Wines in France
Tasted Thursday, April 10, 2025 - Sunday, April 20, 2025 by melvinyeowq with 452 views
Flight 1 - Dinner at L'Aspérule Dijon (3 Notes)
Superb meal with a strong Asian influence that was well-integrated.
Flight 2 - Domaine tasting at Fourrier (8 Notes)
Flight 3 - Lunch at Le Millésime (3 Notes)
Flight 5 - Wines at La Cuverie (2 Notes)
Drinking some Liger Belair while looking over their Clos du Chateau and La Colombiere vineyards on a sunny day was a dream.
Flight 6 - Dinner at Cave et cuisine (4 Notes)
Superb food and atmosphere at Fabienne's restaurant.
Flight 7 - Domaine tasting at Le Guellec-Ducouet (5 Notes)
A friend had high praise for Domaine Le Guellec Ducoet and I didn’t hesitate to visit. This is a relatively new domaine that is small in stature but high in quality (harvest is still done by friends and family). Michael studied plant science and came back in 2018 to restart his family domaine. He took us through the 2023s (detailed notes in comments) in his new facility, and also showed us the Clos Champs vineyard that is just behind his grandfather’s house which was also the old cellar. Michael is clearly a thoughtful winemaker and all his wines showed purity and energy that stylistically reminded me of Duroche but with sweeter fruit. All the 2023s (which were all destemmed) showed well, but my personal favourite were the CdN village and Clos Champs that were both serious for their level but expressive at the same time.
Flight 8 - Lunch at Caves Madeleine (1 Note)
Crap wine but one of the best food on the trip. These French bistros have a very high quality of food with interesting dishes that go beyond the boring clichéd ones that you get in Singapore.
Flight 9 - Visit to Drouhin (5 Notes)
I only wanted one negoce visit and it was a no-brainer to choose Drouhin; I love their signature lifted red fruit that is always full of purity and clarity. The walk through their underground cellars was truly experiencing history in the flesh with structures that date back to the third century. I also asked for a curated tasting since I wanted the signature wines of the estate, and was pleasantly surprised that the 2021 reds showed so brilliantly. Pierre the guide said that the domaine rates this vintage very highly and I could see why.
Flight 10 - Dinner at Cédric Burtin (5 Notes)
Excellent dinner that showcased a good mix of classic French techniques and inventive cooking.
Flight 11 - Lunch at Auprès du Clocher (4 Notes)
Fantastic 4 hour Sunday lunch that was unanimously the best meal of our trip for quality and value. Restaurant is a family run affair with Remi as the chef and his wife as front of house, and it is located right beside the grandfather’s butchery. Also was lucky enough to spot Pacalet having lunch at the next table who kindly offered us a glass of his wines.
Flight 12 - Dinner at Bissoh (2 Notes)
Flight 13 - Domaine tasting at Duroché (5 Notes)
isited one of my favourite domaines after meeting Pierre and Marianne at the last two POB Hong Kong events. One of the most aesthetic and immaculate wineries that we have seen, and we tasted through the 2023 Bourgogne Blanc, Gevrey village, LSJ, 2022 Gevrey village and the 2019 Gevrey en Vosne.
I have been buying these since the ‘16/17 vintage and these wines have been getting better and better every vintage. The wines always have a purity and precision while retaining the transparency and honesty of the Gevrey terroir. Interestingly only the larger production cuvees (Gevrey village and Champs) see new oak but the rest do not. They are also expanding their production with some Vosne plots from Marianne’s side of the family and some purchased grapes from Gevrey plots such as Combes Aux Moines, Chambertin and Chapelle-Chambertin. The smaller cuvees such as Griotte and Cazetiers (1/3) are also destemmed by hand. The surprise of the tasting was the 2019 Gevrey en Vosne, with only 4 barrels made from vines planted in 1934.
Flight 15 - Domaine tasting at Lafarge (10 Notes)
A superb visit with the lovely Eleonore at Lafarge, another one of my favourite Burgundy domaines. I love how this was still a tightly run family ship, with all members of the family working closely together (including the hens in the Clos du Château des Ducs vineyard that is right behind the estate; they get sent on holiday when the grapes flower because they eat up the grapes). The 2023 wines showed driven, precise red fruit that was relatively approachable (other than the Clos des Chenes which needed more time). While the wines showed the same DNA, there was a clear step up in each rung of the ladder. We also tasted some of the wines from their project in Beaujolais that were made in a Burgundian fashion. Uniformly high quality wines that have managed the recent warm vintages superbly, which is a testament to their dedication in the vineyards.
Flight 16 - Domaine tasting at Jacques Carillon (5 Notes)
I only scheduled one white visit (despite my love for whites) as a friend only drank reds, and I was lucky enough that my favourite white domaine accepted our request. Jacques said that the 2023s were just bottled a week before and might be in an awkward phase, but I found the wines to be crystalline and precise as usual. Jacques also shared my preference for cooler, underrated white vintages like 2007 and 2011 which have the potential to age because of their acidity. Jacques also shared that he hasn’t been to Asia but would be interested to visit, and is waiting for a call from their importer to do so. Such a shame that his wines are so difficult to find, I try to snap up any that I see.
Flight 19 - Domaine tasting at Bize (7 Notes)
Chisa was unfortunately ill so Hugo hosted us for a very entertaining and charming visit. Hugo recently rejoined the domaine after travelling around the world, including South America where he picked up some Spanish. He did his first internship at Gouges before going to wine school, but mentioned that he preferred to learn through experience. The domaine has made refinements in recent years to make wines in a more approachable manner, such as continuing Chisa’s biodynamic practices, as well as reducing the number of pigeages and increasing the use of pumpovers. He also mentioned that now the reds and whites are under the same winemaker who is a friend of the previous white winemaker (who left to start his domaine), while the previous red winemaker manages the vineyards now. We tasted through the 2022 SLB village red and white, and a vertical of SLB Aux Vergelesses.
Flight 21 - Domaine tasting at Texier (5 Notes)
In terms of content and candour, this was undoubtedly the best visit of the trip. Eric shared that he learnt the most from Monseiur Dodin about vineyard management in Macon, and said that vineyard work was much more important than winemaking which should be kept simple. I also completely agree with his approach towards northern Rhone syrahs, the best ones have whole cluster without punching down. He said that for single varietals, stems help to retain a lot of terroir information. Punching down was also only possible with destemming. He is also not dogmatic about sulphur, he will decide whether to add sulphur at bottling one summer at the harvest based on how the wines are behaving.
With climate change, it is becoming increasingly difficult to control the alcohol in places like Hermitage which can climb to above 16% without additional intervention. The harvest season also tends to run faster, increasing the pressure to pick quickly as the alcohol levels rise quickly. His preference has been to find cooler areas with granite soils to make low-alcohol wines. 2024 was a classic year similar to 2011; the grapes had some mildew but were clean, unlike 2021 which saw botrytis. 2023 was warm but balanced; 2022 was a drought vintage that saw high temperatures by end-May, but the exhausted vines were saved by rains near harvest time. He compared '22 to '09, while '10 was more like '85 which he thinks is one of the best ever vintages. Other than the usual big hitters, he listed some other lesser-known growers that made classic Syrahs such as Roure, Jean Marsanne, and Cordelux. Unfortunately he also shared that 2025 will be his last harvest, and he will only be doing a little bit of Cote-Rotie going forward.
Flight 22 - Dinner at L'Âme Soeur (3 Notes)
Flight 23 - Lunch at Les Adrets (1 Note)
Flight 24 - Dinner at La Sommelière (3 Notes)
Up there with the best meals of the trip. Superb tiny restaurant which I wanted to visit last year but was booked out, learnt my mistake and booked ahead of time this time around. @choco_lasommeliere Shoko and her husband chef decided to turn the restaurant into a more casual bistro style restaurant as they are planning to move back to Japan soon, so I would highly recommend everyone to visit them in Lyon while you can. All the dishes were on point, but the desserts were some of the best in my life. And to top it off, all three wines were absolutely outstanding.
Flight 25 - Domaine tasting at Levet (4 Notes)
A very homely visit with Agnes Levet, one of the most traditional Cote Rotie producers. They try to do whole bunch if possible, with pumpovers rather than pigeages. They are racked into 600l barrels three weeks after press with 20% new oak before spending another year in large 3000l foudres, so wines are released two years after harvest.
Flight 26 - Domaine tasting at Clape (10 Notes)
A wonderful tasting with Olivier Clape who was incredibly engaging and down-to-earth. Tasting in the Clape cellar was really experiencing history in the flesh with huge old foudres and old bottles lying around. Olivier said that Cornas was an interesting appellation because expositions varied within the village, unlike Hermitage that had only one exposition. The domaine farms 9 hectares with 5.5 hectares in Cornas without any machines. All the wines are vinified in 1200l large foudres up to 50 years old and without seeing any new oak. Grapes are crushed with whole bunch before fermentation begins in tank, with pumping over and punch downs for 5-6 days and pigeage for 12 days before it is aged for two years in casks. The 2024 vintage saw a lot of rain during spring but had a dry summer, before some rain during harvest.
Flight 27 - Domaine tasting and dinner at Balthazar (7 Notes)
Franck is one of the most thoughtful winemakers in northern Rhone and this year's visit was just as educational as the last. A quick recap - I love Balthazar's wines for their precision and clarity of red fruit, and I realised that the wines have been consistent for a long time after tasting a wonderfully fresh '04 Chaillot in London just before my visit. Wines are traditionally made with whole bunch, no new oak and aged in 600l demi-muid barrels. I found that the 2023s have put on structure since last year's visit, while the 2024 showed impressive concentration for a difficult vintage. Interestingly, he mentioned that Covid had hampered his sense of smell which still has yet to fully recover even today, and he found 2021 to be an especially difficult vintage because he lost his sense of smell for a prolonged period of time (but the wines still turned out great). A wonderful visit topped off by him and his wife hosting a lovely home-cooked meal for us. Detailed notes below, I didn't write notes for the 2024s as they were only showing sweet, primary fruit at the moment.
Flight 28 - Domaine tasting at Rousset (8 Notes)
Isabelle was a lovely, jovial host who shared that Stephane is the tenth generation of the family producing wine, and the fourth to be selling by the bottle. They farm a total of 11 hectares of wine, with 3 hectares for whites, 0.5 hectares of St Joseph, and the rest of it being Crozes Crozes-Hermitage. Interestingly, I always thought that the terroir of Crozes to be flat and homogenous, but Isabelle shared that most of their vines are in the terraces instead of the valley of flat land. I visited this domaine because of JLL's positive reviews, and would rank this as one of the top discoveries of the trip.
Flight 29 - Lunch at Le Cerisier (1 Note)
Flight 30 - Domaine tasting at Darnaud (12 Notes)
Emmanuel hosted us for a fantastic visit as he let us taste some 2024s from barrel, the whole range of 2023s, and some 2022s/21s. He started his domaine in 2001 with just Crozes-Hermitage, but added the St Joseph vines from his father-in-law Bernard Faurie in 2010, and the Hermitage in 2021. He took over the Hermitage Blanc, Bessards and Greffieux while Bernard kept the Meal. A very educational visit as Emmanuel was passionate and generous with his knowledge and wines. I have only tasted the St Joseph before and was always impressed by how he handled warmer vintages. The range we tasted was no exception as Emmanuel said that he aims to make precise, clean and fresh wines.
Flight 31 - Domaine tasting at Gonon (12 Notes)
Gonon needs no introduction and Jean as always was the nicest possible host, both genuine and engaging. Was good to see that the part of the cellar was completed as it was still under construction last year, and it was interesting to taste the latest vintages after my 2013-2022 vertical a couple of weeks ago. Just a quick recap - I feel that Gonon's wines reflect Jean's personality, charming but with a serious edge (he can be very serious in the fields!). Winemaking is traditional with no new oak and whole bunch from selection massale, very interesting that he manages to get such silky and refined tannins even though he does pigeage.
2014 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
(4/10/2025)
At L'Aspérule Dijon. Nose wasn’t expressive but palate had crystalline citrus fruit. Surprisingly no oak notes and sweeter than I expected that was slightly overbearing. Also had a distracting lactic note.
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2008 Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
(4/10/2025)
At L'Aspérule Dijon. Was looking forward to trying this since ‘08 Dujacs have been knockouts in my experience. Very lifted and floral at first, excellent concentration of dark cherry fruit but fell flat after an hour.
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2021 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Bourgogne Les Lutenières 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Bourgogne
(4/10/2025)
At L'Aspérule Dijon. From young vines Colombiere. More primary at first than my last bottle with sweet candied fruit, but gained complexity and savoury notes with air. Better on second day. Punched well above its classification.
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