Classic Stylish 2010 Burgundies



The 2010 Whites

28 Sep 2012: It was a great suggestion of Paul's to taste a bunch of 2010 Burgundies together, in a 'classroom' setting.  So we got a group of Burgundy enthusiasts and an interesting selection of burgundies together for a tasting followed by casual supper to see how the wines would evolve over the course of the evening. 

2010 Bourgogne Cuvée Oligocène, Patrick Javillier
Pale straw. Discreet and elegant nose. Lemon citrus, floral, a hint of toasted almond on the nose. Lovely rounded mouthfeel, balanced by vibrant acidity for a Bourgogne Blanc level. Love the crisp mineral-laced finish. There is certainly something about this wine that says Meursault! Great value wine showing such high quality at this level. If you look up Allen Meadows, he recommends this as "a great choice for a house white"! - We all agreed!!!  (This parcel of brown limestone comes from an altitude of 230 metres above sea, dating to the Oligocene period, roughly 34 to 23 million years ago. It is believed that the quality of this parcel is comparable to that of certain parcels of Meursault of the same altitude.)

2010 Saint-Véran Bois de Fée, Thibert
Pale straw. Quite closed on the nose initially. Flinty, floral and nutty adding complexity to the pure ripe fruit. A little austere at this youthful stage. Medium body with racy acidity. Love the purity, candid and detailed expression, clean crisp and saline finish. Will benefit from 12 - 18  months of of further development in bottle. A very fine effort from Christophe Thibert.Interesting that all of us thought it was very Chablis like.
(I also very much admire his Pouilly-Fuissé, especially Les Champs and Les Menetrières.)

2010 Chablis 1er Cru Côte de Léchet, Sébastien Dampt
Pale lemon golden glints. A very open nose of citrus, floral, tropical fruit, wet stones and gun smoke. Rounded mouthfeel, with a lovely spicy and saline finish. Harmonious, well balanced and nicely integrated. Can be enjoyed now with a little aeration. But definitely can benefit from a little bottle ageing say 12-18 months. A great value Chablis Premier Cru from a talented young man! (This would be so perfect with a platter of fruits de mer!)


2010 Meursault Les Gruyaches, Jean-Philippe Fichet
Pale straw some golden highlights. Open and elegant nose expressing complexities of ripe pear, floral, nutty, yoghurt, spice and subtle oak. Like the complexity, tension and mouth-coating richness on the palate with the Fichet signature firm acidity and minerality. Stylishly fleshy and generous and very appealing now. No reason to delay enjoying it but will benefit from 18 - 24 months of bottle age or extended aeration. Brilliant with the epoisses!

2010 Puligny-Montrachet, Leflaive
Pale straw. Elegant and complex nose of citrus, floral, white peach and toasted almonds, with hint of smoke. Palate shows depth, complexity, energy and precision. The oak element seems more subtle than earlier vintage bottlings. Vibrant acidity, seamless balance and a very fine long finish. Very classy juice that will  benefit from 2 - 3 years of bottle ageing.


2010 Chassagne-Montrachet La Maltroie, Fontaine-Gagnard
Pale gold. Rich and complex nose of smoke, nutty, lemon, pear and floral. Intense flavours, weighty and very rounded mouthfeel with firm acidity. Needs time for all the elements to become more integrated. A little clumsy at the moment. Well made with Premier Cru quality complexity, intensity and lengthy finish but does not quite have the finesse and precision of the Puligny Villages by Leflaive.

2010 Morgon Côte du Py, Jean Foillard
Very old vines. Rigorous sorting.  Unfined, unfiltered and no added sulphur. Plus wax closure.

Ruby hue. Bright red cherry fruit, violet, pu-erh tea, spicy and slightly earthy and meaty. Well structured, chewy velvety texture, with some firm but fine grained tannin, good level of acidity. Needs some age for the tannin to soften. A very high qualiity Morgon with plenty of concentration and complexity that should have a great ageing potential of 8 - 10+ years. Excellent find - thank you Paul for bringing this! (Even better the second day after opening!)


2010 Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes, François BertheauMedium  ruby hue.  High-toned red fruit, almost candy like. Cinnamon, some hints of tea leaves with a savoury character.  Silky tannin. Medium acidity  Very Chambolle, refined and elegant, aromatically attractive, presented with a lovely delicate freshness.  Can certainly be approached now with some extended aeration, but better in 3 - 4 years time.

2010 Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts, Maison Roche de Bellène
By comparison, this is deeper in colour.  The slightly closed nose shows more black fruit, blackberry and blueberry compote and cassis. Very firm fine-grained ripe tannin, medium acidity, with its concentration and intensity of flavours bursting onto the palate. A fleshy wine with muscles and power.  Arisocratic and very classy, with a finish that went on for a long long time.  An excellent effort and a very impressive Premier Cru (its proximity to La Tâche plot to be taken into consideration!)!  Certainly too young to try now.  Let it age in bottle for another 6 - 8 years before trying again.

General comment on 2010 vintage?  From what we tasted, I think 2010 is a great classic vintage, offering purity of fruit, precision and balance, firm acidity, classic structure and some very fine ageing potential from the best winemakers. There was already sufficient mid-palate concentration and a richness on the mouthfeel for the ones we tried that they were almost ready to be enjoyed now, with some aeration. 

I did sneak in a bottle of 2000 Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Nicolas Potel for variety!!


The 2010 reds, plus a 2000


I loved the way we engaged and discussed about the wines, without bias or prejudice.  An excellent way of discovering Burgundy wines, across quality levels and vineyards, let alone the styles of different winemakers.  Thank you to everyone who contributed towards the selection.  We should do this more often!