Questions about the 1990 Tardy Boudots I’m drinking tonight

WINE TALK
1

I’ve generally leaned toward opening better than normal bottles during “stay-at-home”. In that spirit I opened the oldest dry red I own—a 1949 Talbot. Unfortunately, the cork had shrunk and the wine was oxidized.

So I opened a 1990 Tardy Les Boudots. The wine took a little while to open but continues to get more beautiful with air. Great spice and earthy (beet?) notes—it seems to be drinking right at peak. I’m assuming based on what I’ve read this would have been made from the same fruit harvested under metayage arrangements with Meo Camuzet. Can anyone confirm this and have you ever had them together?

2

so it wasn’t tardy at all—you opened it on time!

3

I was “tardy” to the Talbot, unfortunately.

4

Tardy was a metayeur of Camuzet - along with Jayer and a couple of others - in Tardy’s case Nuits St Georges 1er Boudots, Vosne-Romanée 1er cru Chaumes, and Clos de Vougeot vines in Grands Maupertuis – these stayed with Domaine Tardy until the 2007 vintage. As such, a metayeur usually keeps a portion of the crop and makes their own wine with it - in which case the wines of Tardy and Méo would be different. Or they could make all the wine and return the owners share, typically when bottled - in this case the wines would be the same. Jean-Nicolas arrived later than 1990, so I’m not sure who was doing what at Méo-Camuzet in 1990…

5

Thank you Bill - extremely helpful! [cheers.gif]

6

Apparently I am “Tardy” in adding on to this thread…. I opened a 1993 Boudots tonight, and was really impressed. The nose was rocking immediately following pop n pour, though it took some air for the palate to catch up. My initial impression was that the wine was just starting to fade, but the palate seemed to pick up weight over a couple of hours and the last glass might have been the best. Started at a 92 and I was feeling 93+ by the end of the bottle.

I’m a big Meo fan, and it is fun to find older bottles from their metayeurs for a fraction of the price. While this wine was superb, my first few attempts at Faurois bottles have been less successful. And of course the Jayer bottles are well known and insanely expensive.

I opened this bottle after landing several new 1988 Tardy Boudots in the HDH auction this weekend.