This is our second visit to Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne. This time the growers mainly featured the 2014 vintage. This was not a plain-sail vintage, despite the warm and dry spring, early budbreak, timely flowering in early June. The hailstorm on 28th June caused widespread damage to Volnay, Pommard, Meursault and Beaune. Crop was short, as much as 50% for most of the growers in these villages. Wet and cold weather persisted throughout the summer, until the arrival of warmer and drier conditions with plentiful sunshine around mid-August. The north wind was a big help to Chardonnay, despite some rot issues with Pinot Noir that got dealt with on the sorting table. Localised outbreaks of Suzuki fly infestation caused a few growers to pick rather too early, at the expense of phenolic ripeness.
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| Tasting of Macon wines at the Palais des Congres |
Based on what we tasted, notwithstanding all the hype over the whites, 2014 turned out to be a fantastic vintage for the reds from the Côte d’Or, from Fixin to Saint Romain: the wines showed great balance, concentration, finesse, terroir expression and generally well-judged extraction. They were a joy to be tasted now. The whites, as their reputation attests, equally showed great concentration, freshness, a lovely minerality with perfect ripeness. The reds from Côte Chalonnaise showed more variation, with some picking a bit too early to avoid the havoc wreaked by the Suzuki flies. In the right hands, the Mâcon whites were expressive with a good dose of freshness. We missed the first day which was Chablis but from what I managed to taste subsequently, Chablis did rather well, showing a classic style.
What about the prices? A Pommard grower assured us that he only just managed to break even for 2013 and 2014, due to the extremely short crop. He decided to maintain the prices for 2014, rather than elevating them to make up for the small production. He lamented the spiraling increase in prices experienced by some appellations and amongst the Grands Crus, to satisfy the ever-increasing demand against the unpredictability of nature. Another grower also spoke about the rising prices of grapes for his négociant business, such that 2015 just became rather too expensive. We tried to do the maths for the grapes from a Côte de Nuits village appellation based on the higher prices, and it was impossible to make a bottle ex-cellar price to come within the normal 30 - 35 Euros per bottle, after including the brokerage fee and all the élévage and packaging costs. After that you have to factor in the distribution and shipping costs to get to the shelf price in London or Hong Kong. He said that Bourgogne wine is expensive now because of the distribution system, that the domaines do not sell direct. Perhaps buying own vineyards is the only solution but sales are few and far between, and opportunities might come at a time when one was strapped for cash through other winery investments.
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| Illustrating Pommard through its soil compositions |
How about the much-discussed potential promotions? I spoke to a Nuits Saint Georges producer and they seemed optimistic about Les Saint Georges’s application to be promoted to Grand Cru. On the another hand, the growers in Pommard were not confident that the promotion of Les Rugiens in its entirety would be successful.
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| The famous Les Rugiens-Bas |
There was an upbeatness about the Mâcon region, in anticipation of the promotion of some climats to Premier Cru. The Mâcon presents great options for vignerons who wish to expand their vineyard holdings plus it’s a very nice place and it would be wonderful to give Mâcon wines their deserved status. The wines here have never been better. Chablis has this very established brand that makes it a great by-the-glass wine choice on wine lists; Pouilly-Fuissé does not seem to brandish this same degree of recognition, nor does Saint-Véran or Viré-Cléssé. Would a Mâcon-Vergisson or Mâcon-Uchizy be able to make it to top restaurants’ by-the-glass programme? That would be a great development for this region.
Every year, the quality of the lesser appellations gets higher and more consistent. I was rather impressed by the emerging appellations I tasted this week. Here are some examples of the domaines and their wines that I particularly enjoyed (sorry not much on Chablis, as explained earlier, though I was pleased to catch up on some at the tasting hosted by Diva):
Chablis
Sébastien Dampt: Chablis 1er Cru Beugnons 2014, Chablis 1er Cru Côte de Lechet 2014
Daniel Dampt: Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys 2014, Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 2014
Côte de Nuits
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| The wines by Rene Bouvier |
Arnoux-Lachaux: Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes 2014, Echézeaux 2014
Rene Bouvier: Marsannay Le Clos Blanc 2014, Marsannay Clos du Roy 2014, Gevrey-Chambertin Racine du Temps 2014, Charmes Chambertin 2014
Chauvenet-Chopin: Côte de Nuits Villages 2014, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Chaignots 2014
Robert Chevillon: Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Roncières 2014
David Duband: Clos de La Roche 2014
Jean Fournier: Marsannay Les Longeroies Rouge 2014, Marsannay Clos du Roy 2014
Comte Liger-Belair: Vosne-Romanée La Colombière 2014, Echézeaux 2014
Rossignol-Trapet: Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle 2014, Chambertin 2014
Georges Roumier: Chambolle-Musigny 2014, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras 2014
Côte de Beaune
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| The wines by Jean-Marc Bouley |
Bouchard: Beaune-Grèves Vigne de L’Enfant Jéus 2014
Blain-Gagnard: Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Caillerets Blanc 2014, Bâtard-Montrachet 2014, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos Saint Jean rouge 2014
Jean-Marc Bouley (Thomas presented the wines): Volnay Clos de La Cave 2014, Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets 2014, Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens 2014
Coste-Caumartin: Pommard La Rue au Port 2014, Pommard 1er Cru Les Fremiers 2014, Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Boucherottes 2014
Fontaine-Gagnard: Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Boudriotte 2014, Bâtard-Montrachet 2014
Alex Gambal: Saint Romain Blanc 2014 and Beaune 1er Cru Les Grèves 2013
Henri Gouges: Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos des Porrets Saint-Georges 2014, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers 2014, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains 2014, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Saint-Georges 2014
Lejeune: Pommard Les Trois Follots 2014, Pommard 1er Cru En Largillière 2014, Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens 2014
Lafon: Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 2013, Volnay 1er Cru Santenots du Milieu 2013
Laleure-Piot: Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru En Carradeux Blanc 2014, Corton-Charlemagne 2014, Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile des Vergelesses Rouge 2014
Benjamin Leroux: St Romain Sous Le Château Blanc 2014, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Embazées 2014, Volnay 1er Cru Clos de La Cave des Ducs 2014
Marchand-Tawse: Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Cailles 2014
Des Perdrix: Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les 8 Ouvrées 2014, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Perdrix 2014
Henri et Gilles Remoriquet: Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Saint-Georges 2014, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes 2014
Jean-Charles Rion: Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru blanc Les Terres Blanches 2014 (he only does whites)
Roulot: Meursault à Mon Plaisir Clos du Haut Tesson 2014, Meursault 1er Cru Clos des Bouchères 2014
Etienne Sauzet: Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières 2014, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières 2014, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 2014
Thierry Violot-Guillemard: Pommard 1er Cru La Platière 2014, Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens 2014
Joseph Voillot: Volnay 1er Cru Fremiets 2014, Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2014
Côte Chalonnaise
Aladame: Montagny 1er Cru Les Vignes Derrière 2014, Montagny 1er Cru Les Maroques 2014
Paul et Marie Jacqueson: Rully 1er Cru Blanc Grésigny 2014, Givry 1er Cru Rouge Les Cloux 2014, Mercurey 1er Cru Rouge Les Champs Martin 2014
Lumpp: Givry 1er Cru Clos Saint Paul 2013, Givry 1er Cru Clos du Cras Long 2013, Givry 1er Cru La Grande Berge Blanc 2014
Masse and their négociant business, Roland et Fabrice Masse (with a great trio of whites: Givry en Choué, Montagny 1er Cru Les Terroirs and Mercurey Les Terroirs)
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| The new label from the Masse uncle-nephew team |
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| Thenard wines |
Thénard: Givry 1er Cru Clos du Cellier aux Moines Blanc 2013, Givry 1er Cru Clos Saint Pierre Rouge 2012 (and Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Ile des Vergelesses Rouge 2012 and Montrachet 2013)
Le Mâconnais
Château de Beauregard: Pouilly-Fuissé Vers Cras 2013, Pouilly-Fuissé 2014 (a mix of 50 parcels!)
Héritiers du Comte Lafon: Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine 2014, Mâcon-Chardonnay Clos de La Crochette 2014 , Viré-Clessé 2014
Saumaize-Michelin: Pouilly-Fuissé Clos Sur La Roche 2014, Pouilly-Fuissé Vignes Blanches 2014, Pouilly-Fuissé Les Ronchevats 2014
Some 2015 wines were also shown. I thought the Chablis 2015 showed a nice balance in youth, with more rounded fruit quality. I tasted one 2015 red from Côte de Beaune (a Pommard Premier Cru) and thought it tasted rather extracted with a slight jammy quality at this stage. 2015 has been described as the new 2005, great for both whites and reds, but with more suppleness than 2005 in youth. I need to taste more to get a balanced view.
Bourgogne is exciting because of the diversity that arises from the multitude of appellations, that a Volnay does not taste like a Vosne-Romanée, and from the different levels of appellations, that there is a choice for different occasion, different budget, different mood, even. It would be very boring if you have the same tasting note for each bottle of Bourgogne. Bourgogne is also exciting because there are a growing number of young passionate growers, whether new to the region or returning to assist their parents, who are putting new energy into their craft. All this excitement has attracted much international attention, inspiring the burgeoning number of wine bars in Beaune and elsewhere (we have never seen so many before and all very high quality), and great dining options from bistro to fine dining. I just wish the wine prices can be kept in perspective, that we don’t suddenly find a village Ladoix retailing at more than 30 Euros a bottle, or that we cannot find a village Chambolle at less than 30 Euros a bottle. That would be very lamentable.
In Hong Kong, there is a common social stigma associated with serving an alternative red Bourgogne at dinner parties, that is not from the 3 famous communes in the Côte de Nuits (namely Vosne, Chambolle or Gevrey and it needs to be Premier Cru level at the minimum)….or a white that is not Meursault, Puligny or Chassagne. We are rather spoilt here. Our top restaurants are not helping the cause as they do not list the lesser-known appellations by the glass or on the wine list, because they believe that nobody will order them. Our deeply ingrained entertaining culture is partly a key driver of this phenomenon. So the stigma continues to be nurtured. Fortunately, there is a counter movement going on - the opening of bistros and more casual wine bars (usually by French nationals living in HK) is helping the promotion of other appellations and their growing popularity is a sign that we (or a small ‘we’) are perhaps maturing as a wine community…but we need to do more. We need to be able to pull the cork of a Saint Aubin, Pommard, Monthélie, Saint Romain, Pernand-Vergelesses, Savigny, Rully, Givry, Pouilly-Fuissé at home with family and friends too!
Santé!
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