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Domaine Thomas-Moillard, Nuits-St. Georges
This domaine, the first on our visiting list, was different in every respect
from all the others. The amount of wine produced by Moillard in one week is
greater than the total annual production of all the other domains put
together! This is not an exaggeration. Moillard produces six million bottles a
year!! A huge amount everywhere, but especially in Burgundy.
Moillard produces 85% of his wine as a negociant. i.e they buys the grapes
from different growers and 'elevate' the wine in their immense cellars. These
negoce wines were of no interest to us. We were after the Domaine wines, which
come from the vineyard holdings of the family. These wines, which are vinified
and bottled as a totally separate operation from the negociant wines, are sold
under the label of Thomas-Moillard. Moillard's own Domaine cover some 20
hectars, of which about 2 hectars are in the Grands Crus appellations.
Monsieur Henri Thomas was away in Japan, so we were received by a very kind
lady who manages the tasting at his office. Apparently, instructions were left
as this lady freely opened bottle after bottle of whatever we asked her to. As
this was our first visit, we were a bit shy (comparatively < g >), and tasted
"only" the following:
Corton, Clos du Roi 1993
Romanee St. Vivant 1993
Vosne - Les Malconsorts 1991, 1988
Chambertin Clos de Beze 1989
All the wines were quite tannic. The Clos de Beze '89 had plenty of fruit,
while the two 1993 Grand Crus were truly superb wines though very closed.
Bought 4 bottles of Clos du Roi '93 and 2 bottles of RSV '93.
Domaine Bruno Clair, Marsannay
Bruno Clair is one of the "Young Turkish" winemakers in Bourgogne (to which
age-group belong the other three top growers we met). He is the grandson of
the last owner of the famous Clair-Dau domaine, though thru the weird
inheritance laws of France, it was his aunt and not his father, who inherited
most of the Domaine. The Domaine Clair-Dau fell into shambles at her hands and
eventually was sold to Louis Jadot.
Bruno Clair, a tall and friendly guy (who speaks only French) has his home and
cellar in the town of Marsannay, on the northern tip of the Cote d'Or. He
inherited whatever his father left him. His domaine include some choice parts
in Chambertin Clos de Beze and in other super 1er Crus in Gevrey and Savigny.
Bruno has large holdings (6 ha.) in Marsannay itself, where he makes red,
white and rose Village wine. The white Marsannay is made from equal parts of
Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc. Another interesting wine (and better than the
Marsannay) is his white Morey-St. Denis made purely from Chardonnay. Bruno
Clair's 1er and Grand Cru holdings amount to about 5 ha.
We went down to his very cold and very dump cellar (I was lowered down by a
makeshift 'elevator' that is used to bring up the barrels!). The whole Domaine
(and the man and the house) look pretty rustic, though I mean that in the best
possible sense. Once downstairs, Bruno started to talk in speedy French, which
hampered our ability to understand everything.
We tasted some 1995 wines from the barrel, most of which have not yet undergo
the malolactic fermentation. Don't tell anybody, but this barrel tasting is
awful... I guess experienced tasters can tell a lot by tasting these embryonic
wines, but for me it is just fresh fruit and alcohol with no complexity at all.
On the issue of vintages, Bruno remarked dryly that a vintage is only good as
the wine in the bottle. He thinks that the 1989 was underrated by the press
because it fell between two great vintages. The 1988 is currently
disappointing as it lost most of its fruit by now but haven't gained much
else. The 1991 was underrated because it followed the great 1990. The 1993 is
a bit overrated as it followed the '91 and '92. All in all, vintages don't
count much with Bruno Clair (as they don't with most of the other growers).
Each vintage expresses something which to him is important to preserve.
After some two hours we emerged from the dump and cold cellar, and were
greeted outside by hot cheese-bread made by Bruno's wife.
Apart from the '95 wines, we tasted the following:
Gevrey - Clos du Fonteny 1994
Morey-St. Denis (rg, bl) 1994
Marsannay (rg, bl, rose) 1994
Chambertin Clos de Beze 1993
Savigny - Les Dominodes 1992, 1989
Gevrey - Le Cazetiers 1989
The Clos de Beze '93 is a truly great (though closed) wine, the Cazetiers is excellent,
the Dominodes is very charming and ready to drink.
Very reluctantly, Bruno Clair agreed to sell us one bottle of Cazetiers '89 and two
bottles of Savigny - Dominodes '90.
Domaine Ponsot, Morey-St. Denis
Certainly one of the most exalted and exclusive domaines in Burgundy. The
domaine's total holdings (both true ownership and crop-sharing lease) are less
than 10 hectar. But what 10 hectar! About 60% are in the Grands Crus vineyards
of Gevrey and Morey.
We were greeted by Laurent Ponsot, who took the actual winemaking from his
father some 10 years ago. Laurent is a man of the world. Speaks perfect
English and actually started his wine-life pretty late. He lived in Paris for
many years, has two masters degrees, traveled extensively and is in the
process of building his own WEB site!
His wine making philosophy, in his own
words, can be summed up as follows: "We are lazy, we don't interfere with
nature.", "My aim is to express the vintage and the terroir thru my wines, not
to express myself.", "Some people say we are inconsistent. To me this is the
greatest possible compliment". Laurent does not hold great respect for
journalists and wine critics, especially for you-know-who...
I asked him what percentage of new oak he uses for his great wines. He made a
zero figure with his fingers and explained that for the great cuvees they use
30-years-old barrels(!) that undergo a special very expensive process each
year.
As time went by we all found we have a common language and became really
friendly (a fact that was reflected in the bottles he kept on opening < g >).
The odd bird of Ponsot's wines is the Morey-St. Denis 1er Cru 'Mont Lusiants'.
A white wine made from Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and yes - Aligoté! I guess only
Ponsot can get away with calling something made from Aligoté a Bourgogne 1er
Cru (a delicious wine BTW). His really great stuff though are the Grand Cru
wines of Gevrey and Morey.
We tasted the following:
Clos de la Roche 1992
Griotte Chambertin 1992
Chapelle Chambertin 1992
Morey - Mt. Lusiants (bl) 1992
Chambolle - Les Charmes 1989
Chambertin 1989
Of the last wine, the Chambertin, Laurent's yearly production is all of 460
bottles! The annual allocation to the U.S are two full cases... I must
conclude he liked us a bit if he opened this bottle (which was by far the best
wine we tasted anywhere...).
The most he was willing to sell us were three bottles of Clos de la Roche
1992. (though for less than $40 a bottle!).
Domaine Daniel Rion, Premeaux
This is a modest domaine in terms of great Grand Cru vineyards, but it is the
most sophisticated and modern small operation we have seen. The domaine is now
run by Patrice Rion, an extremely friendly and modest winemaker who believes
in natural tending of his vineyards and great sophistication in the cellar.
The shining stainless-steel containers, tanks and pipes on the upper level,
contrast sharply with the individual wooden casks and barrels downstairs.
Patrice vinifies ten different 1er Crus from Chambolle, Vosne and Nuits, and
sets to show the individuality of each wine.
Rion also has an oddity. A white 1er Cru Nuits called 'Terres Blanches' which
he just started in 1994.
We tasted some 1995 wines from the barrel (which as usual I didn't like), then
we tasted the following:
Nuits - Terres Blanches (w) 1994
Chambolle - Les Charmes 1993, 1992, 1991
Vosne-Romanee 1993, 1991
Vosne - Les Beaux Monts 1993, 1992, 1991
Nuits-St. Georges 1993, 1991
Nuits - Haut Pruliers 1992, 1991
Nuits - Clos des Argilleres 1993, 1990
All the wines were too young, but all showed fruit, depth and complexity. The best wine
was clearly the '90 Clos des Argilleres.
Bought one each of Hauts Pruliers '89 and '90, Argilleres '90, Beaux Monts '90
and '91, and Terres Blanches '94.
Domaine G. Roumier, Chambolle-Musigny
Our last super domaine, run today by the charming, intelligent and extremely
friendly young Christophe Roumier. It was late afternoon in a sunny spring
weather. Instead of tasting in the cellar, Christophe put a table and chairs
in the beautiful garden they have, brought bottles and glasses and started to
pour. In a short while we were joined by his father, uncle and sister. Soon
enough we were all having a really good time.
Like Ponsot, Christophe believes in rigorous selection in the vineyard and
de-classifying if the resulting wine is not up to par.
We tasted a few wines only, but enjoyed the experience tremendously:
Chambolle-Musigny 1994, 1991
Morey - Clos de la Bussiere 1994, 1991
Bonnes Mares 1994, 1991
Naturally, the Bonnes Mares was the most serious wine, though ages from being ready.
We bought one bottle of Bonnes Mares '92 and two bottles of Clos de la
Bussiere '90.
yak@yakshaya.com
| Yak's Home Page |
Introducing Yak |
Yak's Rating Scale |
Yak's Burgundy Primer |
Tasting Notes Archive |
Wine & Food Adventures |