Some highlights for me included the Mugneret Gibourg wines which were drinking fantastically, the dujac trio was very nice, the clerget clos vougeot, hudelot suchots, mortet LSJ, and the Fourrier were great. Among whites, I really enjoyed the Drouhin Montrachet, Caroline morey champs gains and lafon charmes. The fornerol rue de foins was fantastic.
New discovery for me was the Camille Thieret wines. It was very nice to meet her and talk about the wines; I’d never had them or knew much about them. This was analogous to my discovering Rougeot wines last year.
2017 reds continue to flesh out, even just in the past couple years. I recall a 2017 Hudelot Noellat Suchot that was very lean a few years ago, tasting radically different here. Many 2017s showed very well and another taster noted they were the first bottles to go away
2009s were all showing great
A few 2013s, 2014s and 2016s were also showing well
2019s were all delicious, although I wonder if some were a little too hedonistic
Liger Belair Brulees continues to be a highlight for me. The 2013 was excellent, and the 2009 was a notch head. Dreamy nose both and particularly the 2009. I was told the Brulees is only available for charity or tastings, and not commercial sale.
Gibourg’s Clos Vougeot continues to be a standout. The 2014 was very good, but I preferred the more complete 2016.
d’Eugenie Clos Vougeot made in a more hedonistic style. The 2019 was a bit too hedonistic. Here the 2017 struck me as a great wine, where the vintage maybe dialed back some of the hedonism. Not many people made it to d’Eugenie table, and I think missed out on this 2017.
Clerget Clos Vougeot were good, but not on the level of the other 2 I think
Hudelot Noellat’s Suchots all showed well (15,16,17). My favorite was the 2016.
Didier Fornerol’s 2019 Rue de Foines was excellent and the 2016 was showing really well too. I’m told these are $50 wholesale. Scoopable at that price. I’m only seeing secondary prices at $150-200. Would like to spend time with a whole bottle and figure it out from there, but $200 feels steep.
Dujac failed to move me
Annoyed to have missed out on the Mortet LSJ wines
Lafarge 2019 Chenes was a standout. The family says nothing has changed in the winemaking style to make them rounder/more polished than I think older Lafarge are… they cited climate change above all… I don’t quite believe it although it must be true
Fourrier is great. It’s almost not special as they seemingly are so consistently great.
I quite liked the Benjamin Leroux 2019 Boudots. Notably, none are available on Winesearcher. “Benjamin” means youngest… as he is the youngest of three siblings.
Chanterêves ran a little more pet nat than I liked
Interesting that I heard from several people today how much they liked the various 16s. The 16s were my least favorite across the board. The reds were fairly closed and uninteresting and the whites were a bit flabby, which is in keeping with my experience of the 16th outside of this event.
Liger-Belair were underwhelming for me.
Ones that continue to outperform are certain 15 whites. PYCM’s 15s are fabulous (not poured today) and today the 15 Lamy Murgers, Moreau Grand Ruchottes and Lafon Charmes were all outstanding - expressive with great tension and energy and long finishes - and even outperformed the 17s at least today.
Caroline Morey wines are excellent and today clearly bested the PYCMs.
One of the best wines I had all day was the 17 Pierre Morey MP. Another top wine was the 22 PVG Bâtard.
I really liked the 16s personally. They were fantastic from a lot of different producers, especially Hudelot Noellat and mg. I’ll ask Todd to merge my thread with this one.
Yes yes on Pierre Girardin 2022 Batard. He says it’s the best wine he’s made and it’s already showing it.
Interesting @MChang that you dug Thieret. Might have been too late in the event and I was tiring when I got there, but didn’t really move me. I thought the 29 and 22 showed beautiful aromatics but just lacked something on palate
The 17s are drinking really well now, in both colors.
The Hudelot, Fourrier and Gibourg wines pleased me the most … but no shock there … confirmation bias … these producers are in my stylistic wheelhouse. HN 16 Suchots was bright and lively.
The Liger Belair trio of Brûlée wines underwhelmed. A bit lean and with a sour note on finish … surprised many tasters.
The Dujac Combottes trio also lacked a bit of magic on the day for me.
The Eugenie CVs were precocious and giving. Credit too for pouring right next to Gibourg, whom I consider the best producer of CV.
The Fornerol and Thieret reds had lots of oomph and easy going charm. Good value play.
Loved that the whole Lafarge clan was there pouring wines. The 2019 Volnay Chenes was top 5 wine for me. And they poured it along a 2003, which was neither tired nor roasted.
As to whites, I loved the Caroline Morey (champ gains) , Lamy (St Aubin Chenes) and Moreau wines. Alex told me he’s particularly fond of his 2015 CM Grandes Ruchottes, the first vintage he had to wrestle with climate impacts. He’s rightly proud how balanced the wine has become.
I normally love Paul Pillot whites, but Thierry’s array of Grande Montagne wines didn’t grab me. I expected more drive and lift.
Pierre Morey poured some electric Meursault Perrieres that skirt the edge of richness. Kudos to Anne for pouring a 2000 — the oldest wine I believe that was poured all day.
My takes were different in many cases than others except maybe at the peak. Some quick thoughts.
Best reds: Mugneret-Gibourg - all three Clos Vougeot at the top of the reds by a head for me.
Best whites: Pierre Girardin 2020 and 2022 Batard along a little surprisingly with compelling 2018 Drouhin Montrachet (2014 good but grumpy and wrapped in potential).
90% roughly of the 2018 whites and reds, and there were too many being poured IMO, were really not that good. A few of the 2016 whites were better than expected but a lot of them being poured were not good either.
Fevre 2010 Preuses was the star Chablis, but the 2012 and 2011 were very good too. I loved the 2010.
Big white disappointments where I found none of the wines interesting or compelling: Caroline Morey, Ballot Millot. And there were a few other white producers where I only thought one of 3 was decent or compelling- Pillot, Lafon, Bachelet-Monnot, PYCM, Pierre Morey. The 2000 Pierre Morey MP was not good, which was very disappointing. And I had it from two different bottles as I got the end of one and then a separate first pour from the second.
I’d say I had fewer red disappointments and more good surprises. Hope I can write more on that if I find a few minutes.
No, they poured mitans and chenes for 1ers at the grand tasting, but you’re posting in the wrong thread, this is the verticals thread. Lafarge poured 03 09 19 chenes at verticals.
Thanks for posting Michael!! The Paulee Verticals tasting continues to be a singular experience - a must do if you’re attending any of the La Paulee events. This tasting format gives you the chance to recheck on things that would be VERY hard to do if you didn’t already own the bottles or had several friends that wanted to put something like this together at a dinner. Smaller room - smaller set of producers - wonderful people all around. A must! Yes, day drinking is being done by everyone so it’s not a bad thing at least on this day :). CHEERS
Yeah I really liked the verticals as well. I especially thought it was interesting how well a lot of the 16s were drinking (mg, hudelot) and how good the eugenie wines were.
I also thought the '16 reds showed well. I tasted in burgundy before the '16s were released and thought back then than many of the reds are 100% worth cellaring!
From a 0.5 hectare lieu dit from 40 year old vines with large amount of whole cluster inclusion.
2016 Didier Fornerol Cote de Nuits Villages “La Rue de Foins”
Lots of smoke and dark fruits on the nose, with an aroma of tar and florals. The palate has incredible density with crisp acidity and the finish is extremely long. This drinks far above its level and the wine is extremely well balanced in 2016, with an incredibly long finish.
2018 Didier Fornerol Cote de Nuits Villages “La Rue de Foins”
Much more fruit than the 16, but less balance, with a bit less acidity. This was a bit disjointed but the pretty fruits were a highlight. Some black currants and clove on the nose. Finish was a bit short. Perhaps this will be better in time.
2019 Didier Fornerol Cote de Nuits Villages “La Rue de Foins”
Sort of a Goldilocks situation, with as much fruit as the 18, but much more acidity, putting the wine in much better balance with just more of everything. 5-spice and wild blackberries on the nose, with a lively palate and otherworldly finish. I’m glad to have acquired a number of these, tremendous wine.
