Here we go…
Overall Impressions
Being our first La Paulee, we thought it would be more of a mad house, so we were pleasantly surprised it was not. Gina and I have been to tons of big tastings, but most of them had a low cost of entry, so they pretty much ended up being PACKED with lots of drunk, obnoxious people. This was entirely different. The crowd was entirely manageable, even at “popular” tables. Producers did not run out of wine until perhaps the last 30 minutes of the tasting, and even then it was rare. I think we got the last pours of Meo and Lambray’s grand crus. Lucky!
Like Howard, we were not able to taste all of the producers, but we did manage to hit a lot of them. Probably a few important red producers were missed, unfortunately, but we were more focused on the whites, especially given 1) we drink more white than red, 2) tasting young red burgundy is ROUGH, no matter how good the wines are (anyone else’s lips still chapped???), and 3) many early reports are that the whites were better this year.
On that third point, we tend to agree. The whites, across the board, were pretty incredible. Great acidity and mouthfeel. Lots of dry extract. Good fruit profile. Lots of chalk and limestone. Definitely the best white vintage since '14. Maybe even better? Time will tell.
As I said, tasting young red burgundy is a difficult task, at least for us. The wines are just so tannic and acidic that’s it’s really hard to get a sense of them. One’s ability to distinguish between the various crus from the same producer is severely limited, though, in general, the village level wines are more approachable at this early stage. The differences between producers are easier to grasp as the use of oak, stem inclusion, ripeness of fruit, etc., seem to stand out at this young age. In other words, most wines have discreet parts that tend to “stick out” and leave an impression of where the wine is going and how it was made. There are very few wines that have fully knitted together at this point.
One thing that seemed homogenous about the 2020 reds is that they all seemed to have a very “Gamay” quality to them. They reminded me of young, high end Cru Beaujolais. Maybe this is always the case with young red Burgundy? Paging @William_Kelley! I have not tasted enough of them to know. Either way, the fruit was very bright and red. The wines were fresh. The color of nearly all was a uniform bright garnet with a purple rim. Tannins were grippy and acids were medium to medium plus. I think, with time, the wines will definitely age nicely. I like red fruited Pinots, and that’s what these are.
Mostly Whites
Here are our impressions of the producers who had “mostly whites” or are known mostly for their whites. They are listed in very, very rough order of preference. Some of these could be swapped without much argument from me. YMMV
- Domaine Paul Pillot - Chassagne
Our first time trying this producer, these wines were a revelation. We’ve had the wines from Jean-Marc Pillot and generally loved them, but these seemed to be on another level from his cousin (is that the relation?). They seemed to effortlessly combine perfectly ripe fruit, bracing acidity, dry extract, and chalky minerality in a beautifully wrapped package tied neatly with a bow.
Their Caillerets was probably the best wine of the entire event for us. We tasted it side by side with PYCM’s version and Pillot was the winner, if only by a hair. I will be buying these wines, if I ever see them offered!
- Domaine Henri Germain - Meursault
I’m sure we’ve had Germain before, but I have never had it in the cellar, mostly because, prior to this tasting, I had myself convinced that Meursault was not for me. When I tasted these wines and some of the other producers from Meursault (Roulot, Jobard), I said to Gina “I have to admit that I am developing an appreciation for Meursault, where previous there was none.” She laughed.
These wines were dense, but not overbearing. Ripe, without being cloying. Most of the wines had a distinct note of lemon peel, tons of extract, and a prominent note of wet stone. I wrote “these are great wines.” Even their Aligote was amazing. I loved the Meursault 1er Poruzots and their 1er C-M Morgeot was one of the best from that vineyard at the tasting. I’ll be on the hunt for these.
- Domaine Moreau-Naudet - Chablis
Gina used to sell these wines, but there were never any samples to spare and we were never able to buy any for personal consumption. Shame, because I get it now. The wines are among the best Chardonnays we tried. Maybe among the best being made? On top of that, Lucie was really sweet. She struggles a bit to communicate in English, but thankfully someone was standing close by who translated for us. We kept our discussion short so as not to monopolize her time.
Anyway, I really debated whether I should put these wines second on the list here, or maybe even first?! They are that good. Honestly, these first three producers I could put in any order. These wines are very special. I would have loved to try their base Chablis, but cannot complain about the fact they poured three 1ers and a Grand Cru. All of them were exceptional, but the Forets and Valmur stood out to me. Buy any or all of these wines whenever you can without hesitation.
Are they better than Raveneau? Don’t ask me. I have no idea.
- Domaine Bernard Moreau - Chassagne
It seems like the consensus among white Burgundy drinkers is that Puligny and Meursault are “better” than Chassagne. I have never agreed. Yes, some of the terrior in Chassagne is better suited to Pinot, but there’s a ton of limestone, as well. Between Moreau and Pillot, I honestly think Chassagne has the edge in 2020 over the other villages. Or maybe I really just do have a palate bias for Chassagne that I can’t really explain?
Moreau’s wines are always classic and I’m sad I don’t have more of them in the cellar. I love both their reds and their whites. They were only pouring white at this tasting, but that was just fine with me. They produced probably the best base Chassagne village wine we tasted this vintage. It was fantastic and outperforms many other people’s 1ers. I immediately purchase the last bottles Envoyer had available (conveniently they sent the offer out last week). They were $80 and I didn’t even bat an eye at that price.
The Champgain was another highlight. Wow, was it good. The Morgeot was fatter and I actually preferred the village wine. The Maltroie was great and had really bright acidty.
- Caroline Morey - Chassagne
Is it a secret or not that these wines are so good? Seriously. I liked them better than her husband’s, at least for now. She was also pouring a Chassagne Rouge, which is totally our jam and this one was fantastic. Bright red fruits, great acidity, silky tannins, a long sweet finish, deft use of oak, the list goes on. We always love this bottling from her and this year is no exception.
Her whites were equally, if not more, impressive. I am not sure exactly why we liked them more than the PYCMs, but they just presented better. The Vergers was verging on legendary. It really was amazing. The others were amazing as well. Buy now, ask questions later. Age them until the next millennium or drink them now. Your choice.
- Domaine Roulot - Meursault
Are you wondering why Roulot is so far down the list? Me too! I think they suffered from being “first,” which means I think we lost them in the shuffle. We tried them first because we’ve never had the wines before and everyone raves about them. It was undoubtedly a good place to start. The wines were excellent. So what gives?
I think that, due to the “black chardonnay” method they use, the wines are missing the reductive notes that we actually enjoy on young white Burgundy. That said, the wines had everything else we love; lots of chalk and limestone, nice citrus/lemon notes, good dry extract, and even a nice spritz of sea spray/salinity. The wines are great, no doubt, but I think I’d like to try them with a little more age. The Clos des Boucheres was a special, special wine. One of the best of the tasting.
- Domaine des Comtes Lafon - Meursault
Great, great wines that got lost in the pack. I mean, really. These are great. One would be happy to own and drink these wines. The best wine at the table was their Clos de la Barre monopole. Probably top 5 of the tasting. The Volnay Santenots du Milieu was one of the stand out reds. I have no idea why I have them so low in this list. Maybe I should move them up?
Another fan favorite in the middle of the pack? Was I drunk? No, thank you. We were spitting. Mostly.
No doubt, these wines are great, but they were very shy at this tasting. Wound up. The Chateniere and Caillerets were almost indistinguishable to us. Both were very good. The standout, to the surprise of no one, was the Corton-Charlemagne. It was a fantastic wine. But, it was not the best white we tried. Will it one day be better than the 1ers we preferred? Maybe.
- Domaine Jobard - Meursault
Almost skipped these. Glad we did not. They are very, very good and one of the reasons I have a new appreciation for Meursault. The also poured a P-M Le Trezin that was fantastic, but the highlight was their Genevrieres. A great wine, by any measure.
I was less impressed with the red the poured, though it was still very nice; a Beaune 1er Epenottes.
- Domaine Olivier Merlin - CĂ´te Chalonnaise
Why are these wines so good and why have I never heard of them before? Seriously, I contemplated moving these way up the list, but out of fear of offending someone or losing my credibility, since they are from the Cote Chalonnaise, after all, I put them here. Their Pouilly-Fuisse 1er Aux Quarts “Clos des Quarts” would give any wine at the tasting a run for the money. They are a screaming value. Do not sleep on these wines. I suspect they will soon be going for multiples of their current pricing.
- Domaine Christian Moreau - Chablis
These wines were great, but did not stand out, especially after having just tasted the Moreau-Naudet wines. I would say they seemed more delicate. Feminine, if you will allow it. Still very, very fine Chablis, but standing in the shadow of someone who killed it at this tasting.
- Domaine Etienne Sauzet - Puligny
I’m going to be completely honest here. These wines were a disappointment. They were very rich and fruit driven, but seemed to lack the acidity and extract demonstrated by just about every other producer we tasted. My note literally says “Where’s the acid?” If you told me these were Sonoma Coast wines, I would believe you. Not my jam.
Mostly Reds
That’s it for the whites, now on to the reds. Again, in very rough order or preference. We did not leave ourselves much time to taste the reds, but got through enough of them to feel pretty confident that this is a fine vintage that will reward patience.
- Hudelot-Noellat - Vougeot
Yeah, these people just know how to make great wine. The Chambole-Musigny village was drinking really well, though I think it will be much, much better in a few years. It was very pretty. Refined. The Romanee-Saint-Vivant was powerful, tannic, and had a lot to say. Delicious. I would not touch it for 20 years. May have been the best red we had at the event.
- Domaine Dujac - Morey St. Denis
Maybe the most approachable wines, aside from the Fornerols? Their M-S-D Blanc was fun. In any other year, this would run neck and neck with good village level wines from the Cote de Beaune, but this year is lost in their long shadow. A very nice wine, but a novelty that is probably not worth the price of admission.
We love stem inclusion, so the reds had a leg up over some of their peers. The nose is very elegant on all of these wines. I wanted to smell these forever. The Clos de la Roche gave the H-N RSV a run for the money. Very nice tannic structure and good acidity. The fruit is very, very primary (duh), but bright and fresh. I am not sure why, or even if, I actually preferred the RSV. This was great and I’d have a tough time picking one, even with a gun to my head.
- Domaine Meo-Camuzet - Nuits St. Georges
Great wines, across the board. The Aux Boudots was excellent, as was the Clos Vougeot. Does anyone actually make a better Clos Vougeot? (I mean that you can actually purchase.)
- Domaine des Lambrays - Morey St. Denis
I could have put these in the mostly whites group as they were pouring two whites and two reds, but I put them here since red is what they’re known for.
That said, you would NOT believe how good the two whites were. They poured P-M 1er Clos du Cailleret (not to be confused with C-M Cailleret!) and P-M 1er Les Folatieres. Both were outstanding - in fact, the best wines from Puligny that we tried at the tasting!
The Clos des Lambray was exceptional. Is it $500 exceptional? YMMV. I have a hard time spending that much on any wine, but others may not.
- Domaine Didier Fornerol - Cote de Nuits Village (Corgoloin)
I’m going to go out on a limb and put Fornerol pretty high on the list. I think they had an advantage because the wines are village level and are maybe made to be consumed in the near term? Either way, they were probably drinking the best of any reds that we tried. Like, you can drink these NOW. Or not. Your choice. They certainly have enough stuffing to reward 5-8 years of additional age. Beyond that? Probably also fine. Who knows?! What I know is I want to drink these wines and will buy them every time I see an offer.
His CdNV Blanc was really fun, but, like the Dujac, was mostly a novelty in a sea of amazing whites from the Cote de Beaune. Don’t get me started, though, on his Cote de Nuit Village rouge or his special CdNV cuvee La Rue des Foins; both are THE BOMB. You’ll shake your head at how good they are. I need to do some more research about the special cuvee. I think maybe it’s a selection of old vines? Anyway, it was great. Buy it.
- Domain Robert Chevillon - Nuits St. Georges
They were only pouring three wines, but they were all very good. All wines had grippy tannins and nice, clean fruit. I’ve had Chevillon with Brett in the past, but these were clean. I preferred the Les Roncieres, but would happily drink any of them.
- Domaine de Montille - Volnay
Putting them down here because we only go to try one wine, right at the 3 PM buzzer. That wine was the Volnay 1er Taillepieds and it was awesome. I could probably place them higher based solely on this wine. Did not get to try the Clos du Roi. #sadtrombone
- Domaine Henri Gouges - Nuits St. Georges
Yo, buy these wines and then forget about them for 30 years. Seriously. They are tannic and have a ton of structure. So much so that I can imagine what they will be like in the long term but cannot fathom drinking them in the short term. Darker fruited than many of the other wines. Serious, serious red Burgundy.
- Domaine Durouche - Gevrey
OK, these guys came highly recommend, so we were pretty excited. And, you know what? The first three wines were great. We were like “Yeah, this is awesome. So glad the Berserkers recommend we try these!” The En Vosne was particularly good. And then we tried the 1er Lavaut-Saint-Jacques and the whole tasting got called in to question. We both smelled bandaid, which we believe was caused by Brett. It wasn’t present on the other wines. Could it have just been reduction? I don’t know.
Someone help me out here, are these wines usually clean or can they have Brett? Based on the first three, I would be willing to buy the wines, but whenever I sense Brett, it’s a huge red flag and I tend to stay away from the producer. HALP!
Conclusion
OK, I can’t type anymore. The vintage is great. Buy some wine and you’ll be happy. I promise.