Good evening all,
Just back from a great tasting. Meeting Jeanne-Marie Champs and Jean-Nicolas Meo was a particular privilege. A bit rushed going through the whites, so apologies for brief notes. I took some more time with the reds- and so very glad I did.
2004 Guy Charlemagne Champagne Mesillesime Grand Cru Le Mesnil sur Oger
lusty bready nose, tight lemons, on the palate very young yet, tight and edgy, quite closed but showing tremendous promise, I wish I could have had this with about 2 hours of airing but what I saw made me a big fan, this is tight like 1996 Krug right now- not on the same scale but similary closed down relative to what is to come.
(****)+, 2015++
2009 Meo-Camuzet Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes de Nuits Clos Saint-Philibert Monopole
rich earthy Chardonnay nose, pain grille, ripe, on the palate good fat on the middle, classic French Chardonnay with a great immediate sense of the earth, hints of citrus and even a bit of apple, another one that demands some airing, a little cellar time would be good too.
**+, 2012-2015
2010 Gerard Tremblay Chablis Vieilles Vignes
gorgeous floral nose, honeysuckle, rose petals, white berries, ripe, on the palate good weight, closed in the middle, tight finish with firm acids, also a good bit of pain grille here with time as the finish just gets wilder and wilder, this is going to be a very fine Chablis.
(***)+, 2015++ and I would be sure to save a couple for 15 years down the road
2009 Chateau de La Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet
on the nose refined for a Chassagne, polished white stones, brioche, on the palate a wine of large scale with quite a bit of oak to match, good length, very young- hard to read, a bit more oak and weight than I personally prefer but a fine wine all the same, needs time or a good bit of airing.
(***)+?, 2016-2022
2010 Paul Pernot Puligny-Montrachet
spicy nose, elegant- the most elegant of all the whites tonight, tending to citrus notes, lemons, on the palate long and sleek, steely acids on the finish, revisited an hour later and more open with more citrus fruit notes and some fat peeping through but still needing some serious time- stunning but so primary it is hard to say much, I would give this at least 5 years before revisiting, if this is any indication of what we can expect from 2010 it may well be a vintage for some wines that exceeds any I have ever tasted (1992 was my beginning of tasting recently released white burgundy.)
(**), 2017-2025+
2009 Chateau de La Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Boudriottes Rouge
bright raspberry red color, buttery Pinot and a strong dose of oak on the nose, good spice but for my tastes a lot of oak, on the palate a wine of some volume, black fruits, a very fine wine and the complete opposite of the lighter and more overtly mineral and red fruit driven bottling from Ramonet, that would actually make a great tasting- this versus the Ramonet, I do not think it would be a competition so much as a chance to see two well made wines from the same vineyard with completely different approaches, a good bit of oak to this one on the palate but the scale of the wine is up to it, somewhat open but I would cellar this one a bit.
**(*), 2015-2019
2009 Gabriel Billard Beaune 1er Cru Les Epenottes
attractive cherry nose, some dark spices, on the palate quite firm, great length, a very pure and primary fruit, mineral verve on the long finish, cloves, plums, a most excellent young Beaune.
(***)+, 2017+
2009 Meo-Camuzet Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras
pure cherry on the nose, very young, barest hints of cinnamon and dark spices, on the palate a joyous young wine that very quickly retreats into a tight shell, outstanding fragrant finish, with time a punchy note on the end ala 2006 of ripe plums, again- hard to write much as this is very young and Les Cras can be very tight at this stage- but this has great potential.
(****), 2017+
2009 Meo-Camuzet Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots
bright red color, a grander but more restrained nose than the Les Cras, blueberries and black raspberries, on the palate a magnificent wine, lusty and wild ripe fruit with plenty of dark earth and black gravel to keep all in proper balance, great length with exceptional lingering fragrance, this seems to be more open than Les Cras tonight but I think it needs more time. This was the “favorite” of the tasting FWIW- and while I favored it very much and took some home, there was one more wine to go…
(****)+, 2019++
2009 Meo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot Grand Cru Pres Le Cellier
sensually intense spicy nose of brilliant detail, dark fruits in hiding, one might mistake this for Vosne if tasted blind, there is a level of breed here that reminds one that Clos Vougeot when well made is truly grand cru, on the palate ripe cherries- at once cuddly and approachable but with a clear sense of a great depth in hiding, deceptively approachable, firm rich mineral-laden finish, it is at once finessed and yet of great potential scale. Side note on the labelling- Messr. Meo informed us that his Clos Vougeot is made from 2 parcels- one quite large and one quite small. Yields in 2009 allowed two separate wines to be made- for the first time ever I believe. This will not be done in 2010 or 2011, but may be done again in future.
(****)+, 2024+ It seems now like it will be ready sooner, but I really think there is a lot here that can barely be sensed at present
All in all a great night!