TN: 1995 Domaine Jean-Michel Gaunoux Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes

WINE TALK
1

Sent a friend to the cellar to pick a random bottle Lat night.
This was it. Decent. Though, I can’t say any JM Gaunoux wine has ever wowed me.

  • 1995 Domaine Jean-Michel Gaunoux Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru (10/23/2016)
    Echoing some previous notes, this wine just isn’t all there yet. Either it’s not ever getting there or its dormant stage is prolonged. Smells of mint and anise and herbs. Strong color, shows no fade. Palate is rather cool, angular, and marked by tart red fruit. The palate falls flat, not bad, just not exciting. Decanted for 30 mins and after an hour, the fruit sweetens and fattens up a bit, but there’s no real personality to the palate. It’s decent, but that’s it.

Posted from CellarTracker

2

this domaine is getting huge kudos lately–I’m not a fan of most of the stuff from the 90s, though some of the 60s and 70s bottlings have been quite good, though I have limited data points.

3

I had this about a year ago…and I was unimpressed. It was advertised as Michel Gaunoux. Not Jean-Michel Gaunoux…and to me there two producers only have a last name in common.

4

I saw your note right before mine on CT. I think we agree…I’ve have enjoyed Francois Gaunoux bottlings above any other Gaunouxs at this point.

5

I thought the chatter was focused on Michel Gaunoux, not Jean-Michel Gaunoux.

6

As noted above, Michel Gaunoux and Jean-Michel Gaunoux are two different domaines/producers. There is also a François Gaunoux.

Michel Gaunoux and François Ganoux were sons of Henri Gaunoux. Jean-Michel is the son of François, with whom the former worked until setting up his own in 1990. Alexandre Gaunoux, son of Michel Gaunoux, runs his late father’s eponymous domaine.

I have more experience with Domaines Jean-Michel and François. The wines of François, to my palate, are obviously more immediately pleasing, modern and accessible to a wider audience. The wines of Jean-Michel seem to me more traditional and “serious”.

But that’s just me.

I’ll try more from Michel Gaunoux and post accordingly.

Best,

N

7

From my old files, this 1976 Michel Gaunoux Pommard Grands Epenots was still quite alluring in December 2013.
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8

Just acquired some of the 2010 and tried one for “science”. Solid, with the stuffing to age nicely but of course youthful and somewhat austere right now. Could turn out like the 1995 but I’m betting on the vintage.

Cheers,
Doug