I had a bottle of the Hudelot-Noëllat 2001 Vosne-Romanée “Les Suchots” at dinner in Dallas at York Street restaurant tonight. York Street is a very good restaurant with a limited wine list and I was pleased to see this wine on the list. A middling producer by my experience, but a vintage that is drinking quite well, this was an above average score from their list.
The wine was as good, or better, than I expected. First, and most notably, the nose was just amazing. A knockout nose, no holds barred. Beautiful aromas of wet earth (sous bois), violets, talc, and ripe red fruits. Almost perfect. On tasting, it was not quite up to the nose, but it was very good. Light, ethereal, but lacking just a bit of power. But good, ripe red and black fruits along with some slight tannins. Almost ready to drink, but not quite. The only flaw was a certain lack of concentration or depth. 92 points.
We also had a split of the Domaine Vrignaud 2005 Chablis Fourchaume 1er Cru. It was a nice enough 2005 Chablis with full, ripe fruit, but lacking a certain elegance and minerality that I prefer in my Chablis. Ready to drink now. 89 points.
While I don’t think Hudelot is a tremendous producer, I think they are a bit better than middling, and I tend to very much enjoy the wines. I had an 01 Beaux Monts last fall that was excellent. Sure there are better wines, but at the prices Hudelot plays at, I am very happy with whats in the bottle.
Mike,
Thanks for the note on this, good to know how it’s doing. Although I have a bit of a different take on Hudelot, among the best Vosne producers in my book. Although it’s interesting. At the 1er level, his wines are wonderful but maybe 2nd best (vs. Cathiard’s Malconsorts or Arnoux’s Suchots). But at the grand cru level, I think his Clos Vougeot is among the best (i.e., up there with Mugneret), his RSV maybe the best, and Richebourg among the best (although of course hard to be Meo or DRC there). Maybe it’s just a stylistic thing that floats my boat more than yours though.
For my taste, no way Hudelot is in the middle of things, a great producer in my book. And nice that pricing has been relatively good.
To me along with Arnoux, Hudelot is one of the best Suchots suppliers around and one of my favorite Vosne producers too just like Robert.
Even with Narwicki being gone, this place hasn’t lost a step.
I adored the 2006’s from this house. They are a very similar style to his 2001. I have some Beauxmonts left from 01 but I have been going through them.
I really love that vintage.
This sounds like a beautiful bottle.
Thanks for the note Mike.
I’ve never been a huge fan of the few wines of theirs I’ve tasted in the past, and this one seem to lack a bit of concentration, but it did open my eyes. When I think of Vosne, I think more of DRC, Arnoux, Meo Camuzet, and Anne Gros being the top producers. But I’ll certainly try more HN based on this bottle. I’ve never tried their CdV.
Just for the hell of it, I checked BurgHound.com to see where they ranked Hudelot-Noellat’s Suchots in each of the last three top vintages. In 2005 it was ranked 10th behind (in order, top to bottom) Arnoux, Grivot, de l’Arlot, Confuron-Cotétidot, Frédéric Magnien, Gérard Mugneret, Jadot, Le Moine, and Sylvain Cathiard. In 2002, it was ranked 10th behind Arnoux, Sylvain Cathiard, Gérard Mugneret, Jadot, de l’Arlot, Domaine Jean-Marc Millot, Jacques Cacheux et Fils, Confuron-Cotédidot. Finally, in 1999, it was not reviewed.
Mike, I think of Hudelot more akin to something like d’Angerville… a touch less “big” than Arnoux or Meo, etc. But, in exchange, perhaps prettier and a bit more elegant. I haven’t thought the wines lack for concentration, personally. I am not sure that I have a preference among Hudelot, Arnoux and Grivot, who represent most of the Vosne in my cellar. I like them all and appreciate them all.
I think that if you visit a few more bottlings from Hudelot, you will gain a bit in appreciation for this domaine. The Suchots can tend to be a bit tendre in comparison to the domaine’s other two Vosne premier crus- Beaumonts and Malconsorts- so I can fully understand your finding it a tad thin after the great promise of the nose. The Beaumonts in particular I think you would be impressed by, as IME it synthesizes beautifully the inherent stuffing of the vineyard with a great elegance that is not always readily apparent in Beaumonts. Their Malconsorts is also stellar and really drinks a lot like a baby RSV: velvety red fruits, great minerality, roses, fresh nutmeg and other Vosne spices. I also really like their Nuits St. Georges “Murgers”, which is a very classic example of this underrated premier cru- again a fine combination of the power of the cru and the elegance of the house style. And of course I concur with what Robert and Don have posted about their troika of grand crus- RSV, Richebourg and Clos Vougeot- as good as one could ask for from these great vineyards. With each grand cru I would rank Hudelot in the top three of options out there. They also should get an honorable mention for their Vougeot “Petits Vougeots” premier cru, which can be a real sleeper and usually drinks well right out of the blocks. And the Nuits AC can often be just as good as their aforementioned excellent Chambolle AC. Really quite an underrated source for top Burgundy in my book, and needless to say, I would be inclined to rate even their Suchots significantly higher than 10th in a hierarchy of that vineyard’s producers.
I don’t have much of an opinion on where Hudelot-Noellat ranks in the grand scheme of Vosne because their grand crus have been out of my price range even longer than most producers’. But I have had good experience with their 1ers and would choose them over most of the names mentioned in that list. My guess is the reason they didn’t rate higher was that the '05s have been tannic and ornery since they came out and it would require an act of clairovoyence to figure out what’s underneath. Lighter vintages will give you a better glimpse of what they can offer while we give the '05s the time they need. The '01s were really pretty.
FWIW, just to show differences and because two posters above whom I admire greatly, Robert Thornton and John Gilman, have somewhat different takes on this estate than I.
I found that before Nowaricki came, the wines were inconsistent, often suffering from excess yields and/or too much new oak, but occasionally really good. Nowaricki confirmed this to me and said that one of his victories was to convince Alain Hudelot to do a green harvest – but still, he would do it only for younger vines. (I know we can get into a discussion about how some producers have now turned against green harvest, but they are willing to do a very severe initial pruning, which H-N was not.)
When Nowaricki left, I had great fears for the future. Additionally, the estate was one of the prime gems that purchasers both within and outside Burgundy were sizing up, because there was no apparent successor. But a grandson has now expressed interest, and indeed I have been favorably impressed with what I have tasted from the 2007 and 2006 vintages.
The wines have improved greatly in both consistency and overall quality in the last 10-12 years, to my taste. There is still further potential to be realized, but given the relatively moderate prices here, one can’t really complain at all about the current levels of production.