Week in Burgundy, March 2011

I’m a Bordeaux man, but an open-minded one. So, for the second year in a row I spent a week in the Côte d’Or doing my best to understand the intricacies of that region. Bottom line: the white wines are very fine indeed and some of the reds are surprisingly good too!

I had the good fortune to be taken in tow by an Australian importer, and we visited 21 domaines. This is no mean feat considering that each one pours several wines (up to 15), and it can be freezing cold in their underground cellars!
Although vintages I tasted ranged from 2010 to 1972, the one most on show was 2009, and winegrowers are well-aware that this has received huge media attention. However, several told us that this was an atypical vintage and one they did not think would age particularly well. 2005 was felt to be better and much praise was also lavished on the 2008s as being more “truly Burgundian”.

The intimacy of visits in Burgundy is very stimulating. People take the time to pour many wines, patiently answer questions (frequently with humor), and are glad to explain their point of view on everything to do with viticulture and winemaking.

The Côte d’Or is a beautiful region, whose only drawback is its tininess. This makes for the fascinating, but also frustrating fragmentation of vineyards (and vineyards within vineyards…), although I’m sure this all becomes much clearer to the people who live there or go there often.

Food is great in Burgundy and good, not necessarily expensive restaurants abound. I think I’ll go back next year…

I tasted a great number of wines, but it would be mind-numbing to dutifully record everything. So, here’s the short version, commune by commune.
Any notes that follow that do not specifically say so are of wines from the 2009 vintage.

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Morey Saint Denis

Domaine Gérard Raphet: Gérard took over from his Dad (to whom he sadly no longer speaks) in the middle of the past decade and renamed the domaine. He’s a reliable producer whose grands crus are reasonably priced and pretty good. My favorite was Clos de Vougeot (Clos de la Roche, Clos de Bèze, and Charmes Chambertin weren’t too bad either…)

Domaine Jean Raphet: 75 year-old Jean loves opening bottles left and right. Not surprisingly, his wines are in a more old-fashioned style than his son’s. I like his 1990 Charmes Chambertin best.

Domaine Arlaud: This modern winery is on the other side of the Route Nationale. The young winemaker, Cyprien Arlaud, is very positive and go-ahead. He cultivates his vines organically, and his sister plows them with a horse. The wines were good, but not in a style I do not find it easy to relate to. The one I liked most was Bonnes Mares.

Frédéric Magnien: This is both a négociant and a domaine. We tried the 2010 négociant wines. This was actually a mistake because it’s too early even for professionals to evaluate. This is not a flashy producer and the cellars are very basic, but he does good work and I bought some of his wines (grand crus) last time around.

Domaine Hubert Lignier: There’s a sad story behind this. One of Hubert’s sons died several years after marrying an American lady. His widow insisted on keeping the vines she and her children inherited, in effect breaking up the family vineyard holdings (she named the new domaine Lucie et Auguste Lignier after her children) that Hubert had worked so beautifully for many years.
Hubert and his son Laurent rebounded and continue to make good wine, separately.
Their production of white wine is limited, but their St. Romain and Fixin were very good indeed.
I enjoyed their red wines too, particularly the Charmes Chambertin and Clos de la Roche.

Gevrey Chambertin

Doamine Drouhin-Laroze: This estate has had a so-so reputation in the past, but I found their wines to be good value for money. They have 12 hectares of vines including a bunch of grands crus. We tasted through several wines, also including some by daughter Caroline who started her own domaine which is confusingly called Larose de Drouhin (but then Burgundy wouldn’t be Burgundy if they didn’t test us that way, would it?). Caroline’s Charmes Chambertin (not from the Mazoyères part) is pretty impressive, as is her father’s Clos de Bèze. We had the 2007 and 2006 Bonnes Mares at lunch and preferred the former.

Domaine Alain Bruguet: The Vosne Romanée premier cru Les Rouges and the Clos de Bèze were very nice here, but I also came away with a case of a wine called Les Favorites because I found it to have an excellent quality-price ratio. We tasted their new Meursault which was of the rich and oaky variety, but still very nice.

Domaine Pierre Damoy: Damoy is the largest landholder in Chambertin and Clos de Bèze and many leading producers buy grapes from him. As we often heard during our visit, there are some family frictions at play here… It is sometimes said that others make better wine from his grapes than he does. I certainly don’t know enough to say one way or the other. However, I much enjoyed the wines I tasted from barrel, particularly the Clos de Bèze. He makes a special cuvée of this that is available only in small quantities years after the vintage.

Chambolle Musigny

Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier: This was perhaps the most trendy estate we visited. The house and offices roughly correspond to the Burgundian version of a château. Frédéric Mugnier is a very serious man who knows what he’s doing and makes beautiful wine from prime terroirs. I probably appreciated his range more than any other growers on the trip. The Clos de la Maréchale was excellent and as was the Bonnes Mares and Les Amoureuses. The latter are more expensive than the former. Many people feel it should be a grand cru. Perhaps so, but I’m tempted to think it’s so pricey because of the name…
We tasted through the 2008s too. I clearly liked the Clos de la Maréchale less (tasted that day – could change, obviously), but the Musigny was right up there.
The 2009 Musigny was perhaps the best wine from that vintage I tasted all week.

Vosne Romanée

Domaine Anne Gros: Anne had just got back from Japan (beating the earthquake by 2 days) and was tired, therefore we were showed around by Elodie.
Anne and her husband have an estate in the Minervois, so we dutifully tasted through their range. I’m not convinced that Vosne Romanée is the place to do this, but what the heck…
As usual, the Burgundies were quite well made, and I gave high marks to the Clos de Vougeot and especially the Richebourg. Anne Gros is a first-class winemaker and her top wines are among the best in Burgundy in my opinion.

Domaine Bruno Clavelier: This is not my style of Burgundy, but my friends (Burg geeks) really love it. Bruno Clavelier is in love with his terroir, which he cultivates organically. And he never stops smiling! The style is a bit like Lafarge - I appreciated the purity and fresh acidity underlying the fruit, but left disappointed.

Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat: Young Charles Van Canneyt took over management of this estate from his grandfather and seems very much up to the challenge. I really likes his Nuits St. Georges premier cru Les Murgets and his Clos de Vougeot, some of which I brought back home with me (from the 2008 vintage).

Domaine Lamarche: This is a women’s affair at present. Nicole makes the wine and does a good job. She is not a people person, so her cousin Nathalie looks after visitors (and sales). We tasted the wines in the family abode, and the temperature was higher than it should have been. This may explain the showing of some of the 2009s, which were nevertheless demonstrably good. I particularly liked the Grands Echézeaux and La Grande Rue. Nevertheless, La Grand Rue in 2008 and 2009 did not impress me as much as I had hoped they would.
Nuits Saint Georges

Domaine Robert Chevillon: I’ve long enjoyed this producer’s wines. We tasted through all his Nuits Saint Georges premier crus, and I especially liked Les Pruliers, Les Roncières, and Les Cailles. The Italian guy who now writes for the Wine Advocate had preceded us by half an hour. Bertrand Chevillon was very critical of his tasting method (precipitous).
Apparently, the process whereby Les Saint Georges would be promoted to grand cru is "in progress", but this is all very subtle and there are lots of interests at play here....

Marsannay

Domaine Bruno Clair: I first met the winemaker, Philippe Brun, in California many years ago… We tasted a slew of wines with Philippe and Bruno and the level was consistently good at every level. For me to give a score of 14/20 to a Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Diamodes is high praise indeed. The Gevrey-Chambertin premier cru Les Cazetiers was also excellent in both 2009 and 2008, while the Clos St. Jacques, Bonne Mares and, especially, the Clos de Bèze were among the best wines I tasted all week. Bruno Clair has 22 hectares of vines and does good work. He is famous for his 3 colors of Marsannay, and I appreciated all of them, particularly the red.

Volnay

Domaine Lafarge: Lafarge is much loved by Burgundy aficionados and it’s not hard to see why. The place is steeped in tradition and the Lafarge family is very kind and welcoming. I liked the wines (giving good notes to the Clos des Chênes and Les Caillerets), but I found they lacked structure and oomph, for want of a better word. I believe that dyed-in-the-wool Burgundy lovers will probably disagree with me here. In other words, I appreciated the wines’ purity, but would have wished for more color, richness, and breadth.
My Burgundy-loving friends tell me: color means very little in the Côte d’Or. This may be so, but it tends to influence me nevertheless.
We tasted a Clos des Ducs 2002 which was quite enjoyable.

Jean-Marc Bouley: Small producer of good, if not exciting wines. The one I liked best was his Clos Des Chênes.

Domaine Boillot: We tasted through a huge number of wines here with young Guillaume Boillot. They have large vineyard holdings, but are also négociants. The whites were just lovely up to and including Criots Bâtard Montrachet, Bâtard Montrachet, Le Montrachet, and Corton Charlemagne. A true delight. I ended up buying a bottle of their lovely “monopole”, Puligny Montrachet premier cru Clos de la Mouchère. The reds were quite different. They were more deeply colored than any other wines we tasted all week (as said above, this is not at all displeasing, just different!), and the taste was very much affected by oak ageing. I will be interested to see how they age… The one that seemed best-balanced, with the most-integrated oak was the Clos de Vougeot.

Chassagne Montrachet

Domaine Bernard Moreau: Located on the outskirts of Chassagne, this producer makes very good red and white wines. They own vineyards in several premiers crus in their commune (I liked the Ruchottes best) and make… one barrel of Bâtard Montrachet from grapes they buy. They also buy their red wine grapes, and do good things with them. I particularly appreciated their Volnay Caillerets.

Jean-Marc Pillot: I see Jean-Marc every time I go to Burgundy and we had a tasting session, but also an aperitif-drinking session at his cellar. While none of his wines reach the heights, they are fruity and well made, and represent superb value for money.

Best regards,
Alex R.

Wow, great trip. Sounds like you got to meet a nice assortment of winemakers, which is all the better for someone looking to learn about the region. Keep it up!

Interesting that you say Lafarge lacked structure. What vintages? The complaints usually run the other way.

[David M. Bueker]

I would love to know what a "precipitous" tasting method is.

Interesting ntoes indeed. I'm with Rahsaan regarding Lafarge. Thank you for the info on Chevillon - they are one of my favorites.

Regarding the Italian guy, he wanted to taste 2010s when this is the wrong time (many wines have not gone through their malolactic fermentation), then fell back on the 2009s, which he went through at breakneck speed, dixit Chevillon, who did not think he could possibly have devoted the necessary time to analyze the wines properly.
Whereas Allan Meadows had pretty good press everywhere we went, it was the opposite with this guy.

Lafarge? I called it a lack of structure, you could also call it a lack of tannin to hold everything together for want of a better description. Not my kind of wine, although I am aware that Lafarge has a strong following. I have a couple of 2005s from him in my cellar. Maybe they get better with age.
I'm not saying the wine is poor, just not up to my particular hopes for great wine. You are welcome to disagree .

Best regards,
Alex R.

Lafarge? I called it a lack of structure, you could also call it a lack of tannin to hold everything together for want of a better description. Not my kind of wine, although I am aware that Lafarge has a strong following. I have a couple of 2005s from him in my cellar. Maybe they get better with age.
I'm not saying the wine is poor, just not up to my particular hopes for great wine. You are welcome to disagree

It's not so much the critique of Lafarge that we're responding to but rather the notion that the wines lacked tannin. Lafarge does have a strong following but he also has a lot of detractors and they usually criticize the wines for being too tannic. Which is why your comments were interesting. Were these 2009s you were talking about?

Were all these producers represented by the same importer? If so, that is quite a diverse selection for one company. Sounds like a lot of fun. Wish I could have been there!

Rahsaan,

I prefaced the report by saying that I have a Bordeaux palate.
Therefore, my impressions, likes, dislikes, etc. are necessarily oriented.

I find the Lafarge wines did not have the body and tannin and, yes, structure I was looking for.
Frankly, I don't give a continental what anyone else says because these are my personal tasting notes, and another person can see things differently in the framework of a much broader Burgundy experience.
And that's fine.
To each their own...

I went with a friend who imports all those wines in smallish amounts for private customers in Australia.
He is simply amazing because as you drive along the Côte, he can name many of the vineyards and tell where they stop and another named vineyard begins...

All the best,
Alex R.

Domaine Hubert Lignier: There’s a sad story behind this. One of Hubert’s sons died several years after marrying an American lady. His widow insisted on keeping the vines she and her children inherited, in effect breaking up the family vineyard holdings (she named the new domaine Lucie et Auguste Lignier after her children) that Hubert had worked so beautifully for many years.

Sorry but this struck me as odd. Not sure why this is sad or what was expected. Are you suggesting that she should have surrendered the vines back to her father-in-law?

Alex,

Thanks for the trip report. It brings back fond memories of my own tasting journeys to Burgundy, tagging along with a wine merchant, in the late 1990s.

-Paul W.

Hey, no need to be so defensive. I wasn't questioning your impressions, just trying to place them in context. I don't have a ton of experience with Lafarge (the prices play a role here) but at times certain wines have also seemed light and pale in comparison to their peers. Yet Burgundy changes so much over time, which is why I was curious about the vintage(s) you tasted.

And I understand how your own orientations are your own orientations. But if you were interested in learning about the wines you might care what someone else says. Not because you are wrong and the other person is right. But because the wines are impossible to pin down and our perceptions are often so ephemeral that broadening our knowledge can be useful.

Brian,

I understand your question. In fact, on another board where I posted, someone suggested that there are always two sides to a story and that I should check it out the next time I'm in Burgundy by visiting the other domaine.

For information, here's how it was explained to me:

As often happens when people get old, the father, Hubert, signed over his vineyards to his two sons so that inheritance taxes would be less crippling later on.
One of the sons married, but unfortunately died shortly thereafter. His widow claimed her right to her deceased husband's share of the vineyards and ousted her father-in-law and brother-in-law, whose winegrowing experience has won international plaudits, whereas she had virtually no experience at all.
Legally, she was within her rights (it apparently went to court) but splintering a much-respected domaine like that was seen by many to be a pity.

Please try to imagine the scenario on a personal level, and how you might feel: someone marries into the family and before you know it elbows you out half of something it took generations for your family to build.

That having been said, I will try to get to the bottom of this the next time I go to Burgundy.

Best regards,
Alex R.

For information, here's how it was explained to me:

As often happens when people get old, the father, Hubert, signed over his vineyards to his two sons so that inheritance taxes would be less crippling later on.
One of the sons married, but unfortunately died shortly thereafter. His widow claimed her right to her deceased husband's share of the vineyards and ousted her father-in-law and brother-in-law, whose winegrowing experience has won international plaudits, whereas she had virtually no experience at all.
Legally, she was within her rights (it apparently went to court) but splintering a much-respected domaine like that was seen by many to be a pity.

Please try to imagine the scenario on a personal level, and how you might feel: someone marries into the family and before you know it elbows you out half of something it took generations for your family to build.

So if I understand how it was explained to you the land was signed over to the now deceased son but actually still under control of the father (Hubert). I don't know more than what you have recounted but it reads to me as if the signing over of the land was a sham and that the daughter-in-law was never accepted into the family. I have some history in fake land ownership when 30 some years ago, my family became the owner of a farm on paper. I was too young to care or understand but I believe that there was a change in tax rates based upon acerage owned so my uncle "sold" part of his farm to my father and my grandfather. When the laws were repealed the land was sold back to him. That being said, I don't believe my uncle would have "sold" part of his farm to my father if he feared that my mother would not honor the unwritten terms of the agreement.

Alex, thanks for the report.

My reaction to the Lafarge comment was the same as Rahsaan's - a bit of surprise. No one is saying you are wrong, but if you post on wine boards, people will respond. Lafarge is known for probably the most backward and structured wines in Volnay, so people will be surprised at that criticism.

I find the Lignier story very sad. Romain Lignier had taken over the lead of Domaine Hubert Lignier well before he became ill. I think any writeup of the estate from the late 90s would have identified him as the winemaker,and Hubert as moving into retirement. Kellen moved to Burgundy in I think 1998, and worked with Romain in the vineyard and winery. She also worked at DRC (intern level I assume) and went to the Beaune wine school (nt sure if that was before or after). Romain became sick in 2003 (cancer), and died in 2004. I believe for the first vintage after, Kellen and Hubert worked together. Rather than "split the estate" seems to me she was trying to keep her children's heritage. I'm sure there is fault all around, but this telling was a bit onesided.

Dale,

One thing that's hard to live with in the world of wine is "received wisdom". You write "Lafarge is known for probably the most backward and structured wines in Volnay, so people will be surprised at that criticism".
Who are these people who "know" (you use the passive voice)? Who is the "one" in "one feels that...", meaning "everyone/most people" believe this?
This supposes that the structure of Lafarge wines is on the the same basis as "water will freeze at 32°F".
Needless to say, I reject such thinking and go my own way .

When I questioned one of your scores, you responded - and quite rightly - that you qualify your ratings by saying you're an easy grader. Fair enough. By the same token, I started out my report by saying I have a Bordeaux palate.
It is in that framework that I wrote what I wrote.
I might also add that my comments were in the framework of visiting 21 domaines in a week and so were not totally devoid of context either.
The fact that most of these were in the Côtes de Nuits may also have been a factor in my appreciation.

As for the one-sidedness of the Lignier story, if you read above, you'll see that I acknowledged this.
As things now stand, the American lady is the villain of the story. I would be interested now to hear her side. Yes.

Best regards,
Alex R.

That's a great report, Alex. Do you think that you would have got an appointment with all these estates if you had not been accompanying an Australian importer? I have heard that many of the very small but prestigious estates cannot be bothered with visits except from existing or potentially big new customers.

Tim,

If it were not for the fact that I was able to tag along with my friend, I believe it would have been very difficult or even impossible to visit a number of the domaines.

In fact, that was the inducement for me to drive for 7 hours and take a week off work.

It's true, you have to understand these people. With a skeleton staff, they tend the vines, make the wine, deal with customers (and the "adminsitration", i.e., nosey, picky governement agencies), logistics, and God knows what else.
They simply do not have the time to share with anyone other than their customers, apart from the odd journalist.

Frankly, I don't know how a dedicated wine lover without an "in" would be able do what I did.
It can be done in Bordeaux, but needs to be set up months in advance, subsequent to writing a fairly servile letter explaining who one is, generally followed up by a couple of reminder e-mails and phone calls...

All the best,
Alex

Alex,
again, no one questioned your palate, Rahsaan (and subsequently I) just expressed surprise. My opinion on Lafarge is based on tasting a load of bottles, from Bourgogne to Chenes. Before prices got beyond me, Lafarge was the most represented Burg producer in my cellar (now follows Drouhin, Jadot, and Chevillon). They've always been comparatively structured/backward, and my opinions seemed to match those of most people I know. So having Lafarge singled out as being lacking structure occasioned comment -which doesn't mean disagreement. That's what happens on discussion boards. If someone was tasting in Bordeaux and mentioned Lafite or Montrose as lacking structure, you'd probably comment. Wouldn't mean you were right or they were wrong.

"As things now stand, the American lady is the villain of the story" might be your view, but other might see a grandfather who sued to try to get back property from his son's estate (which primarily went to the grandchildren, not the daughter-in-law) as not exactly a hero. I prefer to look at it as a tragedy all around, without heros or villains.

Dale,

I posted my report on several boards an no one else, including some real Burgundy fanatics, querried the lack of structure I found in the Lafarge wines.

I have duly noted that you think they are well-structured.
And Rahsaan too.

All the best,
Alex

[David M. Bueker]

Compared to Bordeaux, the wines of Gouges (notoriously some of the toughest in Burgundy) would seem soft.

Alex - which wines did you have right before Lafarge? That would provide a lot of insight. Certainly the wines of Volnay are less structured than those of Gevrey (and again, much less structured than a St. Julien).

Hi David,

You're dead right about the way I perceive tannin, and I am definitely on a learning curve when it comes to Burgundy.
Since you mentioned Gouges, one of his sons is the owner/chef at a restaurant in Meursault where we went, called the Chevreuil, where we enjoyed a good meal.
His wife surprised us by saying she actually prefers Bordeaux and among Burgundy wines only enjoys the whites (and usually drinks her family's white Nuits St. Georges, made from Pinot Blanc, at get-togethers).
The restaurant has Coche-Dury whites on their list. She explained that they were much less expensive at one time, but fellow restaurateurs came and told her she ought to raise the prices and she followed suit so as not to rock the boat...

You are also right in situating the tasting at Lafarge in the context of the other visits. Although our appointment was in the morning, the vast majority of the growers we called on were indeed in the Côtes de Nuits.

All the best,
Alex