FICOFI: Burgundy on board the Lady E

FICOFI kicked off the new year in style with a generous promenade of Burgundy on board one of the very best superyachts of the world, the Lady E, moored at One°15, Sentosa Cove Singapore, on the afternoon of 26 January 2019. Stretching 69 metres and capable of a top speed of 18 knots (12 knots at cruising), the Lady E exudes absolute class and sophistication throughout its five floors of sheer luxury, looked after with extreme care by its full-time crew of 19 who travel far and wide across the seven seas wherever the Lady E may sail. It may be yours too for a week if you fancy splurging close to USD500,000. On that day though, we only had the privilege of stepping on board to taste through a good range of older vintages of Burgundy as well as some 2017s which had only just been recently bottled, graced by the presence of Mr & Mrs Bruno Clair and Stéphane Follin-Arbelet. In spite of the balmy afternoon heat, the sommeliers have done a great job in ensuring that the wines were properly chilled. The 2017 whites again are superlative while the reds, particularly from the Cote de Nuits, are proving to be quite irresistible too.

Photo: http://www.burgessyachts.com

1995 Champagne Henriot Enchanteleur. Jeroboam. Lovely luminosity. Unusual bouquet of sweet ripe berries with an attractive perfumed depth that I’ve not encountered before in champagne. Slightly backward on the palate, allowing some graphite minerals to dominate without being too dry, displaying excellent presence, acidity and balance, finishing with traces of sweet.

2015 Louis Jadot Beaune Greves Le Clos Blanc. Jeroboam. Perfumed glow of sweet white fruit and frangipani, showing good acidity and gentle concentration. Not plump, finishing with glowing length.

2015 Chateau de Puligny Montrachet Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatieres 1er. Jeroboam. Shut, revealing only glimpses of wild flowers. Excellent in acidity, tension and fullness though there isn’t much detail. Good finish.

2011 Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru. Jeroboam. Lovely lift of creamy chalky tones. Excellent mouthful of tangy acidity with understated fleeting intensity of fruit, very successfully integrated, revealing good definition but not too exuberant.

2014 Chateau de Meursault Meursault-Perrieres 1er. Magnum. Wonderful delicate lift of gentle chalkiness that extended to the medium-bodied palate, displaying lovely gentle intensity of fruit, quite fleshy and plump with good transparency, finishing well.

2013 Chateau de Meursault Meursault Les Charmes-Dessus 1er. Methuselah. Effusive bouquet of green fruits and fresh morning dew with a lovely fullness. Softly rounded, poised and elegant, imbued with predominant characters of white citrus with good subtle acidity but not much detail. Bit short.

2004 Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques 1er. Magnum. Highly aromatic with intoxicating notes of ripe red fruits and emulsion, layered with plenty of secondary nuances, rather bold. Medium-full. Open, softly rounded with highly supple tannins, rathher brightly lit, conveying tremendous energy amid minty overtones. Excellent.

2011 Domaine Bruno Clair Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru. Quite extroverted with an unmistakable immediacy, exuding a dense bouquet of intense ripe raspberries and varnish from an abundant spread of fruit contained with pliant supple tannin structures laced with a certain spiciness though not quite as weighty as one would expect of a Bonnes-Mares. Still infantile.

1993 Domaine Bruno Clair Chambertin-Clos de Beze Grand Cru. Jeroboam. Lovely aromatic lift of delicious red fruits, rounded and fleshy with well-integrated acidity and understated intensity, exuding great verve with fine power and elegance. Very well proportioned. Still youthful.

2015 Domaine Louis Jadot Beaune Clos des Ursules 1er. Jeroboam. Great color. Good extraction and purity. Well structured, slightly more forward with fine intensity and good integration without the burliness of Beaune. Yet to develop.

1999 Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos des Mouches 1er Rouge. Methuselah. Wonderful freshness and lift of ripe red plums and cherries, imbued with excellent fullness and acidity, displaying great linearity throughout its lasting length. Excellent.

2009 Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos des Mouches 1er Rouge. More forwardly balanced, exuding a rich smooth intensity of red fruits and dark cherries, displaying great concentration and refined precision. Still infantile. A younger incarnation of the 1999. Will be outstanding.

2017 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Proces 1er. Deep ruby. Forward nose of ripe raspberries, ripe wild berries and mulberries that carried well onto the medium-full palate. Quite fleshy with a lovely warm intensity of fruit amid traces of earthy undergrowth, displaying wonderful acidity, integration and great precision throughout its supple length. Excellent. Normally bottled as part of its Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er output, this vintage marks the very first time that this domaine is bottling its three parcels of Les Proces 1er separately.

2017 Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune Greves L’Enfant Jesus 1er. Good lift of ripe cherries and rose petals, exuding excellent purity and freshness with gentle intensity. Very well proportioned with seamless integration of tannins. Excellent.

2017 Domaine de Montille Pommard Les Pezerolles 1er. Lovely glow of rose petals amid tangerines. Fleshy and rounded with a superb supple intensity that created some gentle tension across the palate, underscored by mild earthy elements. Bit short.

2017 Domaine de Montille Volnay En Champan 1er. Great color. Lovely glow of ripe raspberries, displaying lovely acidity, intensity and succulence, quite seamlessly integrated with excellent linearity.

2017 Chateau de Meursault Meursault Les Charmes-Dessus 1er. Distinct grassy tones and green fruits, quite lifted. The palate is imbued with clear crystalline minerals that impart good vigour and ultra-fine precision, showing good detail without the plumpness, finishing well.

2017 Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru. Gentle floral lift. Excellent palate, imbued with very good density of nutmeg and white flowers without any overt heaviness, aided by deft handling of chalky minerals. Distinctly feminine. Really good.

2017 Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils Volnay Les Caillerets Ancienne Cuvee Carnot 1er. Forward tone of ripe dark berries and currants, undeniably delicious and aromatic in its smooth concentration and rich presence, showing good intensity and linearity.

2017 Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils Meursault-Genevieres 1er. Grassy elements dominate with white floral tones with a lovely fullness and attack of sharp acidity amidst a notable background chalkiness that conferred a more minerally balance.