TN: 2012 Bouchard dinner with Panos – Mostly Bouchards

WINE TALK
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2012 BOUCHARD DINNER WITH PANOS – MOSTLY BOUCHARDS - Ripple Restaurant in DC (1/14/2015)

Thanks to Panos, Bouchard kindly sent a bunch of samples for us to enjoy. 13 of us got together to drink a lot of Bouchards.
Champagne
Tim generously contributed these bottles. I found them interesting and unique but I prefer boring Tete Cuvee champagnes. I found the 08s a bit too acidic and slightly lacking fruits for my palate. There is no doubt that this will last due to high acidity but not sure how well they will age. I wasn’t sure whether the Nicolas Maillart was a correct bottle as it had a hint of damp moldy cellar smell.

  • NV J.L. Vergnon Champagne Rose Grand Cru Extra Brut - France, Champagne, Le Mesnil Sur Oger, Champagne
    Dense red fruits, strawberry jam, cherry, a hint of metal and mineral. Good concentration, dense jammy red fruit driven palate impression and sweet clean finish. A bit simple but delicious. (91 pts.)
  • 2008 J.L. Vergnon Champagne Confidence Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru - France, Champagne
    Just like the 08 Burgundy, really acidic and lean. Lemon curd, slightly unripe granny smith, a hint of honey and cold wet stone. Very precise, lean, mouth puckering acidity that some may find overwhelming, tar, mineral and very sour/acidic finish. With for a bit more rounder/generous fruit. I was informed that this is their top cuvee. Very interesting champagne. (92 pts.)
  • 2008 Nicolas Maillart Champagne 1er Cru, Les Francs de Pieds Vieille Vignes - France, Champagne
    Baked unripe apple, tar, lime, dirty cellar and oxidized apple peels. Good concentration, really acidic, jammy red fruits, a lot of mousse and oxidative/damp cellar note that clips the finish short. Perhaps not a representative bottle but seems like a poor QPR. (88 pts.)

2012 Bouchard Whites
If this is how the 12 whites are like in general, I am a buyer, except the issue of premox. They showed good concentration, generous sweet fruit, good acidity and strong presence of mineral. I really loved the Genevrieres as it will please both Cali chardonnay drinkers as well as Burgundy purist.

  • 2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Clos St. Landry - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
    Ripe yellow fruits, pineapple, lemon, apple and mineral. A bit Californian. Good concentration, very ripe yellow fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity, mineral and clean ripe medium finish. Straightforward and ripe but clean and tasty. (90 pts.)
  • 2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault Les Clous - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
    Very linear, mineral and lean. Pear, lemon, seashell, flint, flowers and mineral. Medium concentration, mineral, white fruit driven palate impression, good acidity and clean mineral finish. More polished and cooler than the Beaune but not necessarily better. (90 pts.)
  • 2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
    Clearly a couple steps up for my palate. Fresh white fruits, pear, lemon, mineral, sesame/toasted oak, malo/butter scotch, a hint of honey and mineral. Excellent concentration, polished palate, intense ripe white fruit driven palate impression, lovely sweetness but precise, mineral, bright acidity and lovely sweet finish. This is a classic top Meursault. Highly recommend. (94 pts.)

2012 Bouchard Reds - Village
Very nice village wines that showed excellent concentration and expressed the terroir very well.

  • 2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin
    Very ripe dark and red fruits, blackberry and strawberry, a hint of licorice start to emerge with air, white pepper, mineral and earth. This shows a lot of Gevrey earthiness. (90 pts.)
  • 2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Aloxe-Corton - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Aloxe-Corton
    Crunch red fruits, cranberry and strawberry, flowers and Corton dust. Medium concentration, crunch red fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity, noticeable tannins and slightly bitter finish. Quite enjoyable. (89 pts.)

2012 Bouchard Reds - Beaune
Both quite enjoyable. The Marconnets was warm and round, more approachable. The clos de la Mousse was more pure and structured.

  • 2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Marconnets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
    A step up, more layered fruits with a bit more complex nose. Warm and round dark fruits, a hint of raspberry, caramel, raw white mushreoom and a hint of black truffle. Medium concentration, round and warm black fruit driven palate impression, nicely layered fruits, noticeable tannins and good clean sweet finish. Very good. (91 pts.)
  • 2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Clos de la Mousse - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
    More red fruits, fresher and structured than the Marconnets. Crushed red fruits, strawberry jelly, cranberry, a hint of blackberry, sap and mineral. Medium concentration, pure crunch red fruit driven palate impression, mineral, bright acidity and noticeable tannins. Very good showing. (91 pts.)

2012 Jesus and Carnot
A step up, more layered, complex and interesting. The only complain was the price. Perhaps buying the 05, 07, 08, 09 or 10 from auction is the right move.

  • 2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Grèves Vigne de L’Enfant Jesus - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
    Another step up. Sappy red fruits, raspberry jam, beautifully floral, mineral and sweet light spices. Very good concentration, beautifully layered fruits, sap and jammy red fruit driven palate impression, good acidity, nicely integrated sweet tannins and lovely long finish. Really enjoyable wine that will age gracefully for twenty years or more (93 pts.)
  • 2012 Bouchard Père et Fils Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
    Really pretty but very structured wine. Pretty fresh black fruits, blackberry also a hint of raspberry, animal and mineral. Good concentration, polished palate, nicely layered fruits, good acidity and slightly dry tannins. More precise and purer than the Jesus. Different but I like them both. (93 pts.)

Beaune du Chateau
Very good wines that still need time.

  • 2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Beaune du Château - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
    Very youthful but open nose displaying ripe red fruits, sauté mushroom, caramel and earth. Medium concentration, strong presence of acidity, nicely integrated tannins and good clean sweet finish. It is evolving slowly, still not showing any sous bois. I would wait for minimum five more years if you like a lot of tertiary notes in your wine. (91 pts.)
  • 2009 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Beaune du Château - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru
    Very ripe black fruits, blackberry, black cherry, a hint of baked fruits, dark spices and earth. Very good concentration, noticeable but not obtrusive tannins and medium finish. If you don’t care for the 09 ripeness, stay away. (90 pts.)

Jesus
The 05 needs time but still enjoyable. The 06 tasted like a bad 2006, ie bitter and muted like a cooked bottle. I believe Jeremy H has mentioned about the issue in 2006.

Two Bouchard Reds
The Chambertin CdB was definitely the best wine, more polished, layered and complex. The 02 nicely showed the vintage character.

  • 2006 Bouchard Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
    So much more polished than the others. Delicate yet decadent red fruits, flowers, caramel and sweet spices. Polished palate, medium concentration, ripe red fruit driven palate impression, mineral and nicely integrated tannins. Still very young but very enjoyable. If you can find this at auction for cheap, not a bad wine to buy. Definitely a GC. (94 pts.)
  • 2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
    One of the most additive aspects of Burgundy is that there are moments when things make perfect sense. This bottle clearly shows the 02 vintage typicity. Sweet yet crunch and sappy red fruits, a bit of dust, raw button mushroom, a bit of secondary notes, flowers and earth. The palate displays a hint of dry tannins that I find in 2002 as well as strong presence of tannins. In some ways this is similar to the 12, ripe, sappy, nice concentration yet strong presences of acidity and tannins. I would say that the 12 is a bit more denser, sweeter and concentrated. This needs a few more years but pretty enjoyable as is. (92 pts.)

It was a fun and informative night. Bouchards make great age worthy wines. The only surprise was the price. Thanks to Panos for organizing.
Posted from CellarTracker

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Great notes Kevin. Thanks for sharing. I’ve had more Bouchard whites than reds, glad to know they make quality reds. I’ll seek some out.

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Kevin, you might want to correct in CellarTracker the two 2012 Beaune wines, which were, of course, Bouchard Pere, not Bouchard Aine.

As for the wines, it is a fun evening every year when Panos brings a bunch of the Bouchard wines for us to taste. I have always liked Bouchard’s wines, esp. the whites, the Beaune du Chateau and the Cuvee Carnot.

I thought that the 2012s were good, but not nearly in the class of say 2005 or 2010. As with you, I thought the Genevrieres was by a good margin the class of the whites. I also liked the other two a good bit, but thought that they are getting up in price for the quality of those wines. While in some ways the les Clous was probably the better in a classic way of the other two whites, I kind of liked the personality of the Beaune and probably preferred it.

Of the first four reds, the two village wines and the first two Beaune premier crus, my favorite probably was the GC villages wine. It seemed to have more mid-palate richness than the others. Bouchard generally does an excellent job with premier crus from Beaune, but I thought these two were a bit lean. Maybe they will gain more weight with some age.

The 2012 Jesus and Volnay were major steps up from what preceeded them. I esp. liked the Volnay, which is a cuvee I almost always like a lot. The 2002 is well on its way to being awfully good, but still needs a lot of time.

I also liked the 2005 Beaune du Chateau a good bit. Thought it was a lot more than one point better than the 2009.

The Clos de Beze was very promising, but really really young and not showing that much.

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I really like the 12s in general. They are slightly riper and more concentrated but perhaps not as pure and fresh. Considering the 12’s price, perhaps backfilling is the way to go.

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Stop trying to seduce me into being friends with you by tasting all of these balla wines.

Love me some Baby Jesus (don’t tell the rabbi)

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One man’s balla wines is another man’s QPR. [cheers.gif]

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I lighthearted use the term. Now I regret it. The 12s are really good but pricy.

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All it did was give the jealous a word to use to frame their jealously. I guess it has been a while since high school and some of these kids miss getting beaten up every day.

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Thanks for the notes.

I like their Whites. Genevrieres is almost always a good pick.
I like their Baby Jesus, Cuvee Carnot and Le Corton - they are are usually good qpr.

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They have a wine called Baby Jesus??

that’s is so awesome… :smiley:

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Starts as water

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I just checked, it’s $80! holy crap i need to get some…

“sweetie, come on home with me and i’ll show you Baby Jesus”…
:wink:

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A bottle of Beaune for $80, holy crap indeed, but the wine can age for a long time.

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I always thought the white wines of Bouchard are way more interesting than the reds. This was always my impression and it was confirmed when I visited the Domaine together with Panos 3 years ago.

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Does it show best after it opens for 3 days? :wink:

jokes aside, picked up a couple of the 2010 and 2012… what the heck, how bad can a 1er cru be… plus the name is too much fun not to own some.

As they say, you learn something every day… this is it for me today… tho it’s cost me 400 bucks :smiley:

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LOL. . . Mark you are a bad bad man. . . haha

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This, Jadot’s Beaune Ursules and Drouhin’s Beaune Clos de Mouches are the class of Beaune.

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When I use to write wine lists the Genevrieres was always a great add. Delicious and priced right.

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Wow! Great notes Kevin! We agree on a lot here, cool. I think that the 2006 Jesus was a faulty bottle, as you may recall that I had organised a 2006 horizontal several years ago, again thanks to Henriot for the samples, and the Jesus was more welcoming then… LOL, Howard :slight_smile:.
Anyway, overall, 2012 is pretty darn good based on this tasting, albeit only nine bottles but a good cross section of village and mostly premier crus.
Prices going up, up… and that sucks. You can read more about my thoughts with pics here:
http://www.wine-chronicles.com/blog/2012-burgs-bouchard/
In any case, I agree that Genevrieres was top flight in 2012.
Jürgen, we tasted the 2008s at a younger stage in their life in Beaune a few years ago, and that vintage overall favors the whites in any case. Director Philippe Prost favors elegance and finesse and I love his style overall.

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Panos, I do love what Philippe Prost has been doing at Bouchard for the last decade or more. As you note, the top whites are really good.

But one wine that consistently impresses me is the Volnay Caillerets Cuvee Carnot. The 2002 is going to be really good (thankfully I have some of this at the suggestion (insistence?) of Paul Wasserman when he worked for Woodland Hills Wine Company) and my guess is that the 2012 is going to be also with time. Typically like this wine more than the more talked about Jesus, although this wine also is quite good.

For me, historically some of the real consistent stars of the Bouchard portfolio are the Beaune du Chateau (red and white) for qpr, the Volnay Caillerets Cuvee Carnot, the Jesus, the Clos de Beze, the two Chevalier Montrachets (esp. the la Cabotte), the Montrachet, the Corton Charlemagne (usually, at least historically, an excellent value within the realm of Corton Charlemagne) and the premier crus from Genevrieres and Perrieres in Meursault.