Mature Red Burgundy and Boisson Vadot Whites

A lunch to remember on April 26th, one of the greatest showings of mature Red Burgundy in years. Boisson Vadot continues to shine as a producer to watch in Meursault.

1996 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut - France, Champagne
Served blind, one of the tasters trying to decipher it said “Well it can’t be Salon. And it’s definitely not '96.” Ah, the brutality of blind tasting… To his point, this came across as more accessible than many '96’s. It’s a beautiful Champagne, with pear, mineral, and yeast. Succulent and tense, this was unanimously loved at the table today.

2010 Bernard Boisson-Vadot Meursault Les Chevalières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
Polished, clean, and precise. Best showing to date of this wine, this has blossomed in the past couple of years. Flint and flower aromas, juicy fruit. This was unanimously the best of the flight.

2013 Bernard Boisson-Vadot Meursault Les Chevalières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
More tense and crisp than 2010, should be just as good as 2010 in a few years. Very structured, good now with excellent potential.

2012 Bernard Boisson-Vadot Meursault Les Grands Charrons - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
More dense and structured than either Chevalieres, less giving and backward by comparison. This still needs quite a bit of time, let 'em sleep.

2012 Bernard Boisson-Vadot Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
There was some controversy at the table on this bottle, some thought it oxidized. I did not, and indeed the more air it got the better it was. In any event, I got more oak on the finish at first than the other wines today. This was, unsurprisingly, very youthful. I was fortunate to be able to vacuum seal the remaining wine and revisit a couple of days later, and it was more balanced and lush. This will be a super wine, assuming there are not oxidation issues – to be fair I’m more forgiving on this point than some of my friends.

1978 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru
Served blind. Sexy as heaven aromas, garnet color with substantial bricking. Exquisitely delicate with tremendous presence, a classic and wonderful Burgundy. The epitome of what we want from aged Red Burgundy. Glorious, a top tier Grand Cru performance.

1985 Maison Leroy Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru
Served blind. Younger and more oaky at first than the previous wine (which turned out to be '78 Pommard Epeneaux). This went from being underwhelming to phenomenal with a bit of air. Correctly guessed '85 vintage and Gevrey-Chambertin appellation. This has wonderful black fruit, very classic Gevrey. I thought this was one of the more transparent Leroy wines I’ve had in some time, very little Lalou “signature” here and very Gevrey.

1985 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
Served blind. Lights out! Incredible aromatics and so sexy, dripping with exotic Vosne spice. Light in the mouth with looooong finish, classic iron fist velvet glove going on here. Another 1er that’s performing at upper Grand Cru level today.

1980 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Served blind, the vintage reveal was shocking as this was drinking considerably younger. I thought it was '93 at the oldest, and wouldn’t have been surprised if it were '02. Dark color, and lots of sauvages, with marvelous intensity. So many layers and it kept bouncing around feeling at times very young and moderately mature. The metaphor that sprang to mind was a young prodigy that’s a genius, model, and athlete. This is as complete and impressive as one could ever want.

1978 Chanson Père & Fils Corton - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
Served blind. This wine had the misfortune to be served after the greatest flight, 4 of the most incredible mature Burgundy, I’ve had in years. If we had started here, probably would have been quite happy. But after the others, this came across as totally outclassed. Brownish color, more astringent, softer and less expressive than the others.

WOWSA, what a stonking list of wines and great notes. Thanks for postingh

80 Ponsot CdlR is spectacular. As is Arnoux Suchots. Never had a mature Clos des Epeneaux—but you did. Great night.

in what ways did the genevrieres show oxidation?

Nice notes, and I’m especially glad to hear about the 85 Leroy Chambertin. The 78 Armand Pommard Epeneaux sounds amazing. Alan Weinberg and I did an 80 vs 85 Ponsot Clos de la Roche night and both were as incredible as your 80 sounds.

Great line-up Alex.

I do like Boisson-Vadot’s wines.

What no after party? Looks like your group had a nice lunch from the pictures I saw. As usual, great notes!

I have a few of this 78 epeneaux including one in mag. I’ve had it twice and it’s great.

No after party this time, flew to LA the next morning for a wine dinner. I’ll post notes on that when I have time to type them up.

Dave you should join us for a Burgundy lunch, it’s been too long!

Saw pics of the LA dinner. Jealous.

Rule #1 in LA - if there’s liger belair being consumed I gotta be there.

Sorry we missed you, hope to see you at the next dinner.

Finally posted the notes. Great night.

Amazing line up! Those mature Burgs sound so amazing. Boy howdy, 1980 can deliver the goods when it’s on. That Ponsot note has me thirsty!

That 1980 was when Jean-Marie was still fully in charge. I occasionally wonder whether he transitioned the wine-making reigns a little too soon given inconsistencies in the mid-1990s particularly.

Alex, great notes. Salon 96 is in such a zone!

Can you expand on the Boisson style? I’ve been meaning to give them a try but haven’t yet.

Boisson-Vadot are high quality wines that, up until a couple of years ago, were underpriced sleepers.

Their reputation has been that they’re the next Coche Dury, and some of their wines do have comparable struck match and reduction. However I’ve yet to have one that has quite the power.

I’ve noticed that these are austere in their youth and really shouldn’t be drunk too young. When they’ve gotten some age, they are complete and serious. Right now the 2010 is in a good spot.