By Anto Coates
Domaine Armand Rousseau has perhaps the most enviable holdings in
Gevrey-Chambertin. The domaine is also a famously
consistent producer and hence one to look forward to in the troubled 2007 red
vintage. As has become traditional in our Regional Wines tastings, we compared
the wines to the 2008 ‘Calvert’ Pinot Noirs from Central
Otago, which are made in the Burgundian model, with several
producers having stakes in the same vineyard. Just as you can compare the
Chambertins of different producers, so too can you compare the Calverts from Craggy Range,
Felton Road
and Pyramid Valley.
In attendance we had some of the luminaries of the local
pinot noir scene, including Larry McKenna from Escarpment and Jannine Rickards
from Ata Rangi. Both these vineyards have shown a particular interest in
studying the styles of the great domaines like Drouhin and Rousseau, and no
doubt their wines are the better for it. In fact a box of sample glasses of
each of the wines went glad-wrapped back over the hill for Clive Paton at Ata
Rangi (who couldn’t make it).
On the night the wines were served blind in four flights.
The first was the three Calverts, while the second was the Gevrey Chambertin
Village and the Premier
Cru ‘Le Cazetiers’. Flight three was the four ‘lesser’ Grand Cru: the Clos de
la Roche, Charmes Chambertin, Mazy Chambertin (as they spell it) and Ruchottes
Chambertin. Flight four was the Gevrey Clos Saint Jacques, the Clos de Beze and
the Chambertin. All the wines were decanted 2.5-3 hours before the tasting.
Flight One: Calverts
The comment was made and widely agreed on that the Calverts
were more similar in 2008 than they had been in the past. The group had
difficulty picking the identities of the Calverts, with perhaps the Craggy Range
the only one that betrayed its origins to some. Wine one (Pyramid Valley, 18.0)
was a deep ruby red, with a nose of vanilla, cherry and feijoa. It seemed very
oaky to me and many considered it to be a nice but fairly simple wine. I did
enjoy the length though, hinting that it had good cellaring potential. Wine two
(Craggy Range) was a slightly lighter red ruby
with a kind of appley tang on the palate. It showed notes of bacon fat
complexity too, possibly showing heavy extraction and I gave it a solid
18.0+/20. The third wine (Felton Road, 19.0-/20) was the preferred wine of the
group, showing attractive youth through primary fruit with the right amount of
toasty oak.
Flight Two: Village
and Premier Crus
In contrast to the Calverts, these were not too difficult to
identify. They seemed to conform to type: the Village (17.5) was well made but
simple, with whipped strawberries and impeccable balance and the Le Cazetiers
(18.5-) had wonderful complexity (if a little leafiness), with what I called "a
clover meadow slightly tainted by the smell of a distant dead sheep.” It may
sound off-putting but the slight funk was as a voice half-heard, teasing your
ears – intriguing not intrusive. From the show of hands, everyone in the group
was able to distinguish the gap in quality between these two wines.
Flight Three: The
Grand Crus
I think overall this was my favourite flight and it
certainly provoked the most discussion.
Three Grand Crus from Gevrey-Chambertin, including the famous Ruchottes,
and the lone representative from Morey-St-Denis, Clos de la Roche. Wine 6 (Clos
de la Roche, 19/20) was my preferred wine of the flight, though I was in the
minority. I saw it as near-perfect pinot: restrained, beautifully light and effortlessly
powerful. Others in the group more experienced than me saw it as lacking
substance and were disappointed to find that it was the Clos de la Roche.
Discrepancies seem de rigeur in
tastings like this: Burgundy
often walks a fine line between ethereality and flakiness and only time
will tell which this one was. Wine 7 (the Ruchottes-Chambertin, 18.5+) was a
dark ruby wine, and I was particularly struck by its masculinity and
persistence. I felt it a touch too linear to really excite me, but it is still
very young and that structure could prove to be its saving grace in the long
run. Wine 8 (the Mazy-Chambertin, 18.5) was the only one that no one picked as
their preferred wine of the flight. It was light ruby, with a kind of power and
a couple of rough edges, but seemed to me to be trying too hard, if an
inanimate object has such motivations. It did have beautiful balance though so
I see this as one to look at in a few years time. Wine 9 (the Charmes
Chambertin, 17.5+/20) was infinitely preferred by the group, gaining 70% of the
vote. It must be noted that my assessment was at odds with the group. I found
it had a beguiling nose, with plum, cherry and coconut, while many of the
tasters saw layers and layers of fruit and what one called ‘puppy fat’ indicating
that it would grow into something wonderful. The reason for my dissension was a
discomforting sourness on the front of the palate, which I thought could well
have been brett, in that it dried the palate out a bit for me and made it
appear older. One other taster saw it the same way, but it won far more friends
than enemies in the final round up.
Flight Four: The Big
Names
Wine 10 (Clos de Beze, 19/20) was the second most preferred
wine of the flight. At first I found it showed some VA and even some dental
surgery notes, but then that seemed to dissipate and reveal a wine of great
spice and depth, with length and volume. Wine 11 (Chambertin, 19/20) had
perhaps the nose of the night, with fragrant rosemary and dark fruit, but the
palate foiled its assault on perfection with a less than generous offering,
before building again to a strong, rich finish. Wine 12 (Clos St Jacques, 19.5)
was the preferred wine, getting 55% of the vote, despite the fact that it is
really only a Premier Cru, due to an anomaly in the classification. It had a
dark ruby complexion with a delicious bramble nose, a concentrated, silky
palate and a slightly warming glow all the way down. The finish lasts for
upwards of 30 seconds.
After the relative disappointment of the 2007 Drouhins a few
months ago, it appears the Rousseaus have made a better fist of the difficult
vintage, and the big name appellations showed their class. I’d like to thank all those who have continued to support our fine
wine tasting program in 2010, and I’m looking forward to opening some more
wines with you all in 2011.