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2007 Burgundy Grand Cru Dinner
Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, Paragon
Tasted June 9, 2016 by Paul S with 432 views
Introduction
This was a theme I was really looking forward too.
Coming as it did as part of a string of very good to great red vintages from 2005 to 2010, 2007 started out with a pretty bad reputation, with one of the most consistently damp summers in recent memories making a joke of a lovely warm spring. A finer August and strong drying gusts of the North wind helped to save the season, but most winemakers we visited still declared this as a white wine vintage, with reds relegated to the "early drinking" bracket. Indeed, from barrel, the whites were astounding, while the reds seemed fresh and pure but not entirely memorable. Indeed, many of them were subject to quiet bits of chaptalisation.
Nine years down the road though, the tables have turned somewhat. The whites, great as they were, started falling asleep pretty quickly behind their wonderful cloaks of mineral and laser-like acidity. On the other hand, the reds in the bottle from 1er Cru and up have turned out to be quite lovely indeed. Neither powerful blockbusters nor muscular wines made to last, these were instead wonderful charming, even hedonistic wines in their youth, with a lovely purity to their fresh fruited flavours, and softer tannins and beautiful acidities lending energy and definition to the wines. Above all though, it has been a sense of transparency through almost all of the wines I have tried that has really struck me - this is a vintage, like 2000 and 2001 for example, where terroir really shines through.
We had a good and varied line-up on the night, representing both Cote de Nuits and Core de Beaune. My feel is that the traditionally "bigger", more muscular terrors and winemaking styles have done especially well in the vintage, with leaner wines and extra purity and cut lending these wines a little something special. Saying that though, the wines showed beautifully across the board; all enjoyable, all open, and all very giving. This was indeed one of the most immediately enjoyable line-ups we have had for sometime.
NB: In the 6 months since we had this dinner, some of the 2007 reds have fallen asleep somewhat, including a great bottle of Rousseau Ruchottes Chambertin, and a smattering of other nice Grand Cru and her Crus
Flight 1 - BUBBLES TO WHET THE PALATE (1 note)
Rosé - Sparkling
2007 Louis Roederer Champagne Vintage Brut Rosé
92 points
I do not recall ever having had a vintage Roederer Rose before - I found this very enjoyable; a nice start to dinner. It had a rather sweet nose, with red fruited scents of strawberries and raspberries, then cream and flowers, a touch of yeast and a waft of almond aromas - quite pretty. The palate still had plenty of juicy lemony acidity and a nicely fine mousse giving shape to an otherwise voluptuous mouthful of sweet, fruity flavours of red berries and strawberries touch by a bit of fruit zest on its mid-length finish. Early drinking fun, but I think this should have no problem ageing for quite a bit either.
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Flight 2 - WHITES (2 notes)
White
2007 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
93 points
I absolutely loved this wine when I tried it shortly after its commercial release way back in 2010. I am not sure it has quite lived up to the tremendous potential that I thought it had back then, but it is still a very solid wine. The nose was lovely, if still rather reserved, with classic Bonneau du Martray chalkiness, and then cream and white chocolate notes drifting alongside white fruit, some ripe melon aromas, and a nice dash of spice. There was still a touch of oak in there, but nothing too obvious. In the mouth, the wine was surprising rich, almost sweet, for a 2007 white Burgundy, with ripe apples, melons and even a white peach timbre to its well-fruited palate. On the back-end, little complex nuances of cream and white chocolate then unfolded into a long, powerful but somehow always gentle finish. A lovely wine. Surprisingly lush for the vintage, with a nice, voluptuous depth to it, but this was all still tempered by lovely cut and thrust of 2007, with a fresh liveliness that suggests this wine will age effortlessly for decades. This somehow lacked some of the razor-sharp focus that I noted from the previous bottle, but it is still a really nice drop.
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White
2007 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet
95 points
This was very advanced, drinking like a wine a good 10 years older than it was - but boy oh boy, was it ever fantastic! It had such a lovely nose, with sweet white peaches, cream and flowers, all pulled along on a chalky mineral undertow. On the riper side, but still distinctly Lefalive, and really lovely. The palate was captivating too. Its creamily textured fullness was layered with complex notes of saline seashells and flinty mineral notes dancing their way through a core of sweet sweet white fruit and juicy, lemony acidity, this leading into a gorgeously long, detailed finish where those sweet fruit and stony mineral notes were kissed by a little toastiness. Like the 2007 Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlie in the same flight, this was surprisingly ripe, and it was also advanced enough to start showing a honeyed glow over its great chalk and mineral base. In spite of that though, what really set the wine apart from me was the tremendous sense of clarity, cut and structure that it still had - almost breathtaking as the wine swept through the mouth. The premature ageing is worrying from a long-term perspective, but these things do (sadly) happen with a good number of Leflaive bottles. On the night though, the wine was really singing - a beneficiary rather than a victim of the advanced ageing curve.
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Flight 3 - COTE DE BEAUNE REDS (2 notes)
Red
2007 Louis Jadot Corton-Pougets Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot
93 points
This really set the tone for a lovely evening - it was about the most elegant and easy-drinking young Corton as I ever had. In fact, it came across as even more feminine than the Volnay Champans that we had alongside, so much so that the table almost unanimously guessed that it was a Chambolle. It had lovely floral nose, with perfumy scents of roses and violets drifting around sweet red cherries and berries, and then just a minerally touch at the sides. Very pretty. The palate came across as soft and silky in its richly red-fruited attack, almost feigning a certain fresh lightness at first, but pay a bit of attention and one quickly realises that the wine was really quite dense, with a sweet depth of red fruit on the midpalate layered over a base of minerally earth. The finish showed slightly more austerity, with a grip of fine-boned tannins and some stern minerality coming to the fore as the fruit hides away a little. I found this to be a very accomplised, polished wine. Drinking surprisingly early, but with the chops to last. Lovely.
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Comments (1)
Red
2007 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Champans
92 points
A good Champans, but this somehow came across a bit masculine when measured against the unnaturally elegant 2007 Jadot Corton that it was paired with. Almost a role reversal of the terroirs I thought. It had a nice deep nose, somewhat darker in tone than the flowery Corton, with dense aromas of plums and dried cherries infused with spice and earthy notes. The palate was full of juicy acidity running through flavours of dark cherries and plums and berries seasoned with warm peppery spice and minerally notes, all this framed by a structure of fine boned tannins. It was a very lush wine, coming across somewhat more rustic than than the Corton, but whatever it lacked in refinement, it more than made up for with a nice dash of style. The finish was particularly impressive - long and full, with beautiful flavours of gummy berries and cherries, orange peel and a lovely blush of mouth filling spice lingering on the back-palate.
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Flight 4 - GEVREY / MOREY (3 notes)
Red
2007 Serafin Père et Fils Charmes-Chambertin
93 points
Very nice. Served blind, there was no doubting that this was the Gevrey in the pack from the nose alone, with its classic notes of red cherries, earth and a touch of powdered spice aromas, all this augmented by just a brush of herb. It was on the palate that the wine really showed its chops though. It had that lovely, juicy clarity and finesse of the vintage, but it was also very complete, with a real density underlying the purity of expression, showing darker blackcurrant fruits kissed by a bit of spice, all this wrapped in a mouthful of juicy acidity and the finest tannins - really delicious stuff. My notes were full of expressions like "pure" and "fine". If I had any criticism, it would be that the finish was just on shortish side. Otherwise, this was just lovely - an absolutely pleasurable drop on the night. Time in the bottle may well add greater complexity to the mix (if it does not shut down), but the way it is showing, I am not sure I would wait on it.
Red
2007 Domaine Dujac Clos St. Denis
94 points
This has come around very nicely indeed since I last tasted it from barrel shortly after the malolactic fermentation was complete. It had a knockout nose, with red berries tinged with bluer fruit, lots of perfumy floral shades, a gentle earthiness, and then plenty of fragrant Morey spice, all this fringed by a slightly stemmy full-cluster character. Not in the mean 2004 way, but just a kiss of green that added a bit of quirky charm to the bouquet. Absolutely gorgeous stuff, reminding me of why I fell in love with Dujac wines in the first place. The palate was absolutely lovely too. There was just a serious amount of quality below the wine's veneer of seemingly easy charm, with a delicious purity sounding through its lovely red fruited flavours of cherries, berries, and then deeper notes of blueberries alongside a gentle interlacing of spice and herb and earth as the wine moved into a long, long finish. This was not the most powerful example of the terroir, but it had an effortless strength wed to plenty of depth and fullness - a true Grand Cru in other words. A real achievement in the context of the vintage. Soft, juicy, seductive and wonderfully pure, the wine was beautifully drinkable on the night, but I would bet it will age pretty well over its first decade and easily into the next.
Red
2007 Lucie & Auguste Lignier Clos de la Roche
92 points
A good enough Clos de la Roche, but I somehow found this the least pleasing of the many wonderfully open and giving 2007 Grand Crus we had on the night. It had an attractive enough nose to begin with, with a touch of spice and earth, and a hint of rubbery, stemmy notes drifting amidst sweeter scents of dried red fruit and cherry gummies. Like many of the other wines on show the palate had a nice silkiness in its fine boned tannins and clean acidity, with pure flavours of dark berries riding over a bed of earthier, meatier nuances into a slightly toasty finish. Unlike the other wines though, there was a real sense of tightness to the wine, with an almost stubborn one-dimensionality to its flavour. Still very pleasurable, but it lacked the sheer hedonism of the others. This may have very well fallen asleep slightly, and I would give it 5-6 years before broaching again.
Flight 5 - CHAMBOLLE / VOSNE (3 notes)
Red
2007 Domaine de la Vougeraie Bonnes Mares
93 points
A very solid wine, not without its imperfections, but still very impressive. This probably had the densest nose on the night, with ripe, almost roasted aromas of sweet blueberries and dark cherries, perfumed flowers, and then plenty of savoury earth, meaty and spice. A gorgeous bouquet - but I would have sworn that it belonged to a wine from a warmer year. I thought the palate was a step behind the nose, but it was still very pleasing. Like so many of the other 2007 Grand Crus on show, this was every so clean and pure, with almost glowing flavours of dark cherries and blueberries swathed in fine tannins and bright acidity. There was a lovely sense of finesse to this, all the way into its bassier finish of earth and mineral and little spicy hints. I found the acidity to be just a touch shrill at points, but otherwise this was a gorgeous young Bonnes Mares. It drank well on the night, but I think it will continue to improve over the next decade or two as well given the acidity and structure.
Red
2007 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Bonnes Mares
95 points
Quite spectacular - this was by some distance the wine of the night for me. In fact, weaker vintage notwithstanding, this was about as good a young Bonnes Mares as I have ever had. It had a characteristically expressive, arresting Roumier nose, full of deep, pure aromas of red cherries and raspberries laced with earth and mineral and fragrant spices fringed with a typical toastiness. The palate was a study in effortless depth and power. It was juicy, pure, and absolutely mouth-filling, with sappy flavours of red cherries and berries riding on a deep underlayer of spice and earth, all showing a wonderful purity and finesse. What an outstanding wine. There was such intensity and density to it, but this was married to a lightness of touch that is sometimes missing from young Roumier wines, with a remarkable clarity to the flavours, and lovely silky tannins and wonderfully integrated acidity lending a real sense of grace to the power. The lighter vintage seems to have done no harm to Roumier's ability to make a wine that has all of the house's usual sappy density, but when wed to the sense of transparency the wine had - just lovely. This is still primary and lacking the complexity that time brings, it also has the structure, balance and depth to age for just about forever, but it was drinking so well in the night that I would be tempted to drink them up in case they ever go to sleep in the interim.
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Red
2007 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Romanée St. Vivant
94 points
A charming and seductive wine, this may not have been the most impressive (see the Roumier Bonnes Mares for that) but it was certainly the most enjoyable bottle of the night. It had a really attractive nose, pure Vosne, with gummy cherries and wild berries infused with shades of earth and wood spice. The palate was something else though - light, elegant, subtle, yet absolutely seductive, with a beautiful clarity and definition flowing though its lovely flavours of juicy cherry flesh. It actually almost felt lightweight at first, but there was a lovely underlying sap and sweetness that came out with time along with a sense of persistence, grip and structure that was clearly Grand Cru, and a top Grand Cru at that. I loved everything about this wine - the slinky, seductive feel, the crystalline definition, the effortless lightness of feet, the juicy purity, even the long, lovely finish peppered with earth and spice notes. This was beautiful. I am not sure it will be the longest lived RSV, probably lasting a decade or two but not much more beyond that, but who cares when it is so seductively delicious.