A misty early morning on the Cote. Take the vineyard roads rather than the route national. Cross paths with Ghislaine Barthod at a crossroads in the vineyard. Stop a sec with her and Louis at home to say hi et bonne annee. Wind on back to Christophe’s house. Park in the church square. It’s 9am, time for some Chambolle glory.
Christophe is surprised, he kind of forgot I was coming, but immediately remembered our phone conversation. We exchange pleasantries while heading toward the cuverie. To the juice:
Some from assembled tank, most in barrel:
Chambolle villages: silky, with very fine tannin support. Bright, pale, transparent, lovely.
Combottes : another dimension, more mineral, tendu (with tension), everpresent loveliness.
Morey Bussiere: quite spiced, a hint of the ‘wild’ morey, still super elegant chambollean/Roumier shtyle, very long…I love this wine…
Chambolle Cras: Aerien, very high toned and mineral driven finish, with stunning inner mouth perfume. A strong year for Cras here.
Ruchottes: Shifting to Gevrey earthiness, silken, really long.
Chambolle Amoureuses: INTENSE inner mouth perfume, pure filigree finesse, my god…
Bonnes Mares: Complete. Focus, complexity. Balance. Wow.
Then we played the game of comparing the two soils, from the single barrel of each that he keeps aside until the final assemblage.
From the terres rouge portion of Bonnes Mares: broader shouldered, a bit reductive.
From the terres blanche portion of Bonnes Mares: finer, more mineral, tendu.
Voila terroir.
Le Musigny-kaleidoscopic multidimensional nose, ethereal explosive zen in the mouth. This wine, along with Etienne Grivots Richebourg, utterly humbled me this year. When one’s focus is utterly captivated, trembling in the wake of the resounding echo of flavor, so intense and complex, yet so weightless. It paradoxically is as though it makes silence louder. I think that with Etienne, we both sat there, in silence meditating on this resounding echo, for about 3-5 minutes. It has to be of the most stunning moments in wine that I’ve ever experienced. This Moose was right there on that plane…
Chambolle 09 in half bottle: Wow. So much more complex and taut than when I tried it in barrel in December 2010. I had initially been underwhelmed when in barrel, this came in to form really, really well. A stunner of a villages chez Roumier.
Corton Charlie 2010 in tank: from a parcel facing Pernand ouest, en face de l’eglise. pale white flowers and citrus, very fine minerality. Lovely.
Christophe and I had a great exchange throughout, touching on all sorts of topics aesthetic philosophical poetic. It was a profound morning, one I shall not ever forget.
Olivier Bernstein:
(i’ll post a thread about the 09s I opened this week later)
Olivier boogied down from Paris to walk me through 2010. They’re excited for the new cellar in Beaune. I notice their newest destemmer is this unique and uber tech gentle one, only one in Burgundy.
All from pre-assembled half bottles, in one of the few barrel rooms:
Gevrey villages: a blend of vines from Epointures and Carougeout. Great richness and cut, terribly fine strucuture, with mineral length, finesse. Wow. Impressed I am.
Chambolle Lavrottes: quite a floral charmer, with good tension. Chambolle charmed I am.
Gevrey Champeaux- Yummy meatiness, cool filligree structure and focus.
Gevrey Cazetiers- WOW. Intensely mineral, rich and meaty but without excess weight.
Charmes Chambertin- wrote nothin’
Clos Vougeot- exlosive three demensional wine. great complex tension driven Clos Vougeot.
Clos de la Roche: Finesse, mineral, long. Cool intensity.
Bonnes Mares: du cote Chambolle, almost salty with extract. WOW.
Mazis: WOW.
Beze: WOW WOW.
I tasted through all of these, and my notes are essentially, the verbal equivalents of a caveman babbling through Grand crus. They were all pretty much blow away good, in a very cool, finessed way. Kudos.
Corton Charlie was great…
Bruno Clair:
Nice to see Monsieur Brun and Bruno. Great guys. I always enjoy laughing with Philippe, he’s a bon bourguignon.
Marsannay Vaudenelles: simple and lovely, soft, facile.
Marsannay Grasses Tetes; 50 yr+ vines. Much more complex and ‘serious’. Good material here. Sturdy.
Marsannay Longeroies: even more sophisticated, finer tannin, more minerality.
Chambolle Veroilles: floral and spice, good length, quite pretty.
Morey Rue de Vergy: nada
Vosne Champs Perdrix: Charming Vosne floral critter. Nice.
Gevrey Villages: nada
Savigny Dominode: intense and broad palate impact. earthy, good weight and structure.
Gevrey Clos de Fonteny : explosively red fruited, good mineral depth. Impressed.
Gevrey Petite Chapelle:
Cazetiers: Wow.
Clos St Jacques: weightless and intense.
Beze: fantastic. all about the core, no excess fat.
Bonnes Mares: Ditto. Fantastic.
A great year chez Clair.
A votre sante.
RP