Hacked

This website apparently been hacked and it appears that access to all the information is now not available. I will try to work to resolve the issue, but I do not have sophistication in this area and so do not know when the website will be restored to normal.

-- Claude Kolm, The Fine Wine Review

Domaine Hubert LIGNIER (Morey-St-Denis) -- 2017 Tasted from Bottle, Barrel, and Tank

Laurent Lignier said that he began the harvest on 8 September in Côte de Nuits. Some whole clusters were used in the wines. Malo-lactic fermentations finished between January and June for the large majority, but the Pommard only finished during the harvest of 2018. 

The wines here were in cask and not racked except as noted. (Continue reading here.)

Domaine Georges NOËLLAT and Maison Maxime CHEURLIN-NOËLLAT (Vosne-Romanée) -- 2017 Tasted from Barrel

Maxime Cheurlin seems to be adding new wines with each visit I make.

Malolactic fermentations were late here, only finishing shortly before I tasted; the wines had not yet been racked.

Wines designated with an asterisk (*) are negociant wines bottled under the Maxime Cheurlin-Noëllat label; others are Domaine Georges Noëllat. (Continue reading here.)

Domaine Sylvain CATHIARD (Vosne-Romanée) -- 2016 Tasted from Bottle

My description of 2016 vintage conditions and notes on these and Cathiard’s other 2016s tasted from barrel a year ago are here. As you can see, each of these four wines was at, or near, the top of the range I estimated them from barrel. (Continue reading here.)

Domaine Sylvain CATHIARD (Vosne-Romanée) -- 2017 Tasted from Barrel

Sébastien Cathiard said that 2017 was a much easier vintage for him than 2016. He began harvesting late, on 13 September, and finished on the 15th. The grapes were healthy and ripe, and he lacks only three barrels from a full cellar. The malic acidities here were low, with pH’s ranging from 3.46 to 3.58 and total acidities from 4.50 to 4.90. 

There was a little chaptalization here, between 0.5 and 1.0º, basically to extend fermentations, and alcohols are around 12.5 to 13.0º. 

Malo-lactic fermentations were slow, finishing between April and August. No whole clusters went into this vintage.

As I’ve earlier already mentioned, Vosne-Romanée and Chambolle-Musigny are the centers of the highest concentration of quality in the vintage, with the Vosne slope of Nuits-Saint-Georges not far behind. Cathiard’s brilliant 2017s stand as Exhibit A to that assertion. (Continue reading here.)

2017 Domaine de la VOUGERAIE (Prémeaux-Prissey) -- Part II: Whites Tasted from Cask and Tank Samples

Whites will spend 3 months in stainless steel before bottling. None was yet bottled when I tasted them last month. 

In addition to less oak than in the past, there was less bâtonnage (stirring of the lees) than before, a maximum 2 times per week, stopping in December. 

There was no chaptalization in 2017, and alcohols are 12-12.5º.

As with the reds, this is a very strong line-up of wines. (Continue reading here.)

2017 Domaine de la VOUGERAIE (Prémeaux-Prissey) -- Part I: Red Wines Tasted from Cask Samples and Bottle

Harvesting at this biodynamic estate began on 28 August with Chardonnay. Once finished on Côte de Beaune with Puligny-Folatières, the harvesting then moved to the reds on the Côte de Beaune, and then to the Côte de Nuits. 

The estate used less new oak (both for red and for white) in 2017 than in previous years, a trend I heard in other cellars, too. 

Acidities are correct, but the malic acidity is low, as is typical for the vintage.

We start with the reds: (Continue reading here.)

Summary of Tastings of 2017 Burgundies

I’ve spent the past four weeks tasting 2017s in Burgundy and offer this summary. Reviews of wines from individual properties will follow shortly. (Continue reading here.)