2012 white Burgundy premier cru blind tasting

WINE TALK
1

My wine club organized a blind tasting of 12 premier cru’s from 2012 . Overall , we were positively surprised : most wines were drinking beautifully and scored between 90 and 93 . So this year may not be a top vintage but still a very good one . The wines were served blind in duo’s .

  1. Excellent wine : ripe but with good acidities . Drink now 93/100 : GIRARDIN Chassagne Clos des Caillerets
  2. Corked ( too bad , seemed very nice ) Nuits St Georges Les Terres Blanches Marchand Tawse : NR
  3. Still muted but fresh and mineral in style . Paul Pillot St Aubin les Pitangerets 90/100
  4. Wow , really good wine , ripe and rich , not so complex but top . Pierre Yves Colin Morey St Aubin En Remilly 92/100
  5. Very floral which I associate with Puligny . For now , nice wine . Puligny Montrachet Le Cailleret la Pousse d’Or 91/100
  6. More closed and muted . Very intense , very mineral . Power wine with great future . 93+/100 Henri Boillot Puligny M Clos de la Mouchere
  7. Ripe , floral , butter , this is Meursault . Meursault Perrieres Domaine Michelot 91/100
  8. Also floral . More full-bodied and intense, I love this to drink now . Domaine du Cerberon Meursault les Cras 92/100
  9. Coche spicy nose . Very rich wine , wow . Coche-Dury Meursault les Caillerets 94/100
  10. Peachy , still young . A good wine but has the bad luck to be served with the previous one 91/100 Buisson Charles Meursault Charmes
  11. Very pure and mineral , still monolytic but what a powerful wine . Top class. 93+/100 Comte Lafon Meursault Genevrieres
  12. there had to be one… very advanced/oxidized… NR Morey Blanc Hospices de Beaune Meursault Genevrieres cuvee Baudot

We were 9 tasters . Overall score :
-first place : Coche Dury Meursault Caillerets : 23 points ( 8 first places )
-second place : Henri Boillot Puligny M Clos de la Mouchere : 12 p
-third place : Comte Lafon : Meursault Genevrieres 10 p

These 3 wines , together with the Girardin and the PYCM were the best ones and maybe not fully ready . Most others were and offer real pleasure .

2

I don’t find Girardin reds to be too exciting but their whites are very good to excellent.

3

Super under rated white wines. Racy and full of acid

4

Thanks Herwig for the notes. I had my first 2012 1er cru yesterday - the Lafon Meursault Porusots. Lots of life and body with a great finish, I’d put this right along side the Genevrieres you tasted.

5

I know this is a hard questing to be definitive on, but how do people feel about 2012 1er aging potential going forward? Drink now or hold?

6

About a year ago the '12 Porusots showed an unappetizing level of not fully integrated new oak. May be time to try again.

7

Nice tasting. I’m a huge fan of 2012 whites, particularly for current consumption.

8

Good data point thanks. 2012s are looking pretty smart. And I agree that the Girardin range has been really good at that level for the last few years. Still not very convinced by their GC efforts, but the 1ers are consistently lovely.

9

Thanks Herwig. I like where '12’s are at the moment. I like where '11’s are at even more.

10

I like that both vintages are at a place that’s before premox. But for how much longer? If they’re drinking well now, now is a good time to drink them.

11

Yes , I agree , 2012 premier cru is great for current drinking . And why wait , considering premox .
Girardin always does well in our blind tastings , his whites are excellent imo .

12

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14

I am also a big fan of Girardin whites. Dominique Lafon since 2009 has done an excellent job. Has anyone had premoxed Lafon since 2009?

15

No . Lafon changed his style of wine making , I think . The wines are more tight and mineral .

16

I heard that from a negoce who works closely with Dominique. I love his wines once again! Lafon was more expensive than Coche in the early 90s in the states.

17

Kevin, I haven’t had any that I can recall.

18

This kind of tasting is the reason that I buy Boillot Clos de la Moucheres every vintage. Thanks Herwig. Coche always rules in a ripe vintage when others tend to struggle IMHO.

19

Nice blind event. The top 3 are all really good ones, but Im surprised the Pierre Yves Colin Morey St Aubin En Remilly did not come in at the top. Ive had a few and all have been spectacular.

20

Great notes Herwig…not surprised by the top 3…but thought the PYCM En Remilly would show better. Like Blake I have never been disappointed with one. Btw I saw Ramonet making an En Remilly starting 2013, anyone tried them yet?