing acidity. Director Ludivine Griveau said that there was no need for acidification. 89-91
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2016 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Cuvée Pierre Floquet Albert Bichot
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
High toned red fruit nose. Then rather spicy. The palate shows verve and brightness. Indeed, I was half expecting more dark fruit and decadence. Quite promising. Probably still some malic acid... 89-92
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2016 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Clos des Avaux
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
Here a first whiff of some dried raisin like fruit. Not extreme, but a touch of that. But the palate has more acidity than the nose seems to suggest, even an certain austerity with somewhat impenetrable (not hard) tannins. The underlying sap is nice! 90-92
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