Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Domaine Jean GRIVOT (Vosne-Romanée) -- 2014 Tasted from Bottle



My evaluation of these and other 2014 Grivot wines tasted from barrel is found here. These wines demonstrate the great quality that can be found in 2014s from top producers. The grands crus, in particular, are showing extremely well — at the top end or even exceeding my appreciation from barrel. (Continue reading here.)

Monday, February 20, 2017

Domaine Jean GRIVOT (Vosne-Romanée) -- 2015 Tasted from Barrel



Étienne Grivot said that harvesting began on 10 September and went to about 18 September. He waited to harvest because the grapes up to then had a bitterness in them. 

A normal vintage here is 300 barrels; in 2015 it was 240 barrels (and in 2016, it is but 200 barrels).

Étienne described the vintage as classic/modern. The bunches were entirely destemmed but the berries were kept whole. Malolactic fermentations were very late — among the latest ever that he has experienced, which is saying something given that over the 30 years that I have been visiting this estate, there have been many vintages where I tasted wines where malolactic fermentations still had not finished by October or November.

Grivot is a consistently reliable and outstanding producer, and fans will have nothing but pleasure with these wines. (Continue reading here.)

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Domaine Georges MUGNERET-GIBOURG (Vosne-Romanée) -- 2015 Tasted from Barrel



This was one of my magical visits tasting 2015s, where wine after wine was beyond expectation. If you are interested in the 2015 vintage I strongly urge you to seek the wines of Mugneret-Gibourg out, whether the Bourgogne or the grands crus, even though they can be difficult to come across.

Following a 2014 vintage that was about normal in quantity, 2015 is down about 20% and 2016 will be down about 40% from normal. Harvesting began on 4 September. As usual, there is no whole cluster used here, although in 2017 there likely will be a separate cuvée of Vosne-Romanée made with whole clusters as an experiment. Malolactic fermentations began over the winter and finished in March 2016, and the wines were then racked in July. (Continue reading here.)

Friday, February 17, 2017

Louis JADOT (Beaune) -- Part IV: 2015 Whites Tasted from Barrel

As it sometimes does, Jadot partially blocked malolactic acidity in its 2015 whites.

With respect to the sucrosity that I note in many of the wines below, it is not like the sucrosity of 2003s where the wines often tasted sweet. Here it is a certain richness of texture, and based on my past experience, it will disappear with aging.

In news, Jadot has bought an estate that includes Meursault Narvaux, Charmes, and Perrières among its holdings.

Overall, the collection is not as outstanding as the 2015 reds, but there is good quality here, more than one originally expected from the 2015 white vintage. As with reds, the best values appear to be in lower appellations and premiers crus. Aging potential appears moderate for the most part. (Continue reading here.)

Monday, February 13, 2017

Louis JADOT (Beaune) -- 2015 Tasted from Barrel Part III: Côte de Nuits Grands Crus and Amoureuses


Jadot’s grands crus that I tasted are successful across the board, and some belong in the very elite category of top wines of the vintage. (Continue reading here.)

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Louis JADOT (Beaune) 2015 from Barrel, Part II: Côte de Nuits Regional, Village, and Premier Cru Reds

Here is the second part of Jadot’s very strong line up of 2015 reds. Particularly notable is that the wines show terroir well, not something that can be said for all wines in 2015. (Continue reading here.)

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Louis JADOT (Beaune) -- 2015 Part I: Côte de Beaune Reds Tasted from Barrel

For an operation with as many different wines as Jadot has, the quality is really quite amazing. Harvesting started on 29 August, with the whites, I suppose. There was very little triage required. Alcohols began quickly. Malolactic fermentations mostly finished in spring, some in July.

Very successful wines here that are certainly worthy of your interest. (Continue reading here.)

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Domaine Bruno CLAVELIER (Vosne-Romanée) -- 2014 Tasted from Bottle

These wines are good examples of the high quality that can be found from top producers in the 2014 vintage. 


My review of these and other 2014s of Clavelier that I tasted from barrel in late 2015 is here.

(Continue reading here.)

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Domaine Bruno CLAVELIER (Vosne-Romanée): 2015 Tasted from Barrel

Bruno Clavelier said that he harvested between 5 and 12 September, finishing just before the rains came. The challenge of the vintage, he said, was to preserve the balance in the wines. Malolactic fermentations were late, as is typical at this estate. For the village wines, about 20-25% new wood was used, for the premiers crus it was about 30-40%. Clavelier uses a system of layering grapes between stems (he calls it a sandwich system), and it corresponds to about 1/3 whole clusters in this vintage. Alcohols are about 12.5º for the regional wines and up to 13.5º at the most for the others.

Overall, he described the vintage as one of a lot of sun and with finesse to it.

Clavelier has long been organic and biodynamic.

This is an estate of high consistency; my next posting will review many of Clavelier’s 2014s from bottle, and you’ll see high quality throughout there, too.

We start with three village Vosnes that display the diversity of their terroirs. (Continue reading here.)

Monday, February 6, 2017

Domaine DUBLÈRE/Blair PETHEL (Savigny-les-Beaune) -- 2015 Part II: White Wines Tasted from Barrel



As shown in the previous post, I am a fan of Blair Pethel’s reds, but I think it’s with the whites where he truly excels. Even in the 2015 vintage, not easy for the whites, he has come up with a series of winners. (Continue reading here.)

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Domaine DUBLÈRE/Blair PETHEL (Savigny-les-Beaune) Part I -- 2015 Reds Tasted from Barrel



American Blair Pethel is in his second decade of making wines in Burgundy and, as always, they are most worthy of your consideration.

Malolactic fermentations finished in spring and summer. As usual (from 2010 on), no whole clusters were used in these wines. Blair expected to bottle these reds in March 2017. (Continuer reading here.)

Friday, February 3, 2017

Domaine Réyane et Pascal BOULEY (Volnay) -- 2015 Tasted from Barrel


Not having the hails that affected quantity in 2012-2013-2014, one would have hoped that 2015 gave more wine here, but that was not the case. The small berries meant that 2015 is only 30% the size of a normal vintage here. There is excellent quality, though, so these are wines to act on, should you come across them.

Harvesting took place between 3 and 8 September. For most of the wines, the malolactic fermentations were rapid, finishing in November and December. The Champans was made with 20% whole clusters, the rest of the wines are entirely from destemmed fruit. There was no acidification. (Continue reading here.)

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Domaine Georges NOËLLAT/Maxime CHEURLIN-NOËLLAT (Vosne-Romanée) -- 2015 Tasted from Barrel

(Originally published 1 February 2017.)

I’ve been reporting since the renewal of this estate about 5 years ago under Maxime Cheurlin on the wines of note. Starting at a high level (with old vines and great terroirs), they have been improving each year. 

Harvesting here took place between 12 and 14 September. Wines that had whole clusters in them are Vosne-Chaumes, Chambolle-Feusselottes, and Echézeaux.

Maxime has added wines as a négociant and in the future will be adding more, both as a négociant and as a proprietor (I believe that the estate started with 5.5 ha when he began and he told me last fall that it was now up to 11 ha, although 4 ha in the Hautes-Côtes would require new planting). Wines below marked with an asterisk (*) are from bought-in grapes will be sold under the name Maxime Cheurlin-Noëllat. (Continue reading here.)