BURGHOUND.COM

January 2012

Par Allan Meadows

 

Philippe Drouhin described the 2010 growing season as "one of constant change. Nothing lasted for very long and we had a bit of everything from extreme cold to hot rainy to dry to overcast to bright sunshine. Seriously, we had some of everything. The flowering was marked by cool and rainy weather, which meant that it did not go well and yields were significantly lowered as a result. We began picking on 23rd of September during a period which was again cool and slightly wet but happily changed shortly thereafter to bright sunshine. The crop was ripe and clean and not surprisingly when the fruit is like that, the vinifications  were relatively straightforward. When all was said and done we had fully 1/3 less than normal crop but the good news is that it is excellent quality. The 2010s are wines of harmony and grand purity with very ripe fruit aromas that remain agreeably fresh. We'll see in time how they age but for the moment I am very optimistic.”

 

Morey St Denis 2010: (88-81)

2017+.

A discreet to point of mute nose leads to quite finely detailed middle weight flavors that possess a seductively silky mouth feel before culminating a firm, palate coating and balanced finish. Lovely and fashioned in a very understated style.

 

Gevrey Chambertin 2010: (89-91) 2017+.

A complex nose features red berry fruit plus herbal and floral notes along with plenty of Gevrey-style earth that continues onto the mineral-inflected, intense and relatively robust flavors. There is good verve to the complex, balanced and solidly persistent finish. Classic Gevrey built to reward medium-term cellaring.

 

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Crû Craipillot 2010: (89-92) 2017+

A touch of wood spice sets off exceptionally fresh cool and airy aromas of wild red berries plus stone and earth tones. There is a good richness and intensity to refined and energetic flavors that culminate in a harmonious and persistent finish that moderately austere. I like the balance and this should age well.

 

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Au Closeau 2010: (89-92) 2017+

(From 60+ year old vines). This is aromatically more elegant still though note quite as complex with equally cool aromas of red pinot fruit, Gevrey-style earth and underbrush nuances that can also be found  on  the detailed, racy and utterly delicious flavors that are more finesse than power.  A balanced and understated effort that should age but drink well young too if desired.

 

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Prieur 2010: (90-92) 2017+

  This offers another small step up in overall depth with a pretty and well-layered nose of both red and dark berry fruit aromas that are soil and underbrush-inflected. The rich, generous and mouth coating flavors are shaped by very fine tannins and a pure silky texture, all wrapped in a firm, dusty and lingering finish. A wine of refinement and again, understatement.

 

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Crû Lavaut St Jacques 2010: (90-92) 2019+  

(From a 0.3 ha parcel of vines planted in 1943). Discreet notes of wood spice blend with ultra-fresh and airy red pinot and pungent mineral notes that also suffuse the intense, crystalline and stony medium-bodied flavors that possess a satiny mouth feel. The natural coolness of the terroir is very much in evidence as there is bracing but balanced acidity on austere and long finish. A wine of Zen-like poise and harmony.

 

Chambolle-Musigny 2010: (91-94) 2022+

(A mix of 80% Les Baudes and 20% from the villages portion of Les Veroilles.) A background hint of wood does not diminish the appeal of pure and graceful ripe blue berry and red currant aromas that are, not surprisingly, completely different from  those of Gervey  1ers. There is plenty of mineral influence to the lacy and beautifully well-detailed flavors that possess really lovely balance and persistence if only moderate depth. Still, this a really lovely effort and textbook Chambolle.  

 

Chapelle-Chambertin 2010: (91-943) 2022+

(From 0.52 ha parcel in En la Chapelle). Here too there is a bit of wood spice framing the pure, complex and solidly ripe red currant, plum and soil-inflected aromas that precede rich full-bodied and extract-rich flavors where the shaping tannins are forced to background on the dusty and mouth coating finish. This is an exercise in harmony and proportion with impeccable balance on the sneaky long finish.

 

Latricières-Chambertin 2010: (92-94) 2021+

(From 0.67 ha parcel of extremely old vines). A cool, pure and ultra-elegant nose of very fresh stone-infused wild and ever-so-slightly sauvage red currant and cherry aromas gives way to rich and solidly well-concentrated medium-bodied flavors that brim with both mineral and dry extract. This balanced, long and overtly austere effort is a classic Latricières and should age like one as well.

 

Bonnes-Mares 2009: (92-95) 2025+

(From a 1.5 ha parcel that is almost entirely in terres rouges).  A reserved and openly taciturn nose reluctantly reveals notes of a cool and exceptionally fresh melange of plum and red berries that freely cut with stone and warm earth nuances. The mouth feel is unusually refined and while there is excellent size, weight and concentration to the large-scaled flavors, the tannins are quite fine though dense and it's clear that this markedly persistent and youthfully austere effort will require plenty of cellar time. Note that while it's a minor distinction, this is not quite as austere as the Latricières. In a word, terrific.

 

Clos de Vougeot 2010: (92-94) 2025+

(This and the Latricières are from the oldest vines of the Domaine and this wine come from a superbly situated 1 ha parcel of Clos de Vougeot high on the hill).  A slightly riper blend of red and blue pinot noir fruit, violets and plenty of warm earth also suffuses the rich, full-bodied and very serious broad-shouldered flavors. This enjoys an abundance of tannin-buffering dry extract that confers a sappy texture to the driving complex and hugely long finish. This is a first-rate example of this uneven appellation and well worth considering.

 

Chambertin-Clos de Bèze 2010: (93-95) 2025+

(From a parcel of 1.5 ha of vines planted in 1949). A spicy, ripe, elegant and admirably pure nose offers up notes of anise, sandalwood and clove that add breadth to the floral, earth and stone-suffused aromas. There is the same superb breadth to the rich, intense and tension-filled full-bodied flavors that possess excellent power and drive on the seductively textured, muscular and classy finish. As good as the prior grands crus are, there is another dimension present here.

 

Musigny 2010: (94-97) 2025+

(From a 0.12 ha parcel). A gorgeously complex and stunningly elegant nose of pure violets and rose petals is trimmed in plenty of spice and cassis aromas. The almost painfully intense, brilliantly detailed and utterly pure flavors enjoy excellent mid-palate concentration as well as superb power on the focused, explosive, diving and particularly persistent finish. A breathtakingly good effort that clearly built to age.