Ric's Wine Journal

I just returned from my birthday lunch this afternoon, 09 Dec 2017, at La Tour d’Argent, Paris, after an absence of eight years. Still at its original location at Quai de la Tournelle since 1582, some changes are noticeable. The restaurant has set up a bistro across the road as well as a bakery next to it, both looking very enticing. We arrived three minutes before noon to find the front door still locked, of course, for this is France after all.

2002 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Luchets

Precisely at noon, the doors were thrown open and I found myself back in the familiar anteroom decked in period décor. After the usual pleasantries with the front manager, I was brought up to the dining room on the sixth floor where the layout and the blue carpet remained unchanged, as is the lovely view of the Seine and the Notre Dame yonder. Nevertheless, some changes are obvious: the lunch crowd is now bigger, meaning the restaurant is much noisier than before while the staff has less time to spend with you at the table, resulting in service that seems a little too perfunctory. The prix fixe three-course set lunch now costs more as well, EUR105 compared with EUR65 back in 2009. To the restaurant’s credit, however, the attention to detail is still there and some of its age-old tradition remain unchanged: the massive carte de vin is still encyclopaedic in proportion (though newly re-organised), the staff hands you a fresh table napkin each time you return from the washroom, the food is still prepared in immaculate fashion and explained to you with admirable patience while, most importantly, Mrs Claude Terrail still goes around the tables making sure that you have been well looked after. The certificate pronouncing the numbered duck that you are eating is still presented though the card now sports a more contemporary (but less important-looking) feel. This time as well, the chef also makes an appearance at each table along with the general manager. A nice touch.

To start…

Dessert actually

Changes are inevitable, I suppose, but I am happy to report that the food at this venerable institution is still outstanding, presented with great imagination with flavours and portions that remain unadulterated. I picked two half bottles to go with the meal. The 2002 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Luchets, a named village, displayed a glorious golden hue with a rich deep glow of cassis, aged crème, walnuts and almonds, bursting with superb acidity and intensity of white fruits before settling into a medium-bodied proposition, beautifully rounded with the burnished tone of aged limestone minerals, developing greater depth and delicacy over time. Excellent and, in my humble opinion, a steal at EUR105 from such a restaurant list.

For the red, I spotted a 2004 Domaine Armand Rousseau Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru for EUR160. Well evolved in color and mellowed, this wine featured gentle red fruits, cinnamons and rose petals with a hint of tangerines and earth on the nose, medium-bodied, rounded with tertiary cedary tones that produced a lovely lift of perfumed fragrance, layered with subtle intensity and superb acidity, its tannins having receded long ago, finishing with growing breadth and intensity, distinctly feminine in its elegance and poise. Excellent.

A piece of highly sophisticated tofu

At the end of it, the restaurant discreetly remembered that it’s my red-letter day and laid the complimentary celebratory touch on the table. Well, I really enjoyed my lunch and so did the family. I’ll certainly be back again.

The famous canard filet

On our final day in Burgundy, we paid a visit to Domaine de Montille in Volnay on the morning of 23 November 2017 where we were welcome by its present owner M. Etienne de Montille. This domaine is one of few in Burgundy represented by a proper chateau, in front of which is planted a sizeable plot of Volnay village vines. It was good to see Etienne once again, a highly affable and easy-going gentleman whose partner is Chinese, which explains for the number of Chinese paintings and calligraphy in the chateau’s hall, including a copy of Chairman Mao’s famous little red book on the coffee table. Domaine de Montille was established in 1863 and has remained within the family since, focusing on the wines of the Cote de Beaune. Because of the high water table in the area south of Beaune,  the modest and functional cellars of this estate are housed above ground, where we tasted the 2016 wines from barrel. While most people tend to skip the wines of Volnay and Pommard in favour of the more prestigious communes of the Cote de Nuits, I can assure you that Domaine de Montille is truly a gem of Burgundy. Its whites from Saint-Aubin and Puligny are focused with plenty of delicacy and detail whilst its reds are well-structured and balanced, never overly extracted. Most of all, each individual terroir is well reflected in the wines of Domaine de Montille.

2016 Domaine de Montille Puligny-Montrachet. Village wine. Aromatic with creme and gentle minerals in equal measure, showing good supple acidity, freshness and good delicacy.

2016 Domaine de Montille Saint-Aubin En Remilly 1er. Full bouquet of delicate floral aromas with gravelly minerality, showing good detail on the palate with saline tones and quiet acidity. Harmonious with good zest.

2016 Domaine de Montille Puligny-Montrachet Le Cailleret 1er. From vines located right at the southern boundary of Le Cailleret, just immediately adjacent to Montrachet Grand Cru. Deeply aromatic with a feminine floral character, exuding lovely soft aromas of crème de la crème with understated chalkiness. Open with good presence and excellent mouthfeel supported by  delicate soft minerals, showing good purity and definition. Hugely elegant and lively with excellent detail and some early complexity. Dryish finish. Great stuff! Only 600 litres. No new wood. All the better!

2016 Domaine de Montille Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatieres 1er. Strong lifted minerally tones with morning dew, showing good supple intensity and acidity. Well proportioned. Seamless minerally finish.

2016 Domaine de Montille Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru. Lifted, deep floral nose. Minerally in body, the fruit seemingly backward with more acidity to the fore, though very well integrated with just a bare trace of ferrous element at the finish.

2016 Domaine de Montille Beaune Greves 1er. Dark with a nose of Chinese medicinal tones and herbs, showing good concentration of dark fruits with dusty textures and forest floor characters, finishing with supple tannins. No de-stemming.

2016 Domaine de Montille Volnay Les Taillepied 1er. Dark. Deep concentration of dark fruits with characters of dry Chinese herbs, showing good suppleness and acidity.

2016 Domaine de Montille Pommard Les Pezerole 1er. Deep purple with deep aromas of dark fruits and currants. Big but well proportioned, medium-bodied, displaying supple acidity with dryish textures and a unique tone of cigar tone. Good pliant structure.

2016 Domaine de Montille Pommard Les Rugiens 1er. More open, displaying attractive red fruits and currants. Fleshy with good body and supple acidity. Excellent balance and presence. Distinctly feminine. Very successful. One can see why Les Rugiens is in pole position to be upgraded to grand cru status.

2016 Domaine de Montille Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru. Dry herbal bouquet with dryish textures. Fleshy, showing good concentration of ripe dark cherries with understated minerals, subtle in tannins and structure. Very successful.

2016 Domaine de Montille Vosne-Romanee Aux Malconsorts 1er Christiane Ghislaine. Deep purple. Rounded, showing great acidity with a touch of dryness. Medium-full, layered with abundant dark berries, dark cherries and raspberries. Generous in  body, highly seamless with lovely tone and wonderful length. Excellent. A very special wine named after Etienne’s mother, it comes from a plot of Aux Malconsorts that actually slips well inside La Tache. So, essentially, one is drinking La Tache without the hefty price tag.

After the barrel tasting, we adjourned to the chateau proper for an exquisite lunch hosted by Etienne himself, where we had more wine:

2007 Delamotte Blancs de Blanc. Great creamy smoothness with excellent depth of green fruits and fresh citrus, detailed with good lift.

2013 Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatieres 1er, poured from magnum. Lifted bouquet, highly intense with notes of creme and floral characters in stunning detail, layered with great presence and superb acidity on the palate, maintaining good minerally delicacy throughout its length. Quite glorious.

2000 Domaine de Montille Puligny-Montrachet Le Cailleret 1er. From a plot just next to Montrachet Grand Cru, this wine is more delicate than the preceding Folatieres with well-defined complex minerals and white citrus, displaying excellent inner detail and lovely floral characters, perhaps just a tad short but very lovely.

1996 Domaine de Montille Pommard Les Rugiens 1er. Decanted and served blind, this showed an evolved colour with well-developed red fruits and plums amidst a mild medicinal tone. Open, supple and fleshy.

2005 Domaine de Montille Pommard Les Rugiens 1er. Decanted and served blind. Slightly darker than the preceding 1996, displaying an attractive rosy fragrance with red fruits, open with a deeper streak of dark currants with some bright spots. Full-bodied but quietly intense. Still yet to peak.

2005 Domaine de Montille Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru. First vintage ever produced. Only 2 barrels and never released commercially. Subtle notes of sweet nectarine with lifted tones of creme and chalk, substantial in body with fine detail, showing good delicacy. Very special indeed. What a great privilege to have tasted this.

1996 Ch d’Yquem. Rich and luscious, displaying aged nectarine and apricots of understated sweetness and acidity.

With such wonderful wines and food, we were properly hammered by the time we finished lunch at 3.00 PM. Domaine de Montille may not be the first name one thinks of in Burgundy but it is truly a star estate, very much a connoisseur’s wine. Be sure to look out for it. Thank you very much, Etienne, and thanks to FICOFI as well.

There has been quite a significant upheaval in the small commune of Morey-Saint-Denis in recent times where the well-known Domaine des Lambrays has now come under the LVMH empire while, likewise, neighbouring Domaine du Clos de Tart has changed ownership as well less than a month ago (to Ch Latour’s M. Pinault). Nevertheless, it appears to be business as usual when we visited Domaine des Lambrays on the cold afternoon of 21 November 2017, where we were welcome by its manager M. Boris Champy. This domaine is probably one of the prettiest in the Cote de Nuits, boasting beautiful exteriors with plenty of flora and fauna, including a very well-manicured garden perfect for outdoor parties in summer. Sandwiched between Clos de Tart Grand Cru (to the south) and Clos de la Roche Grand Cru to the north, Domaine des Lambrays is in an enviable position of owning a majority holding of Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru, one of the only four grand crus of Morey-Saint-Denis commune. However, due to the fact that a tiny 400 square metres of this 8.8 hectare AOC appellation is owned by Domaine Taupenot-Merme, Domaine des Lambrays is unable to stake a monopoly. But no matter.

Compared with Clos de Tart, the plot of Clos des Lambrays extends much farther up the steep slope to the west well beyond the western boundary of Clos de Tart, where the soils contain much more limestone, which may explain for the more minerally balance of the wines. Notably, the vines here are planted in north-south orientation, only one of six vineyards in Burgundy to do so (the rest are Clos de Tart, La Tache, La Grand Rue, La Romanee and Cros Parantoux). This allows the vines to capture sunlight evenly and to facilitate the movement of tractors along the slopes.

We proceeded with a tasting of the 2016 wines from barrel. The 2016 Domaine des Lambrays Morey-Saint-Denis village was notably darker in tone with a heavier tint and forward balance, delivering ripe strawberries, wild berries and dark cherries, rather full with a trace of hardness on the palate from the earthy minerals and high toned acidity, short at its spicy finish. In contrast, the 2016 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru showed a lovely hue of ruby with abundant ripe red fruits, cherries and currants, supple with high-toned acidity and subdued minerals, highly seamless, finishing with good length and spicy earthy tones. Great stuff, considering that the wine has only spent twelve months in barrel and is not yet the final product.

2016 Domaine du Clos des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru aspirated from barrel.

To round up, a 2013 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru was poured, showing great colour, really powerful and expressive with a delicious bouquet of ripe red fruits, rose petals, cherries and currants while the palate is open and fleshy with a delightful deftness, utterly seamless between its acidity and understated silky tannins, finishing with superb mouthfeel. Excellent. This short but insightful visit has been made possible by FICOFI and we want to thank M. Boris Champy too for his time.

We were enraptured by a sense of deja vu as the same group of us climbed up the same flight of stairs as we’d done so two years ago at the modest headquarters of Domaine Faiveley at the heart of the little township of Nuits-Saint-Georges on the afternoon of 22 November 2017, where it was very good, once again, to be welcome by its seventh generation owner M. Erwan Faiveley. One of the chief reasons for re-visiting Faiveley again was to inspect its new chai and, indeed, the old buildings have been modernised, now larger, cleaner with an almost chapelle-like building to house the vinification vats which also affords a direct view to a newly-acquired plot of Nuits-Saint-Georges village vines. The extensive cellars beneath now appears brighter as well with newer lighting installations, where endless rows of barrels contain the wines of 2016 and 2017. Three barrels of 2017 Musigny Grand Cru were spotted, seemingly much more than before. Erwan proceeded to spoil us with an extensive barrel tasting of the domaine’s 2016 wines, while lower in quantities due to extensive frost and hail during the growing season, which are outstanding for both the whites and reds even though they have only spent 12 months in barrel at this stage. Thank you very much, Erwan, for your time and generosity and thanks to FICOFI too.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Puligny-Montrachet Champs Gain 1er. White flowers with grassy elements, showing great intensity, concentration and acidity. Refreshing.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Bienvenues Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru. Delicate floral bloom, rich in crème de la crème, showing great focus with plenty of opulence and great minerals with superb seamless acidity. Plenty of verve. Glorious.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru. Rich in crème de la creme and earthy minerals in equal measure with traces of nutmeg and exotic spice. Generous with  supple acidity. Poised with very good presence, finishing with subtle intensity.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru. Rich, poised and elegant. Abundant clear citrus and crème, quite opulent with quiet intensity. Very clean feel. Less structured at the finish, but Erwan thinks Faiveley’s Corton-Charlemagne is better than the Puligny grand crus.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 1er. Deep purple. Bellpepper, raspberries, dark currants and sandy minerals dominate, showing good Nuits-Saint-Georges terroir character. Medium-bodied. Very fine in acidity with good integration and rounded tannins, slightly sweet, finishing with fine intensity.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin Clos des Issarts 1er. Deep clear purple. Rich in ripe raspberries and blueberries with clear tangerines, showing excellent presence and depth. Very elegant, finishing with smooth acidity. Distinctly feminine.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 1er. Good color. Lovely bouquet of camphor, red cherries and tangerines, displaying good supple acidity with understated saline minerals, culminating in a gentle finish.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Clos Vougeot Grand Cru. Deep colour and lift. Fleshy. Good presence of ripe dark berries with earthy tones and ferrous minerals, open without being opulent.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru. Deep colour with an aromatic rosy fragrance. Good concentration of fruit with a light touch, elegant and feminine. Gentle finish.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Latricieres-Chambertin Grand Cru. Slightly reticent on the nose. More minerally on the palate. Rounded with soft subtle acidity. Tinge of austerity at finish.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru. Very dark. Powerful earthy pungency dark red fruits currants tangerines excellent concentration fine acidity intensity very full subtly structured slightly austere finish.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Beze Grand Cru. Good colour with dark rosy characters. Fleshy with excellent integration of fruit and acidity, subtly structured. Not showy. Excellent.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Chambertin-Clos de Beze Ouvrees Rodin Grand Cru. Dark red fruits tinged with chocolate and mocha, superbly integrated with great intensity of fruit and sublime acidity. Excellent presence.

2016 Domaine Faiveley Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley Grand Cru monopole. Deep ruby. Deep currants, smoke and dark fruits. Fleshy with great acidity, structured with delicious tannins. Big but well balanced. A perennial favourite of mine.

Our visit on the morning of 22 November 2017 to Domaine du Clos de Tart must surely rank as the finest wine educational experience ever. Occupying just 7.5 hectares sandwiched between Bonnes-Mares to the south and Clos des Lambrays to the north, Domaine du Clos de Tart has changed ownership only four times in its 900-year history, the most recent being just three weeks ago when the Mommessin family sold out to M. Francois Pinault (owner of Chateau Latour). However, I am pleased to report that business remains as usual at this monopole estate as we stepped through its famous red oriental doors where we were welcome by M. Jacques Devauges, installed as its Technical Director only three years ago. Genial, friendly and bubbling with quiet confidence and energy, Jacques is certainly the right person to bring the wines of this famous estate, already so highly esteemed and limited in quantity, up another few more notches as he exuded great knowledge about the estate. Trudging up to the vineyard (otherwise not quite visible from the road), it is wonderful to see the entire clos (wall) surrounding the rows of vines sloping gently upward, all planted in north-south orientation after the phylloxera devastation, facilitating even exposure to both the morning and afternoon sun. Apart from Clos de Tart, only five other vineyards in Burgundy are oriented likewise: neighbouring Clos des Lambrays, La Romanee, La Tache, Cros Parantoux and La Grand Rue. Therefore, it is not surprising that some of the very best wines of the Cote de Nuits come from these hallowed plots. The average age of the vines at Clos de Tart is about 60 years, divided into 27 subplots and vinified separately as 8 different cuvees before they are finally blended as the final Grand Cru. It has to be done this way as the subsoil is different from area to area, starting as shallow stony soils at the base (ie. easterly most) to deeper marl at the opposite extreme (ie. westerly most) where the wall stands. Coincidentally, Jacques tells us that the wall happened to be built along the natural geological fault lines of the slope, beyond which the soils are much harder, impeding root penetration. A continuous program of replanting takes place regularly where vines that are past their prime are replaced. Presently, the three youngest plots were replanted in 1999, 2005 and 2011.

Following this, we moved down to the cool cellars below where precious barrels of the 2016 and 2017 lie undisturbed at a constant temperature of 12ºC with 80% humidity. The yields at Domaine du Clos de Tart are below 35 hectolitres, which translates into 20,000-25,000 bottles per vintage. Eight cuvees, each representing certain terroir characteristics of the vineyard, are vinified per vintage.

We proceeded with the barrel tasting of the 2016 vintage. First was Cuvee #8, made from three subplots containing the youngest vines as mentioned earlier, planted in 1999, 2005 and 2011. This young cuvee is not included in the Clos de Tart Grand Cru, but bottled separately as La Forge de Tart. Light ruby, the 2016 La Forge de Tart exuded youthful forward characters of raspberries and red fruits, displaying great freshness, purity and precision with fabulous acidity, already seamless, a wine of excellent power, length and elegance. Already complete in itself. As these three subplots happened to be derived from diverse parts of the Clos de Tart vineyard, the La Forge de Tart, rightly, is not a “second wine” but ought to be considered as a young Grand Cru. This insight, to me, is absolutely fascinating.

Next was Cuvee #3, from vines located northwards at the lowest part of the vineyard, nearer Clos des Lambrays. This cuvee exuded some earthiness and smoke with fragrant raspberries and gentle currants, showing good delicacy, excellent linearity, very fine presence and acidity, finishing with traces of herbs that added an extra dimension.

In contrast, Cuvee #1, also from the lowest part of the vineyard but southwards, nearer Bonnes-Mares, proffered a softer bouquet, showing good balance between fruit and minerals with traces of smoke. Cuvee #5, coming from mid-slope that has a warmer micro-climate with white soils, exuded red fruits, cherries and roses of fabulous intensity, highly supple with wonderful purity, acidity and concentration all the way to its lengthy finish. Absolutely lovely.

And so how will the 2016 grand vin taste like if we blend all the cuvees together? This was exactly what Jacques proceeded to do, blending all seven cuvees (sans Cuvee #8 which contained vines that are still too young) in equal measure. The hypothetical 2016 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart Grand Cru is a wine of outstanding purity and elegance, imbued with vibrant red fruits and cherries with various shades of light and dark, infused with fabulous acidity, elegant intensity, lovely length and wonderful depth, engulfing one totally in its living presence. You never feel the tannins even though they are there. At only 12 months old, and still in barrel, the 2016 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart Grand Cru is already a complete wine, sensual and beguiling. Truly the drops of God. But Jacques knows better. The world will await with bated breath until it appears in bottle in 2019. This has truly been a masterclass to end all masterclasses. Thank you very much, Jacques, for giving us so much of your time and to FICOFI too for making possible the visit.

I must admit it was only earlier this year through FICOFI that I came to know about Domaine Pierre Damoy, in spite of the fact that it has the largest holdings of Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, a whopping 5.4 hectares that is practically a third of this hallowed plot. A family-owned business since the 1920s, this estate is now run by the fourth generation, a most affable and unassuming gentleman also called Pierre who is now into his 26th vintage as winemaker. Meeting us in his working clothes at Gevrey itself on the morning of 21 November 2017, one can tell right away Pierre is a 100-percent hands-on person. There is also a perfectionist streak in him too as he lamented that the packaging boxes were not designed to his satisfaction, even though they already appear highly appealing to our eyes. We walked through the small and messy (always a good sign about these smaller producers, in my opinion) technical workshop before trooping down into the cellars, again a smallish place. Here, Pierre had prepared for us ten different wines for tasting, all from 2016.

As he poured for us his wines, Pierre lamented on the small production of yield of that vintage such that he is simply unable to meet demand, as well as, perhaps, the bigger issue of how he is going to pass on the reins. Here, Pierre already has plans for his youngest son. It also appears his lovely teenage daughter has shown a growing interest in the day-to-day running of the estate, which bodes well for him. The domaine makes almost all reds, though there is, of late, a tiny production of Bourgogne blanc. As we tasted through the wines, they struck me as being very well crafted, wines of great extraction and ripeness (but not overdone), subtly structured and well balanced, capable of revealing the subtle differences between different terroir, stuff that Napoleon himself (who loved Chambertin) would have cherished. This is a very fine address in Gevrey-Chambertin. See if you can find his wines in your local retailer.

2016 Domaine Pierre Damoy Bourgogne blanc. Highly aromatic. Very inviting notes of crème and chalky minerals. Crisp in acidity, very generous. Fat. Very correct Refreshing, finished well. Excellent. Only 600 litres made with grapes mostly from Fixin.

2016 Domaine Pierre Damoy Bourgogne rouge. Lovely hue. Robust with dark cherries, rose petals and some bright spots. Well extracted with some wood from the 30% stems. Rounded, subtly structured with good flavours. Very fine.

2016 Domaine Pierre Damoy Fixin Les Mogottes. Clear ruby, showing ripe cherries and dark strawberries with good acidity and concentration, slightly lean. Good linearity with good flavours but not much structure. Fresh mouthfeel. Not at all thin. Good stuff.

2016 Domaine Pierre Damoy Gevrey-Chambertin. Deep colour. Generous aromas of red fruits and dark cherries, showing very good concentration and structure. Harmonious with crisp fine tension. Good length.

2016 Domaine Pierre Damoy Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Tamisot monopole. Deep ruby. Seriously deep on the bouquet and palate showing dark red fruits with some earthiness. Rounded and fleshy with seamless acidity, subtly structured with supple tannins. Truly excellent, regardless that it’s a village.

2016 Domaine Pierre Damoy Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru. Deep colour. Delicious notes of ripe dark cherries and currants. Well extracted with lovely concentration, highly supple with sweet subtle tannins, finishing well. Very elegant and feminine in spite of its proportions.

2016 Domaine Pierre Damoy Chambertin Grand Cru. Glorious colour. Ripe in raspberries and cherries. Full and tight, showing great concentration and intensity with fine definition even at this early stage. Superb acidity. Ferrous trace at finish. Well structured without any jarring edges. Only 3 barrels. Excellent.

Expensive stains

2016 Domaine Pierre Damoy Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru. Beautiful colour with tones of lifted ripe cherries and raspberries, good in concentration with a certain deftness, not heavy at all, showing great balance and acidity with some emerging chocolate, finishing with great integration amidst very fine intensity. Absolutely on song. Should gain greater opulence in bottle. Outstanding.

2016 Domaine Pierre Damoy Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru Reserve. Very deep in colour with even deeper sweet delicious flavours, rich in concentration of dark fruits, very well layered, showing excellent ripeness with traces chocolate and mocha, finishing with chewy supple tannins, subtly structured. Only 500 bottles. Comes from certain vines within the plot that Pierre has noticed are distinctly special.

2007 Domaine Pierre Damoy Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru. Offered as a bonus, this wine now aged ten years is distinctly more complex in dark currants and dark fruits, superb in layering with deep rich flavours, yet deft and flowing with superb integration of fruit, acidity and refined tannins. Highly sophisticated without calling attention to itself. A wine of great finesse and refinement.

M. Pierre Damoy and yours truly

The Sales Director of Maison Joseph Drouhin, M. Jean-Paul Dumond, never fails to remind people that wine is meant to be shared amongst good company, something that surely strikes a chord with all wine lovers. It was with distinct pleasure that we had the opportunity to meet up with Jean-Paul once again in the extensive offices of Maison Joseph Drouhin in Beaune on the cold winter evening of 20 November 2017, exactly the same venue where we had first been introduced to him two years ago. This time, Jean-Paul had arranged for us to dine at the Maison itself, where chef Christophe Queant of Jean-Paul’s favourite restaurant Le Carmin had been summoned to prepare a delectable four-course menu.

First, of course, was the obligatory re-visit of the cellars which are the oldest in Burgundy, having been owned by the powerful Duke of Burgundy centuries ago, a part of which contained a wall dating back to 4th century Roman empire. We are reminded that the Maison plays a major role in vinifying many of the wines auctioned off for the Hospices de Beaune, evidenced by the presence of these barrels in the cellar.

Returning back to the dining room, we began first with a tasting of three wines. First was the 2016 Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 1er, showing aromas of delicate nutmeg, wild flowers in bloom and some green elements, quite lifted, showing good acidity and matching minerals with good precision, just a tad chalky but neither overbearing nor opulent. Needs to flesh out. Next was the 2016 Joseph Drouhin Beaune 1er Clos des Mouches Blanc that featured lemongrass, yellow citrus and other grassy elements on the nose and palate, replete with delicate crème de la crème, quite rich and  highly expressive, its tingling acidity conferring superb suppleness and mouthfeel, culminating in a lengthy finish of subtle minerals. Very fine indeed.

The final wine for the brief tasting promenade came from an unmarked decanter that had been sitting in a quiet corner for several hours. From our previous experience with Jean-Paul whose generosity knows no boundaries, we guessed with certainty that this would be none other than a Montrachet Grand Cru itself, and we were spot on. The 2015 Montrachet Grand Cru Marquis de Laguiche sported a rich sheen of crème de la crème and white flowers in full bloom, full and fresh with great acidity though still tight, displaying lovely tension and linearity, growing in fabulous intensity but yet to reveal inner detail. Any Montrachet will need more than a decade to come through and clearly, this one shouldn’t be touched at all.

We settled down to dinner where three wines have been listed to be served. First was the 2008 Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 1er served from jeroboam, showing a deep golden hue, exuding a lovely bouquet of deep earthy pungency, full and fresh with a great minerally concentration, showing good linearity and intensity, growing fuller with more fruit over time, finishing with strong notes of mint and spice but yet to develop inner detail. Excellent.

Next, the 2009 Hospices de Beaune Beaune Cuvée Maurice Drouhin, served from magnum, was darkly tinted with dark cherries, ripe wild berries and some earth, displaying deeper notes of graphite and smouldering ember on the palate with a vegetal trace. Fleshy, showing more acidity than fruit, finishing with dark spicy tones. In contrast, the 2001 Joseph Drouhin Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru displayed a deep delicious bouquet of ripe dark cherries, rose petals and camphor with good depth of fruit, showing superb acidity and concentration, dry in intensity with earthy minerals without much structure, just a tad short.

Seeing that the party was going well and that we were enjoying every drop of wine, Jean-Paul brought up an additional impromptu red, a 2015 Joseph Drouhin Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru that boasted a deep glorious bouquet of fresh rose petals, camphor and bright cherries with a special whiff of cigar, open with lovely feminine elegance, poise and great balance, gently structured with sweet supple tannins, not showy at all. A great Clos de Bèze.

Finally, as is the custom always with Jean-Paul, a 1996 Château d’Yquem was popped to round off the evening, displaying notes of smoke, nectarine, brioche and cassis with a lovely depth of aged tangerines, very fine in acidity and length with lasting intensity at the finish. This is probably the only time one drinks Bordeaux in Burgundy. Many thanks, Jean-Paul, for sharing so freely with us your generosity and friendship.

Compared with many other domaines in Burgundy, Domaine Prieuré Roch must surely be one of the youngest, having been established in 1988. To me, this estate appears to run against the grain as well with an almost rebellious streak, practising biodynamic management, vinifying with stems, having different ageing periods for different wines, totally unfiltered and unfined, of course, and managing only a select few vineyards, all purely reds. Locating this domaine within Nuits-Saint-Georges is also no easy matter, the nondescript building being totally unmarked along the main road. When we arrived on the morning of 20 November 2017, its young co-owner and winemaker M. Yannick Champ was ready to welcome us. Even though we’d meet about twice a year at FICOFI events, it was really good to see him once again on his home turf. Recalling that Yannick had previously welcomed us with freshly stained hands after a very early morning harvest two years ago, he appeared far more relaxed this time, but it is clear he’d been up much earlier in the morning to prepare for our visit, evidenced by the fact that the wines we were about to taste had been carefully aired in advance. But first was the obligatory trip down the steep stairwell into its cellars, where the smaller old cellar had been present since 1862 whilst a brand-new facility had just been carved recently adjacent to it, capable of housing up to three recent harvests. It was clear that Domaine Prieuré Roch runs on lean management with Yannick himself being very hands-on in the winemaking. When we returned to its main hall, which resembled a living room-cum-workshop-cum-kitchen, Yannick proceeded to pour us bottle after bottle of his wines. What struck me most was that his drive, passion and individuality can be felt in each of his wines, made with a personal vision while always abiding by his own principles and that of Mother nature. The terroir comes through very well but they all need plenty of time to express themselves properly. These aren’t made to please the palate. They are made to pay respect and thanks for what nature has endowed us. Many thanks, Yannick, for the wonderful friendship and thanks too to FICOFI.

2015 Domaine Prieuré Roch Clos Vougeot Grand Cru. Lovely colour, exuding complex aromas of red currants and dark plums with a deep tinge of licorice. Open and seamless with lovely acidity and lift, displaying great freshness, linearity, length and tension across the palate. Possibly the best example of this much maligned plot I’ve ever had.

2015 Domaine Prieuré Roch Nuits-Saint-Georges Le Clos des Corvées 1er monopole. Deep colour. Deep as well in aromas of dark cherries, earth and ripe wild berries with tones of red plums and orangey tangerines, medium-bodied, showing good lift, tone and tension. Very well balanced and integrated but this wine is all about its wonderful bouquet, deeply alluring and seductive.

2010 Domaine Prieuré Roch Nuits-Saint-Georges Le Clos des Corvées 1er monopole. Evolved in colour with a beautiful bouquet that is most expressive, yielding red plums with some tobacco leaves, open and fleshy with just the right degree of supportive acidity. Highly elegant and sophisticated.

2014 Domaine Prieuré Roch Nuits-Saint-Georges Le Clos des Corvées 1er monopole. Slightly darker tint than the 2015, showing delicious plums and currants with excellent lift, rather minerally in concentration with good tension from the higher acidity though the fruit itself is rather backward, finishing on a stern note. Again, it’s the nose that is quite special.

2014 Domaine Prieuré Roch Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru. Great colour. Stunning deep bouquet of dark currants, red fruits, dark plums and cedar, structured with lovely tension and full acidity, more minerally than outright fruity opulence, seemingly a hallmark of the estate’s 2014.

2001 Domaine Prieuré Roch Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru PURE. Poured from magnum. Fully evolved. Delicious sweet gentle bouquet of earth and aged plums. Very open with wonderful freshness and great purity from the melted tannins, showing great linearity without any distraction, becoming more expressive with time. Truly a revelation. As explained before, PURE indicates that the wine has been bottled straight from the barrel without any oxygen contact, preserving its integrity and freshness. Yannick demonstrated the simple two-way tap used for this laborious process that requires three persons to operate, taking three hours to manually bottle a barrel whereas conventional bottling methods can do the job in five minutes. A real labour of love, for Yannick truly heeds his passion.

Having barely recovered from the evening at the La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin gala dinner, we arrived on time at Bouchard Père et Fils on the morning of 19 November 2017 to re-visit its wonderful cellars. Bouchard has the most extensive series of underground cellars in all of Burgundy, located 10 metres below ground and spanning 4 kilometres in total length, with walls that are 5-7 metres thick. In the old days, they were used by the military as its ammunition store before the Bouchard family took over the property in the early 19th century. The temperature here is always consistently between 13-15 °C with a humidity of 80%, ensuring that the corks do not shrink from dessication. It was good, once again, to see the special section holding the estate’s oldest bottles (1846 Meursault) that had been walled behind four false walls during the Second World War to prevent the Nazis from looting.

After the tour, we were joined by M. Luc Bouchard, who appeared amazingly fresh in spite of the previous night’s exertion, for an extensive tasting of the 2016 line-up, helmed by its Technical Director M. Philippe Prost, who exuded great knowledge and expertise about each individual wine: its terroir, individual characteristics and limitations. I have never attended such a precise and masterful discourse of such an extensive line-up within the space of an hour, M. Prost making it clear right from the outset that we’d have to keep pace. And indeed we did so. These days, there are still people who tend to view the wines of Bouchard with some condescension as a negociant producer when the fact is it is now largely a domaine with its own holdings in many regions. 2016 was a difficult growing season dominated by the problems of frost in the early part but the grapes were eventually picked under cool conditions.

Technical Director of Bouchard Pere et Fils, M. Philippe Prost.

At this tasting, I found the quality of the reds to be highly consistent, showing good color, ripeness, power and balance, perhaps even a couple of notches higher than the reds of 2012 which I tasted during my last visit here two years ago. The whites, expectedly from Bouchard, are truly outstanding, combining fruit, acidity and balance with utter precision, harmony and detail. Absolutely stunning. One understand why Bouchard always opens its tastings with reds before the whites. I’ll have to load up on these when the offer comes around next year.

Bouchard Père et Fils used to make La Romanée Grand Cru before it became a monopole of Comte Liger-Belair from 2002

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Monthelie. Darker tint. Shy but there’s plenty of cool raspberries and dark cherries on the palate with some attractive earthiness, showing good levels of ripeness, acidity and concentration.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune du Chateau 1er. Blend of 17 premier cru. Good colour. Cool fruit with notes of dark cherries, forest floor and light ember, showing gentle acidity and good integration, finishing with mild sweet tannins and fine acidity.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Clos de La Mousse 1er. Dark tint. Medium-bodied. Raspberries and dark wild berries dominate with a mild vegetal tinge, showing good acidity but unremarkable.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Greves Vigne de L’enfant Jesus 1er. Good colour. Lovely floral fragrance of red fruits and dark roses. Fleshy, open with good detail, showing gentle sweet subdued tannins, fine acidity and understated minerals with good balance. Gentle dryish finish. Very fine.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Volnay Les Caillerets 1er. Significantly darker hue and tone. Generous in dark cherries and licorice. Dry with good levels of ripeness and acidity supported by an understated ferrous base. Good overall delicacy.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Le Corton Grand Cru. Appropriately dark with abundant red fruits and currants. Fleshy with excellent acidity and silky tannins, showing good sophistication and great balance. From soils with less clay and more of limestone, explaining for its good overall delicacy and feminine poise in spite of its proportions. Very fine.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Cailles 1er. Raspberries, dark cherries, dry ash and mushrooms replicate the classic Nuits-Saint-Georges character, deft with good acidity and freshness.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Échezeaux Grand Cru. Good fragrance recalling dark roses, ripe raspberries and wild berries. Rather full, showing great acidity, definition and linearity though not opulent, finishing with a vegetal trace.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru. Excellent colour. Excellent depth of red fruits and dark berries. Robust with very good levels of ripeness. Highly supple and fleshy, showing a deeper vein of rich dark cherries. Open with fine detail, structured with subtle tannins amidst fine understated acidity. Great potential here. Highly successful.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Bourgogne chardonnay. Highly aromatic with srong grassy elements, lemongrass and malt. Delicates tones of creme with a dash of raw nutmeg on the gentle palate, finishing with great acidity and a touch of sweetness. Good complexity. I’m happy to drink this anytime.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault Les Clous. Perfumed with lifted aromas of white flowers and clear citrus. Has a minerally feel, slightly crisp in its fresh delicate minerals.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Clos Saint-Landry 1er. Good aromas. Chalky tone with green fruits, understated acidity and minerals. Great tone, rounded and smooth. Finishing well.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault Genevières 1er. Lifted with delicate notes of nutmeg, clear citrus and earthy minerals. Rounded, showing excellent presence, detail and linearity with superb mouthfeel.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault Perrières 1er. Deep complex bouquet of white flowers. Rather full. Gentle on the palate with great acidity, depth and minerality with superb definition and integration. Finishing with great length amidst traces of sweet. Excellent.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru. Cool ripe fruit. Open with great delicacy of lovely clear citrus, showing excellent presence, acidity and integration. Very fresh, finishing with exotic spices amidst mild lovely intensity on the back palate. Superb.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru. Great delicacy with complex crème de la crème, some nutmeg and chalkiness with complex early minerals. Great acidity. Very well integrated but tight. Not showing too much now but it’s richness, sophistication and potential is unmistakable. Excellent.

2016 Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet Grand Cru. Lovely tones of crème de la crème and chalk with gentle deep aromas of white flowers and morning dew. Deeply aromatic with lovely delicacy, almost ethereal, already showing some very early complexity. Full, sophisticated and elegant. So much promise here.

That wasn’t the end. With the tasting efficiently concluded within an hour, we were ushered to the domaine’s pavilion for an utterly decadent lunch:

Champagne Henriot Blanc de Blancs NV, over lunch at Bouchard Père et Fils, 19 Nov 2017. Poured from magnum. Open and expansive with a deep crystalline tone, lifted in characters of crème and complex minerals, vibrant and refreshing. Very fine.

2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, over lunch at Bouchard Père et Fils, 19 Nov 2017. Lovely hue, rich in crème de la crème with fabulous intensity matched by powerful spicy tones at the sides, displaying good linearity with some early complexity but still primal, tapering to a lengthy lasting finish. Excellent now, potentially outstanding in time to come.

2009 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune Les Teurons 1er, over lunch at Bouchard Père et Fils, 19 Nov 2017. Delicious aromas of ripe dark berries and camphor, rich with fine acidity and fullness, very well-balanced and integrated. Excellent. I have a newfound respect for the Cote de Beaune reds.

2000 Bouchard Père et Fils Le Corton Grand Cru, over lunch at Bouchard Père et Fils, 19 Nov 2017. An abundance of dark fruits here, showing good levels of ripeness with tangy cedary tones, rounded with good acidity without the usual burliness that Corton may sometimes impart in lesser hands.

What a way to start a Sunday!! I can’t thank M. Luc Bouchard enough for his generosity in taking such great care of us…last night at the La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin dinner, this entire morning at the domaine, and later this afternoon when we adjourn to the town hall for the annual Hospice de Beaune auction, where again Luc will be bidding on our behalf for a barrel. Merci beaucoup!!

This week marks the start of my week-long annual pilgrimmage to France with the usual suspects, this time to partake in festivities surrounding the annual Hospices de Beaune wine auction that takes place on the third Sunday of every November. Having arrived from Singapore, we drove straight to Beaune, making good time. This year, the weather has turned really cold much earlier than usual and everywhere, the vines stand in forlorn nakedness, awaiting the imminent harsh winter to turn over the 2017 season.

Beaune, from the higher grounds of the Cote de Beaune

The game plan for the Saturday of 18th November 2017 was to participate in the famous dinner of the La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin at the Château du Clos du Vougeot, made possible for us through FICOFI which had arranged for us to be hosted by the affable M. Luc Bouchard of Bouchard Pere et Fils, always a major participant in the proceedings of the auction. Founded in 1934, this organisation, now boasting some 12,000 persons worldwide, serves to promote Burgundy to the world though I feel this is far less imperative now that Burgundy is so highly coveted by wine lovers around the world.

Arriving in black tie in the evening in near-freezing temperatures, the grand Chateau du Clos du Vougeot still appeared youthful and eager to continue its long tradition. About 600 guests had arrived, a significant number having specially flown in from around the world. The Americans were prominent and I’m proud that Singapore was well represented, not just by ourselves, but by the presence of the venerable Dr N K Yong, still looking well in his advanced years. As we gathered in the anteroom before dinner, it was good to bump into M. Pierre-Henry Gagey, owner of Louis Jadot, who still remembered well our dinner with him a couple of years ago at Lameloise.

As the room swelled with guests, canapes and wine were served freely. The 2014 Ch du Clos de Vougeot Macon-Lugny was light-medium with gentle clear citrus and good acidity, somewhat backward in tone, making it an easy drinking wine to pace oneself for the long evening ahead. Short but agreeable. The Cremant de Bourgogne Rosé was more substantial, proffering light tones of rose petals, strawberries and grapefruit, well proportioned with a bit of lift and understated sweetness, not too dry.

When the doors to the dining room were finally thrown open, we were greeted by the sight of long rows of tables packed within, each immaculately laid out for a long night of feasting and wining. In fact, it was similar to a La Pauleé, save for the overall formality. We took our places at a corner that provided us with a vantage view of the entire hall and stage. Our kind host M. Luc Bouchard looked every bit his relaxed and genial self. The dinner opened with great fanfare from the Chevaliers, and I am truly amazed by the great quality of the traditional Burgundian fare that came from the Château’s old kitchen, served by an entire company of highly proficient wait staff who fussed around us within the tight confines with great efficiency. Most importantly, the wines were free flow without one even having to ask for it. Unless stated, the wines are largely labelled under the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. Hence, it is unclear who vinified these wines.

2012 Meursault Santenots 1er. Clear notes of crème de la crème and crisp citrus. Very clean and precise with light floral tones, turning more minerally towards the finish with good linearity of fruit, evoking icing and mint at its finish. Very successful effort.

2014 Marsannay. Clear ruby. Ripe strawberries, cherries and raspberries are evident with traces of ember. Fleshy with good concentration and true pinot character but straightforward.

2005 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Dames Hospitalieres. Served from magnum, this wine is deep in colour and bouquet, showing excellent concentration of dark plums, dark cherries and currants. with overtones of Asian spices, a touch astringent as it finished with dry intensity. Needs more time to settle but should evolve well.

2010 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru. Good colour. Very well integrated and balanced, proffering a generous tone of red fruits, ember and incense framed by smooth tannins and spice at the finish, showing good refinement but lacks true distinction.

And so the feasting went on and on, interrupted on occasion by the necessary speeches (M. Laurent Ponsot taking the trouble to promote the 2017 vintage in English), the famous ban bourguignon that would recur several times, the pat-a-backs amongst existing chevaliers and the induction of new members, the merry-making and the songs, including sing-a-longs, which naturally grew louder and louder through the evening. By the time we left past midnight, the party was still going strong but we’d been properly hammered by the long flight and lack of sleep. Luc Bouchard took pity on us and bade us bon nuit, but not before reminding us that we were to be at his domaine next morning before 1000h to go through a pre-auction tasting before the actual event. This has, indeed, been a most memorable evening that will not be forgotten. Many thanks, FICOFI, and to M. Luc Bouchard for the generous hospitality.