TN- 2009 Meo Camuzet, 2010 Pernot, 2004 Guy Charlemagne and more!

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!

Thanks, Tom.

Also: Good application of the Broadbent rating system (I assume you’re using it), which is the best one because it deals with uncertainties, however bluntly. I think I am going to move back to it. Nothing else works right for my way of looking at wine. Nothing home-gown, either, which is surprising, because of my self-esteem… :wink: I had a home-grown system when I was ITB, but it is useless now.

EDIT: Gosh, I don’t want to off-topic your thread. Sorry if I did!

Thanks for the report, Tom. On the Meo Clos Vougeot, which parcel is this?

No worries Matt- and yes this is the Broadbent approach I am taking. I used the 100 point scale right from the start when I got into wine in the 1990s. Then one summer the family went to Bend, Oregon and I happened to taste the same Pinot Gris 3 times in one week. Scores ranged from mid 70s to upper 80s. Soon after I made the switch. Part of that was inexperience at the time, but I also came to realize that points were distracting from my writeups and that I would need to be tasting wines in the same quantities as the major critics- and side by side- to even hope to make the 100 point scale a useful tool.

The big one. I do not remember the precise barrel counts relayed last night, but it was something on the order of a 9:1 ratio. The impression I got was that there was interest in letting each parcel show its unique aspects- there was not the notion of one plot or the other being superior. But I must admit the American in me has a bit of an urge to go find the “rare” one too.

Thanks Tom. I believe both Meo plots are in the upper one-third of the Clos.

Yes- I believe that is correct. He was showing us the plots on a map, and if my orientation of upper to lower was correct they were not only upper third but at similar elevations.

All day I have been thinking about that Clos Vougeot- it really was amazing.

Yeah. I don’t buy Meo wines, but if I did, I’d want both.

Same here on both points. I like the wines, but they are expensive enough that they fall outside my budget.

Tom - thanks for the writeup. My wife and I were at the tasting as well. We both agreed that the Clos Vougeot stood head and shoulders above the other wines (as well it should have, I suppose). FWIW, Wine Spectator mentioned that 22 cases were imported of the Clos Vougeot Pres Le Cellier versus 2 cases imported of the Clos Vougeot Grand Maupertuis. Interestingly, Meo commented that he preferred his 2009s to his 2010s.

Jason- thank you for posting. Next tasting please seek me out- would like to meet you both. I was off in a corner for most of this one- I prefer to taste with minimal distraction. Glad to know I was not alone in appreciating the greatness of the Clos Vougeot.

Lewis and Matt- I never went much for Meo before either due to both price and availability, the latter of which ensure my TNs were sporadic at best. This tasting really awakened me to them. I am doing my best to remember 2009 is a particularly showy vintage- but even so I was deeply enamored of these wines. They are unique and speak to the winemaker’s vision- but in the dangerous game of comparison I see here a lot of the depth of Grivot combined with the opulence of Domaine de la Romanee Conti. For me, it makes sense to get very deep into these- but at this level it is a matter of personalities as much as quality- and at this tasting talking with fellow attendees I got a very clear sense of that.

Meo-Camuzet Clos de Vougeot is the wine I suggest to people (including several Master Somms) who claim that the vineyard is not a true Grand Cru, and in the past to people who wanted an “affordable” great Red Burgundy. The whole line-up, particularly the Domaine wines, is stellar - even in a questionable year like 04.

Re: “showiness” - this characteristic young frequently belies the depth those Burgundies show with maturity. Sometimes the depths are hidden - sometimes they are obvious. In 08 - hidden. In 09 - obvious. People hate obvious young, but they forget about it with a few years when they age and become less obvious. Speaking for myself, I wish I stocked up deeper on a couple of the “obvious” years like 00 and 02.

Paul Pernot is one of the most underrated producers of White Burgundy (ITB disclainmer!).