2007 & 2008 Burgundies

Philippe Pacalet with MonicaAnother great tasting day at Caves Augé
That's another great tasting on the sidewalk, at Caves Augé again (Marc, can I get a case of something I like ?...). the weather was quite awful that day, except that the temperature could have been worse for the last weekend of november. But albeit the rain and wind, those who had heard about the guests-vignerons (and their wines) that day couldn't but brave the ordeal and jump into the cold water...
This report is not in the proper order and my notes lack substance more than once but I decided to still make a story of it. And first, I thought that you could need Monica's warm smile for december if you didn't have the chance to be warmed up by the many beautiful wines offered on the sidewalk that day.
Monica was doing much of the pouring and explication at Pacalet's stand and her knowledge seems sharp on the matter. She says that in the office in Beaune, she still doesnt go into the administrative work because in France (she is from Brazil) it is pretty tricky and complicated with the data required by the different wine control administrations, but otherwise she can help a lot.
__Pacalet Pommard 2007 (no notes here)
__Pacalet Gevrey-Chambertin 2007. I like this one. But I have to fight to enjoy these precious sips : with the rain getting heavier, the crowd is pushing to stay in cover and drops are falling on us as the Pacalet stand (a cask actually) sits on the edge of the plastic roof...
__ Pacalet Chambolle : There's no more but Monica says that maybe we can ask to the caviste Marc Sibard if he can hand us one of his bottles (but I won't dare).
__Pacalet Ruchottes Chambertin 2007. A bottle brought here discreetly by Philippe and Monica (because it's not sold in the shop as I understand) and that they pour for a handful of happy few. I was in the middle of the crowd when Monica brings me a glass of it, wow. That's very, very nice indeed. oh yes... 3 casks only of this wine, or 850 bottles. 100% whole clusters.
Now, some news that may interest wine amateurs : Pacalet will add several new wines to his portfolio in 2009, a Clos de Bèze, an Echezeaux and a Chassagne Village...

Vincent DauvissatI tasted the De Moor wines first (but my only pic of Olivier de Moor is not that good). Alice is not there today.
__ Alice et Olivier De Moor Chitry 2007. Very nice balance with an ample, generous mouth and nice length.
Alice et Olivier De Moor Chablis Bel Air et Clardy 2007. Cask elevage well integrated in the wine. Minerality, very nice wine. Vineyards on a soil with clay and limestone, plus rock debris in the bottom of the slope.
__Alice et Olivier De Moor Chablis Rosette 2007. Strikingly different aromas here. Same cask elevage but here the soil is made of marl.
__Alice et Olivier De Moor Sauvignon de Saint Bris 2007. Beautiful richness in the mouth. The Saint Bris stays in casksfor a year (8/10-year old casks). Freshness, aromas of white flowers. Like the other wines at De Moor, no SO2 during the vinification, only a bit for bottling. He says that he is making Sauvignon de Saint Bris wine since 1995.
__Alice et Olivier De Moor Rosette 2008. No label as it was not bottled yet (bottling was due a few days later). Wonderful wine, with aromatic concentration. Olivier says that the cycles went fine here and the maturation too. The structure of this wine is similar to the 2007 but the aromatic depth is higher.
Olivier says that in 2009 the grapes ripes correctly. There has been hail storms, but there was no hydric stress and the grapes ripes relatively fast. He was afraid that there could be a lack of acidity but that was not the case. The wine seems beautiful and is still fermenting now. He says that he enlarged a bit his cellar since our last visit in Courgis............. Vincent Dauvissat happens to be the cousin of Jean-Marie Raveneau and both estates are known for having stopped using chemicals in the vineyards 30 years ago and for their outstandingly mineral wines.
__ Dauvissat Chablis 2007. Nice concentration, lightly woody notes. One-year elevage split on new casks and 1-2-3-year old casks
__Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru Sechets (no notes, sorry)
__Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 2007. The mouth is more powerful, we shifted gear here. Soil is clay, otherwise the maturation of the grapes was similar to the ones of the previous wine.
__Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru La Forest 2007. Nice complexity in the mouth indeed. Length, a pleasure.
__Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru Les Preuses 2007. Now, this is a wine that clearly stands out (I would nonetheless accept to drink the others every day...). Very aromatic mouth, you get caught in the mddle of these multiple aromas and you soon feel happy... And this length.
__Dauvissat Chablis Grand Cru les Clos. More powerful. Jean-Marc Roulot & caviste Marc SibardI taste a few wines from the Domaine Roulot, a top estate for white Burgundies :
__Roulot Bourgogne Blanc 2007. Good balance, no excessive power in the mouth. I'm feeling more like giving an opinion on the balance here than on the aromas (tasting stress, and I don't always spit).
__Roulot Meursault les Vireuils 2007. More powerful.
__Roulot Meursault les Tessons 2007. Nose elder-tree flowers. I like very much this one. The acidity seems higher, giving it a very nice balance.
__ Roulot Meursault 1er Cru les Charmes 2007. Wow, this one is another wonder, the aromatic complexity is so outstanding here. Very beautiful.............I stop at the last stand on the side, near the orange tree in its big pot (the only alcoholic orange tree in the world probably with all the spit wine it gets).
__Domaine Roblet-Monnot Volnay 2007. Very nice
__Domaine Roblet-Monnot Volnay Santenots 1er Cru 2007. Elegance, refineness and length. Like very much. 54 Euro
__ Domaine Roblet-Monnot Pommard Les Arvelets 2007 (a climat very close to the Pommard pic on my landscaping post. Wine with a solid structure and a beautiful substance. 54 Euro. François JobardFrançois Jobard is one of these discreet vignerons who are followed by passionate wine amateurs for his wines which are refined and with lots of minerality, but with restraint like their winemaker.
__ Jobard Meursault En La Barre 2006 (sorry, no notes).
__ Jobard Meursault 1er Cru Les Poruzots 2006. Well, not bad (I'm ashame of this note but I guess I was getting tired).
__ Jobard Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières 2006. Oh yes, I like that... The mouth is so neat, intense and the feel lasts long. All his wines go through a long elevage on the lees, without stirring of the lees (that's important to note that because his wines are what they are partly of this). No filtration except for the very bottom of the cask. He uses mostly old casks and the elevage time is routinely 20 to 24 months.............Alain Burguet [picture on left] was also taking part to this tasting :
__ Alain Burguet Gevrey Chambertin Place des Lois 2007. Very refined aromas on the nose. Eleagance. The mouth is in line with this nose. Nice wine indeed. 42 Euro.
__ Alain Burguet Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes Les Favorites 2007. A bit of reduction on the nose. In the mouth, nicely fruity with freshness and balance. Very nice. Must develop into something even better in the future.
__ Alain Burguet Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru les Champeaux 2007. Neat, straight. Intensity. Lots of refineness. Precision in the mouth, refined tannins. That's good.............I tasted a few wines from Claude Marechal who was thee too but my notes are either absent or not readable.Dominique DerainThat's a lot of fun to taste with Dominique Derain, he makes you at ease and jokes a lot. The first wine has a name that sounds itself like a joke btw :
__Derain Allez Goutons (Aligoté) 2009 (allez goutons sounds like Aligoté but means let's taste in French), Table Wine. 12° natural. Aromas of acidulous candy, morello cherry, freshness and vividness. Zero SO2 in this wine...At Dominique Derain, either there is no SO2 added at all, or extremly little. Of course, he also vinifies without additives.
__Derain Saint Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly 2007. Chardonnay. Nice
__ Derain Saint Aubin Le Ban 2007. Nice, relatively transparent Pinot Noir. Very nice, fruity mouth. Structure, tannins, everything at its place. Peppery side in the fruit.
__ Derain Pommard les Petits Noizons 2007. Vineyard with 40 cm of earth only (a bit more than one foot) and then, the rock plate. Wow, that is nice indeed too... These thin tannins, this joyful mouth, and I think that after a couple of years at least it will be even better.
__ Derain Gevrey Chambertin En Vosne 2007. That's good...one of the best wines that I got that day, and I don't need explanation to be convinced...Probably very young too, lots of potential. The 3rd mouth (without spitting I'm afraid) has this striking complexity, this elegance.
__Derain Mercurey La Plante Chassey 2006. Turbid. Old vines (100 years old). 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Pinot Beurot. Also a promising wine for the next three years. Cécile TremblayCecile Tremblay is a young vigneronne (she set up shop in 2003) who works on 3 to 4 hectares of vineyards (here are the exact locations and surface of her vineyards). The Domaine Cecile Tremblay is based in Vosne Romanée. Her vinifications use only indiginenous yeasts, the harvest is cooled and after a pre-fermentary maceration, the fermentation takes place in traditional open wood vats for 28 to 35 days. This is a very small estate and she does most of the work by herself. The output at Cecile Tremblay is something like 10 000/15 000 bottles yearly.
__Cecile Tremblay Morey Saint Denis 2007 Tres Girard (0,5 hectare). 100% whole clusters here. Very elegant wine with good length. Aromatic complexity. 48 Euro in the wine shop.
__ Cecile Tremblay Vosne Romanée Vieilles Vignes (old vines) from plots in Au communes, les Jacquemines, Les Rouges Du Dessus 1er cru (0,55 ha altogether). She says that her approach is to center all the work on the grapes and the vineyard. I the vatroom and the cellar, she is in favor of very little intervention. 60% whole clusters here. Very classy wine in the mouth. 59 Euro.
__ Cecile Tremblay Chambolle Musigny Les Feusselottes 1er Cru 2007. 50-year old vines on 0,5 ha. Wow, that's nice. You get this lovely peppery side of the Pinot Noir, and this nice length. 76,9 Euro.
__ Cecile Tremblay Chapelle Chambertin 2007. 50-year old vines, 0,4 ha. Wopw again, but here I need help, I lack the words...Just so beautiful. Subtle scents of spices, I don't know. 134 Euro (at Caves Augé too) Laure de Peyerimhoff (Fred Cossard's négoce)I'm tasting now at the stand of Fred Cossard, and Laure de Peyerimhoff pours the wines. She is Fred Cossard's wife and she also manages the Négoce part. The Négoce's name is Fred Cossard while the estate name is Domaine de Chassorney. Check out any wines that come under these names, you'll not regret it.
__Chassorney Bourgogne Boudot 2007. Pinot Noir. Nice wine with young tannins.
__Chassorney Fred Cossard Saint Romain Sous Roche 2007. Oh yes...very beautiful. The mouth is just very very nice, hard to spit. Neat, with these peppery-on-the-side aromas. That's Fred Cossard, no doubt. And probably also a very young wine best to enjoy in a few years. Whole clusters. And note : NO SO2 AT ANY TIME. One-month maceration. Sold out alas, but the 2008 costs something like 34 Euro she says.
__Cossard (négoce) Volnay 2008. Lots of complexity in the mouth. Fruit is forward, with thin tannins. Well done wine, a pleasure.
__ Chassorney Savigny 2008. Still young but at this stage I really feel that this wine will turn great (that's not always easy to spot on young wines, at least for me).
__ Chassorney Nuits Saint Georges Clos des Argilières 2008. Very beautiful and still different. Intensity in the mouth, aromatic concentration with a good acidity. Refined tannins. Liquorice maybe. Pierre DamoyPierre Damoy is the main estate for the Gevrey-Chambertin Grand Cru wines. On a total surface from a bit more than 10 hectares, 8 hectares are in Grand Cru, and 5 hectares of Clos de Béze. Pierre Damoy is in charge of the estate since 1992 and added another push to reduce the yields.
__Pierre Damoy Chapelle Chambertin Grand Cru 2007. He has 2,21 hectares of this Grand Cru, that is 40% of the total surface. Simply superb. Aromatic concentration, freshness, elegance with a pleasurable substance. 10 casks of this wine. He says that on his property, some vineyards never fully recovered yet from the severe hailstorms of 2006. Otherwise he used to make some 15 casks of this wine before 2006.
__ Pierre Damoy Chambertin Grand Cru Clos de Bèze 2007. Again, very, very nice. (sorry, very short on this one).

Comments

[Steve L.]

I'd stand around in the rain to taste those wines, too!

[jull]

wahouuuuuuuuuuuuu comme j'aimerais etre parisien.......