Burgundy, Day 3
Beaune, France
Tasted Thursday, February 13, 2020 by acyso with 595 views
Introduction
Preceding: https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=43928
Errors are mine and mine alone.
Flight 1 - Domaine Dujac (14 Notes)
2018 was picked pretty early, with a large red and white crop, the white relatively larger than the red. With the whites, Jeremy noted the trend of pushing the wines towards the lean, linear style to the point of greenness ("not everyone can make Roulot"), which didn't work this vintage, which was of a slightly more gentle style. This wasn't as broad as 2006 or 2009, but it was important to be extra precise when picking.
The alcohol levels were mostly contained, with only the F&P Gevrey and Gruenchers over 14%. For the reds, the wines are quite similar to 1999 with the large quantities and lots of fruit power.
In an unbiased manner, Jeremy discussed how Morey was never considered a bellwether of a vintage in the way a critic would say this year was a Chambolle vintage or such. 2016 is a Morey vintage (partially because it was so unaffected by the frosts). We asked Jeremy which of the two Morey Clos he preferred; he said that in the hotter years, Clos St. Denis ("Musigny is the Clos St. Denis of Chambolle") seems to do better. As well, there were replantings in 1989 that are starting to come of age.
Asking about the transition to organic, Jeremy said that the adoption made the vineyard differences starker. They started trials in 2001 and went 100% organic in 2008.
We had a very interesting discussion about premox in white Burgundy -- Jeremy hypothesized that the lack of juice browning in the production meant that it happened at a later time (in the bottle). Of course, juice browning is not permanent, and Jeremy cited some anecdotal evidence that some of the previously premoxed bottles were now coming around, so to speak. He also mentioned that he had never had a bottle of premoxed early-2000s Fevre.
We also discussed some of the challenges with the warmer vintages and climate change, and with respect to easy and difficult vintages to make, "let's not underestimate incompetence." When we went to talking about the frosts and how to deal with them, Jeremy dropped another pretty funny bomb about how it seemed inelegant to fight the problem of global warming with heating systems.
Flight 2 - Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg (8 Notes)
The wines here were just on the verge of being racked in preparation for bottling, so we were truly very lucky to be able to taste through a large swathe of the lineup with Marie-Andrée.
Flight 3 - Domaine Amiot-Servelle (7 Notes)
The domaine was founded quite recently, in 1990, from a relation of the Amiot in Morey. There is a total of 8 ha, and the wines are farmed 100% organically. We were hosted by the affable Antoine, who had some pretty amusing stories.
The 2016 vintage was particularly difficult; due to the frosts, 70% of the crop was lost.
To Antoine, Chambolle can be split into three sections. The Bonnes Mares, Fuées, Cras make up the masculine side, with burly, bloody wines, the Musigny and Amoureuses on the other side, and the central plots which are the charming (pun intended) and elegant part.
The 2018s were racked 2-3 weeks ago.
Flight 4 - Domaine Bruno Clair (18 Notes)
It was an absolute blast meeting Philippe Brun and translating for him. He is one of the most affable and fun spirits I've met here; a sly, mischievous fellow with a big heart.
The estate has a total of 25 ha, and makes a total of 28 wines. (In 2019, there will be a new cru, the Chambolle Charmes.) The US, UK, Japan, and Scandinavia are important export markets for the domaine, with 70% of the production being exported.
The oak treatment here is generally 20% new oak for the village, 30% for the 1er crus, and 40% for the grands crus.
2018 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis
Barrel sample. 13.8% abv. From plots with deeper soils. The nose is bright red cherry and a little bit of the archetypical Dujac spice. Despite the relatively higher alcohol level, this certainly doesn't feel hot, and the tart red fruit profile, along with the lean acids give this a really pretty elegance. Cheerful and easy to like, especially at this young age.
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2018 Domaine Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Barrel sample. There is a dense tannic character to this wine, which makes it stand out from the others in the tasting. The finish here leaves you with a little bit of a dusty tannin thing. On the other hand, the fruit profile does have a lot of the similar lightness of the other wines, with a touch more of black fruit. This vineyard benefits from cold air coming down the Gevrey combe.
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2018 Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
Barrel sample. Brilliant spice on the nose here; this is unmistakably Vosne. Generally more favourable in warmer vintages because where this is situated on the upper hill by the combe. There was described to have "austere minerality", which next to the Malconsorts was quite apt. Here the fruit is a little leaner, the wine more sinewy, with bright acids that keep the wine very fresh.
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2018 Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
Barrel sample. Next to the minerality of the Beaux Monts, the Malconsorts seems a lot more plush and voluptuous. There's more of a black-fruit focus here with a bigger, riper disposition. Broad-shouldered with more sappy fruit and less of the shapely mineral elegance. Both wines are excellent, but right now I enjoyed this more.
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2018 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Barrel sample. This was a little more difficult to grok. In terms of the Vosne wines, this seems more similar to the mineral-driven Beaux Monts than the opulent black-fruited Malconsorts. At the same time, this seems just more concentrated than the Beaux Monts. The tannins of the finish are a little gritty, but that's something that ought to go away with time.
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2018 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Barrel sample. An explosively spicy nose, with an upgrade in complexity compared with the Echezeaux. There's a generous amount of fruit (a mix of both red and black, but leaning more to red) here but also a delicacy to the intense concentration. There's a firm tannic structure that is probably most attributable to the youth. A brilliant wine, but for me overshadowed, as Jeremy perhaps alluded to, by the Clos St. Denis.
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2018 Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
Barrel sample. The pick of the litter for me. This shows a lot more of the solar character of the vintage. The fruit is even more explosive and broad than the Clos de la Roche, and there's just more of... pretty much everything... on this wine. On the palate the breadth of this wine is incredible, and there's just so much material to go on. This is the wine I will be ensuring goes into my cellar.
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2018 Domaine Dujac Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
We tasted two components of this wine. The first was the oaked fraction (7/8ths of the final cuvee) and the latter an unoaked component.
The oaked fraction showed a lovely honeyed tone with some florals as well. There's a slight bit of waxiness and a warm buttery quality. It's not the most complex wine (especially given the Combettes after) but there's plenty to like here. Certainly this wine wasn't lacking in the freshness or the acidity.
The unoaked component was very different, and frankly a little non-descript and uninteresting. It had good acidity and freshness, with a good kick of minerality, but served blind it could have been from anywhere. There was just a hint of green here too.
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2018 Domaine Dujac Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Tank(?) sample. From much older vines relative to the Folatières. A very rounded and complete wine; definitely not a wine made in the en vogue style of white Burgundy, this has a rounded and slightly polished texture. Good intensity and a really complex mineral cut. Lovely palate density here and no sign of the solar vintage whatsoever.
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2018 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Blanc 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru
Tank(?) sample. Ironically after Jeremy was laughing about the lean en vogue style of taut and slightly green white Burgundy, he serves us the lowest pH white wine on the Côte de Nuits. This clocks in with a pH of 3. Despite the really taut acids and the yellow and green citrus, this does have a reasonably full palate, though admittedly for my taste, I do prefer something that has a little more roundness.
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2017 Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
The contrast with the 2018 isn't as stark as I would have expected (though we didn't have them side-by-side); perhaps it is indeed the terroir that is taking the steering wheel here. Again, this is a wine of a slightly leaner, more mineral-driven disposition, and there is a lovely amount of lighter red fruit here. The acidity seems a little higher, but it's undeniable this is cut from the same cloth.
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2017 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
A bit of a step up from the Beaux Monts; this has a little less of the lean minerality and more of a fullness on the palate. More dense and concentrated, with a nice balance of red and black fruit here. The spiciness is also scaled up, and the Vosne spice is more open and apparent. This is, in some way, kind of a deliciously early-drinking grand cru, though it is a shame to kill this off so young.
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2006 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
From quarter-magnum and served double blind. This showed a moderate amount of sous-bois on the nose, and based on that, this had to be of moderate age. A really nice balance of red and black fruit, but also a relatively black and broad profile had me thinking that this was from a reasonably riper vintage. There was a bit of earthiness here as well, and I actually managed to guess the vintage correctly here.
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1999 Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos St. Denis Grand Cru
From quarter magnum and served double blind. Unequivocally a wine from the 90s based on the age and the way the brown spice showed. A very generous helping of fruit and some pretty intense tannins had me guessing my favourite vintage of that decade, 1993. The acidity here seemed to be a little bit higher as well. Beautiful stuff, and a textbook example of why we need to age our Burgundies. That said, the tannins on the finish don't seem remotely close to being fully resolved yet.
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