Anne’s Comments
Are the 9 vintages all beautiful ?
After a serie of difficult vintages we were finally rewarded for our work. A beautiful sunny summer gave us an early vintage with harvest on September 10 and Minervois September 5. This year the style is quite similar for the two regions : high level of sugar, modest acidity, fine and round tannins.
Burgundy red wines are graceful with a sweet pretty length in mouth. They seem to be ready to drink on the fruit. It is a harmonious treat… A beautiful vintage but certainly of medium guard.
The white wines are splendid, generous, rich and nervous, with flower and honey notes.
We enhanced the oenotouristic visits from La Colombière with a larger selection of wine. And our guest house and the three cottages in Minervois have just been selected by Alaistair Sawdays guide.
journalists’ Comments
NEIL MARTIN JANVIER 2011
Hautes Côtes de Nuits 2009 : light fresh and airy on the nose, the palate has crisp black fruits on the entry, fine chalky tannins with a very well defined, rounded finish. Fine. 86
Bourgogne 2009 : this is much fuller on the nose to compared to the Hautes Cotes with dark cherry and just a hint of blueberry. The palate is medium-bodied with a lifted, citrus entry that expands across the mouth with simple but fleshy tart cherry fruit with just a hint of pepper. Fine. 88
Chambolle Musigny la Combe d’Orveau 2009 : this is fine, quite floral bouquet with touches of rose petal and violets accompanying the dark cherry fruit. Good definition – develops a gourmand element with time. The palate has a taut entry, a little brusque even, very linear with chalky tannins towards the more masculine, structured finish. 90
Vosne Romanée les Barreaux 2009 : this has a very pure quite creamy bouquet with red cherries and strawberry fruit. Very refined. The palate is very delicate on the entry but expands beatifully across the mouth. The Barreaux displays exquisite tannins that are very precise and pure, the lead to a “sparkling” red cherry finish. Beautiful. 92
Echezeaux les Loachausses 2009 : this has a lovely bouquet with raspberry, wild strawberry and superb underlying minéralité. Very expressive and feminine. The palate is finely balanced with silky tannins, wonderful poise and focus, with an understated, pepper-tinged sweet finish. 93
Clos Vougeot le Grand Maupertui 2009 : this has a more tertiary bouquet, a little reticent compared to Anne’s other 2009s. there is a hint of something exotic like Turkish Delight or coconut, but it does not want to come out at the moment. The palate is very well balanced, dominated by new oak at the moment (80% and the rest is one-year old) but with ample fruit on the finish. I would leave this 3-4 years to let that oak subsume into the wine. Fine. 92
Richebourg 2009 : the Richebourg demands some coaxing from the glass, but eventually reveals some lovely dark cherry fruit, a touch of bergamot and fresh apricot, with tangible anderlying minéralité. The palate has a sweet, precocious entry reinded in by the citric thread of acidity. Lovely balance and finesse that belies the power that comes through on the finish. 96
Hautes Côtes de Nuits Cuvée Marine 2009 : this has a lively, quite intense bouquet with tropicana and freshly cut lime. the palate is well balanced with a ripe, waxy entry not dissimular to a Southern Rhône, with coconut and a touch ou guava towards the finish. Fine . 88
LEA AND SANDEMAN janvier 2011
Clos Vougeot le Grand Maupertui 2009 : lean intense strawberry nose, floral too. Medium-bodied but concentrated and tight, with fine acidity, a sleek texture, and a long lifted finish. Effortlessly elegant and classy. Drink 2014-2025 18
Clive Coates février 2012
Clos Vougeot : good colour. Rich, luscious, potentially velvety nose. Fresh, ripe and generous. Medium-full body. Good ripe, classy tanins. Lots of vigour and lots of depth. Harmonious and very long on the palate. Excellent.
Richebourg : good colour. The nose is rather more closed in than the wine above. But it has more volume and quite a lot more tannin. Fullish body. Very lovely succulent fruit. Splendid energy. Needs time. A great wine.
Jancis Robinson Novembre 2012
Hautes Côtes de Nuits Cuvée Marine 2009 : Deep gold. Very lifted, cool, savoury/lemony nose. Much racier than most 2009 white burgundies, and richer than this bottling usually is. A most attractive lemon sherbet note but real breadth on the palate. Smocky top note. No obvious oak. Lovely curreent drinking though I would’nt hold it for that much longer. Nicely faint chalky chew on the end. bone dry and sophisticated. Not trying to be a Meursault, presented on its own terms. Quite persisitent. 17.
VINTAGES