Thanks to Paul, I could also participate to this unique tasting.
With some delay, but here are some comments on the tasting from my side too.
First of all on the setting.
There were 17 people at the table, in a nice, vintage dining room of an old house in a tiny, remote village in the Suisse Romande. Already getting there puts you in the right mood for a special tasting. We knew that in each flight there would have been at least a Roumier wine, matched by other wines from the same vineyard and/or vintage. Everything else was blind.
The organiser told us that the wines had been opened long before and that they had been resting at 13 degrees. When they were poured they were at that temperature. This I found far from optimal, especially considering the pace at which we had to taste (everybody had to come back home from that remote village!). After the first two flights I actively tried to warm up the wines in the glasses as quickly as possible by holding them in my hands. Often, I felt I started to get the wines when taking the last sips. This was, indeed, unfortunate.
Otherwise the tasting has been very enjoyable, with only sparse and short comments at the end of each flight and most of them quite interesting. Being a newcomer to the wines of Roumier, I did find the tasting very instructive, both on the Roumier wines per se, and on the comparison Roumier-de Vogue for the top Chambolle vineyards.
What is clear is that Roumier wines are not immediate. You need time to appreciate them, but then for each of them (with the exception of the Chambolle village) the conclusion was that they were not ready yet and would benefit from more time in the cellar. This might also have to do with the choice of the vintages, with many 2001, and other slow-maturing vintages, but the comparison with other wines made it clear that Roumier wines were particularly backward. I also found it interesting to taste one 2000 by Roumier, his Ruchottes-Chambertin. Especially on the palate I found that one could feel the warm vintage in notes of very ripe fruit, but these came together and were contrasted by notes of fresh red fruit like cranberries.
For what concerns the comparison Roumier-de Vogue, two different styles, both wonderful wines. For the Bonnes-Mares I was not that much convinced by Roumier’s version. Wonderful nose, but on the palate at times it felt a bit static to me, lacking energy. De Vogue’s version was better balanced and sharper, and the tannins had a subtler expression.
For the Amoureuses the different vintage makes a comparison difficult. Roumier’s version was more complex, more inward, on darker tones and more tannic. The nose was fantastic and very complex (red and darker fruit, earth, balsamic). De Vogue’s nose was also wonderful, starting with sweet red fruit, then gaining complexity towards earthy and finally floral notes. The entry on the palate was stunning, with a burst of very sweet and fresh red fruit, which took me by surprise (I jotted “too charmeur” on my notes). But it wasn’t too much, it stayed balanced and was just a lovely, silky wine.
Both Musigny’s were wonderful. With such wines you feel that words become inadequate. The mixture of fruit and earthy notes and spices which you get on the nose is stunning and I don’t feel I can attempt to describe the differences.
On the palate I felt that Roumier’s expression of the tannins was more powerful, even though very fine-grained. De Vogue’s was overall more elegant. These were my first Musigny’s and were just fantastic.
One last remark on this comparison: at the beginning I found in all de Vogue’s wines some volatile acidity, which however dissipated quickly.
Finally some quick comments on the other wines:
Corton-Charlemegne: two beautiful wines, with Pavelot’s version sharper, more linear, all minerality, and Roumier’s with more fruit, a richer palate, but without sacrificing precision. (Yes, I also found the toasted bread note). Surprisingly, ten minutes after having emptied the glass, Pavelot showed a wonderful bouquet full of fruit.
Claude Dugat’s Gevrey-Chambertin was lovely. With a very light structure, grainy but without weight.
Hudelot-Noellat Charmes was a beautiful 2000. Ripe fruit, concentration, but lots of freshness.
Perrot-Minot wines were a disappointment. Especially the Mazoyeres just did not belong to this tasting (heavy, ripe, dense, no no…).
Rousseau’s Clos de Ruchottes was somewhat weird. The nose stayed closed after the initial reduction. The palate was also not particularly expressive, but had good presence and balance. Elegant, overall, but a bit drying on the finish.
Oh, there is one Roumier wine I did not explicitly mention and it’s Les Cras 2001. In a flight with other two 2000, this was clearly the most elegant and precise. But the tannins were somewhat drying. Wait another couple of years…
. I was actually considering the wider population of this board.