SUMMER BURGUNDY TRIP (AND CHAVE) 2009

Robert Bohr and I start our trip in London working on a private cellar and ended up at The Vineyard at Stockcross outside Newbury for dinner – we indulged in a tasty 1992 Chablis Chapelot Raveneau followed by a super 1990 Barolo Monprivato from Mascarello. Off to Lyon in the morning.


CHAVE 6/29

We meet Roberto Conterno, Ceylan Tumgoren, and 6 of the best steaks we've ever tasted - all from Piedmont - at Jean Louis Chave's new St Joseph holding just before lunch. Richard Betts and JL's wife Erin rolled in minutes later and we took a quick tour because of the heat and a pending lunch reservation. For the uninitiated, Chave is THE place to taste in the Northern Rhone, and besides his unparalleled Hermitages he has been on a mission to elevate the St Joseph appellation to it's maximum potential. Don't bet against him. The new domaine has a perfect mid-slope parcel call 'le croissant' and we'll be paying close attention to these wines as they have lots of untapped potential and are now in the hands of the master. Off to lunch at a little place in Mauve with two female chef-owners that somehow manage to get good fish on the menu despite being in the middle of a landlocked tiny town. Lunch is good, the wines are tasty, when we notice Roberto - who is speaking to a well known globe-trotting consulting agronomist who joined our table - has veins popping out on the sides of his neck. This is all taking place in Italian, and evidently the soil maven has some rather spicy views on grapes that could and should be grown in Piedmont. No more fireworks came from this exchange, but it was interesting to see that Roberto was not willing to suffer intervention easily. We went on to taste the 2007 Hermitage by individual parcel (before the final blend) - always a treat to taste here and one of the best visits in the wine world. We had to hit the road to Burgundy so we only had time for a few older bottles including his 2006 Hermitage Rouge. This has always been a personal favorite and I asked if it reminded him of another vintage – he likes it a lot and compared it to his 1991…schwing!! Headed up to Beaune and a late dinner at Ma Cuisine. Had a delicious ’01 Rougeot from Coche (the Coche value wine) and a ’99 Bonnes Mares from Roumier.


BURGUNDY 6/30

Heavy tasting lineup in the Cotes de Nuits with lots of Big Lumber. First off is Fred Mugnier who’s in a fine mood with a long weekend planned (no Ma Cuisine Party for Fred, he leaves tomorrow). Like many domaines, his 2008 reds are still going through late malos, making them especially challenging to evaluate…but that’s our job. There was plenty of rain in August and the beginning of September, and most producers were worried about rot breaking out in the vineyards. I think it’s easy to say that most of the top producers are extremely happy about how the 2008 vintage has turned out relative to their expectations. As pleased as they are, I think some may be erring on the conservative side as we may find some pretty serious wines coming out of this vintage. Fred compares his 2008’s to his 01’s but better – if you’ve had the pleasure of being exposed to his 01’s recently, those are very soothing words. His Chambolle Musigny Amoureuses was finished with it’s malo and absolutely delicious…unfortunately he also made about 60% of his usual production of this already impossible to find cuvee.
Next up was a relatively quick tasting at DRC. Both Aubert de Villaine and cellar master Bernard Noblet were in fine form (Noblet even leaned over at one point a la Herman Munster and supplied the word ‘racking’ for Aubert – no slouch with the English language - which was pretty funny) and we had an impressive first look at the 2008’s out of barrel. Again the malos were a little intrusive and it’s tough to make any conclusive statements, but suffice is to say the wines will be as good as always and the RC should be spectatcular. “Dude, I am super excited about the wines. I think they all showed great pedigree and promise. The site-specificity was tremendous and they have the stuffing and verve that says they will be something very special…I look forward to drinking your allocation.” R Betts
We stopped by Domaine Dujac with our Italian steaks for lunch, and ran into a full fledged dining experience. We thought we were just going to cook out on the grill (by the pool), But Roz and Jacques Seysses decided it was too hot out and whipped up a full scale lunch complete with meat and potatoes. Jeremy torched the steaks to perfection out side on the grill (with a clever French combination of charcoal and wood) and generously opened a couple of magnums, 1983 La Chapelle and 1995 Clos St Denis – staggeringly good!. It goes without saying that Roberto’s steaks did not make the trip in vain and a Seysses invitation should never be ignored.
Up next was a visit with Louis Michel Liger-Belair, one of the most historic estates in Burgundy, and now arguably one of the top 10 producers. His domaine is across the street from DRC and he produces perhaps the only wine that can compete with their exalted line up…La Romanee. LMLB took over the estate in 2000 and has raised the bar at an incredible pace - with his additional new vineyards on long term leases he’s put himself squarely in the middle of the conversation – and he’s not shy about it. First off was 2008 Vosne Romanee Clos du Chateau from the back yard and as usual this wine was singing! Only a village wine, but it defies its appellation and during the Paulee last year in NYC we tasted a vertical of this wine back to 2001 at Eleven Madison Park that was extra special. 2008 Nuits St Georges Les Lavieres – a new leased vineyard with 95 year old vines – is from the Vosne side of Nuits and shows great intensity. The 2008 Nuits Les Cras had great intensity – like a laser beam in the mouth. My favorite wine from this cellar, the 2008 Vosne Romanee Reignots, showed it’s usual all around complexity and depth – an exciting wine and LMLB says it has an extra dimension this year and has reached a new level in his cellar. This is a notable departure for LMLB who usually reserves any praise solely for La Romanee (which along with the Echezeaux was difficult to taste at this point in the malos).
Last appointment of the day was with good friend Christophe Roumier who was recovering from a torn tendon he suffered in a mountain biking accident. The 2008 lineup showed off another in a seemingly unbroken string of seamless, effortlessly balanced vintages here. The wines were still in various states of malo, but the Chambolle Musigny, Chambolle Les Cras, and Ruchottes Chambertin all showed the usual refined Roumier touch. The 2008 Bonnes Mare Terres Rouge (separate red soil cuvee before the ultimate blend) was fabulous and and should be the foundation for another great Roumier Bonnes Mares. Finally we tasted the rare 2008 Musigny which showed amazing persistence and echoed the other great wine of the day, the Romanee Conti from DRC. We went down to the cellar for a tasting of some 2007’s out of bottle – Chambolle Musigny, Chambolle Combottes, and Les Cras – all tasting fabulously well. BTW Cristophe compared his 07’s to his 1985’s!! Don’t pass on 2007 Roumier if you have the opportunity. Just as we started in on the big boys the lights cut and went outside to see the heaviest rainfall I’ve ever seen in Burgundy. Dinner was all the classics at Le Gourmandin in Beaune – the best food I’ve ever tasted there – along with two bottles of 2004 Meursault Perrieres from Coche-Dury. Big smile.


MA CUISINE PARTY 7/01

Today is the day of our producer party at Ma Cuisine, but first Robert and I follow Richard Betts for a run in the Haute Cotes de Nuits. It was hot and very humid, but luckily before Richard could kill us off we had to get back for an appointment with Jean Marc Roulot. We were looking forward to this tasting - the combination of the sensational 2007 white vintage and one of our favorite Burgundy producers was a real treat. The first sip of his Bourgogne Blanc and we were all convinced. JM said that “07 is more harmonious than 04” – a very strong statement considering how delicious his 2004’s are right now. All the Meursaults from the Vireuils to the Luchets – “very Roulot” – to the Tillets, Tessons and Poruzots were fabulous and terroir specific. The Perrieres will be great and hard to find. We asked the famously self-critical JM if he was happy with the vintage…and for once he has no complaints. 2007 Roulot will be a benchmark vintage for him.
After lunch at Le Gourmandin (again) we were of to Dujac (again) this time to taste with Jeremy Seysses and some old classmates of his from Oxford. We started with the 2007 Morey, then moved to the Gevrey Chambertin Combottes which has fabulous concentration. 2007 Vosne Romanee les Malconsorts (new vineyard for Dujac in 2005 from the old Moillard estate) is from a sensational parcel and will be superb. The Grand Crus were a little closed up yet so comments will have to be reserved. Jeremy made up for it by opening up both the 2001 Clos St Denis and Clos de la Roche which were singing – get them if you can.
We stopped by Chambolle to pick up C Roumier so he wouldn’t have to drive on his bad leg. Off to Ma Cuisine for our party where we were expecting Christope Roumier, Alix DeMontille, Ben Leroux, Kellen Lignier, Jeremy Seysses, Diana Seysses, Marie Christine Mugneret, LM Liger-Belair, Etienne DeMontille, David Croix, Dominique Lafon, Alex Moreau, Jacques Bavard, JM Roulot and guest star - Roberto Conterno. Fabienne & Pierre worked their magic with a fabulous meal - the doors open and picture perfect weather. Richard, Robert and I did the wine service…6L Pommery Cuvee Louise, magnum 1995 Chablis Les Clos Raveneau, magnum 2000 Meursault Perrieres Roulot, Jero 2000 Chassagne Montrachet Maltroie Moreau, magnum Puligny Champs Canet Ramonet, Jero! 2004 Montrachet Drouhin, magnum 1985 Savigny Les Beaune Vergelesses, magnum 1985 Clos de Lambrays, magnum 1993 Gevrey Chambertin Clos St Jacques Fourrier, magnum 1974 Mascarello Barolo Monprivato, magnum 1991 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle. Many thanks to Roy Welland, Don Stott, Greg Powell and Brian Orcutt for their generous donations!


7/02

We got off to a very slow start but made up for it with a very impressive tasting at Sauzet with Gerard Boudot’s son-in-law Benoit. From the village wine on they were uniformly racy, with great acidity and mouth feel. I’d never been here before (for no particular reason), and it’s amazing to taste this many great vineyards in a row from one domaine – Champs Canet, Combettes, Bienvenues, Batard (2 stars), Chevalier, and Montrachet! Robert and I were ready to place an order before the tasting was even over. For those of you who have forsaken Sauzet over the last decade – it’s time to make amends.
Next up was a tasting with David Croix. David has gotten some attention since taking over as winemaker at Camille Giroud with the 2001 vintage, and he’s added his own domaine to the conversation – Domaine de Croix – starting with the 2005 vintage. He make five reds and on white here, and all the wines reflect the maker – easy going, balanced, but intense- you have to pay attention. David makes one of the best Bourgogne Rouges in the business, and the 2007 was delicious - declassified premier cru Beaune vineyards will do that. Unfortunately he makes very little and I rarely see it for sale. The 2007 Beaune Pertuizots was pretty and juicy, and paved the way for his two best wines. The Beaune Greves comes from a top Beaune vineyard site and David’s has plenty of ripeness, power and length in 2007. His Beaune Bressandes always has an extra degree of finesse and refinement. He makes a little Corton Charlemagne, and the 07 is the best so far – too early to say much about it but not bad for a red wine guy.
We went off to Bouilland for dinner to visit Becky Wasserman, her husband Russell Hone, and son Peter. Russell whipped up a delicious pintade and we cooled off with a couple of soothing bottles of Bouzeron. A few glasses of 100 year-old calvo set us straight and we were off to the US the next day.

Stay tuned…we’re booked for another trip in November during the Hospices de Beaune, and the list of domaines we are tasting at will be extraordinary.