Millésime 2010

Discovery in the Cote de Nuits by Robert Whitley on Creators.com - A Syndicate Of Talent - March 27, 2012.

 

ROBERT WHITLEY   Robert Whitley writes a syndicated wine column for the Creators Syndicate and is Publisher of the online wine magazine, Wine Review Online. He has been a wine columnist for more than two decades, beginning with his original "On Wine" column in the San Diego Union-Tribune in 1991.   Robert also serves as Director of five major wine competitions in the United States, and has participated in numerous wine competition in the U.S. and abroad, including the Concours Mondial, the Chardonnay Challenge and the annual wine competition at Vinitaly.   Robert also has been a radio host and a reporter, columnist or editor at many top U.S. newspapers, including Newsday, the Washington Post and the San Diego Union.   He was the founding Director of the Monterey Wine Competition in 1994, and today oversees the San Diego International Wine Competition, the Critics Challenge, the Winemaker Challenge, the Sommelier Challenge and the inaugural Mainly Meritage International Wine Competition.

 

BEAUNE, France — Once upon a time, a hefty selection of Burgundy was a staple of virtually every fine wine shop in America. Burgundy was the benchmark for any wine made from pinot noir or chardonnay, so much so that winemakers from the New World hardly ever missed an opportunity to characterize their style of chardonnay or pinot as "Burgundian."

 

Of course, few of them were, for Burgundy's aromas and flavors, the structure and textures of its wines, are driven as much by the unique soils and climate of the region as they are by the hand of the winemaker.

 

Red Burgundies are generally firmer when young and significantly more tannic than New World pinots, while white Burgundies tend to be less fleshy and exhibit less fruit and more minerality than the chardonnays of the New World.

 

At some point, perhaps a decade or two ago, the "Burgundian" style, or profile, became less attractive to wine consumers drawn to the ripe, fleshy, creamy pinots and chardonnays that came into fashion in California and Oregon in the 1990s.

 

As the pendulum swings back the other way and more and more enthusiasts seem to be searching for wines that exhibit structure, finesse and minerality, particularly pinots of that ilk, now seems like an appropriate time to take a peek at some of the producers in Burgundy who are making the wines that customers want, and at a very high level.

 

My observations are drawn from tastings last week during Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne, a week-long spin through the vineyards and cellars of Burgundy for members of the professional wine trade and wine media.

 

The Grands Jours is conducted every two years. The wines presented this year were primarily from the 2009 and 2010 vintages, both of which were very good, although very different. The growing season of 2009 was warmer and produced softer, rounder wines that will be ready to drink earlier. The 2010 vintage was cooler and produced more classically structured wines that will age beautifully.

 

In one of a random series of columns on Burgundy that I will offer over the next couple of months, today's Wine Talk focuses on the red wines of the Cote de Nuits. I have further sharpened the focus by concentrating on producers I either didn't know or hadn't tasted often, or in some time. My tastings in the Cote de Nuits were all about discovery.

 

Domaine Tortochot, Gevrey-Chambertin — The domain of Chantal and Michel Tortochot offers a house style that runs through all of the wines save the grand cru Mazis-Chambertin. The wines are feminine, delicate and sophisticated, the personification of Burgundian elegance. The standouts were the aforementioned 2010 Mazis-Chambertin (95 points), 2010 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru (93) and 2010 Gerey-Chambertin 1er Cru Champeaux

 

 

Grand Jours de Bourgogne 2012
Tasting the Perfect 2010 Burgundy Vintage - April 2, 2012 by Christopher Massie

 

Having now sampled roughly 300 examples from the 2010 vintage in Burgundy – most during my recent tour of the region to attend the Grand Jours de Bourgogne 2012 – it is unequivocally clear: 2010 is the greatest modern vintage for Burgundy I’ve personally encountered. In my first report on this vintage, I wrote:

 

"Having visited Burgundy more than two dozen times since first stepping foot in these respected vineyards in the 1980s, I have personally experienced many of this generation’s “greatest vintages ever produced” – first hand. Sampling literally thousands of the Cote D’Or’s singular examples, I have compiled volumes of notes spanning more than 25 years. During this span since the 1980s, I have tasted, written about and purchased no less than a half dozen vintages that could have been (and were) declared a perfect vintage (and for what it’s worth, I even worked the harvest for two of these stellar vintages, including 1990). Moreover, I’ve also experienced at least that many additional harvests where the vignerons and press were at odds with one another over declaring those vintage worthy of the “perfection” moniker. And then there comes a vintage such as 2010. Critics, wine-makers, consumers – it appears EVERYONE is beating a path to the nearest outlet for an opportunity to taste and order these wines. The wines of 2010 – and I’m primarily focusing on several of the reds in this report, yet the whites are equally superb – at this point in their evolution, outshine the 1985s, and 1989s. They outshine the 1990s, and 1993s, the 1995s, 1996s and 1999s. These 2010s outperform the 2002s, 2003s, the 2005s (yes, even the great 05s), as well as any vintage since those world-stopping efforts. In short, there simply isn’t a vintage in modern history that compares or competes with the 2010s."

 

And today, as I publish part I of this vintage round up, I stand by my initial summary. If you haven’t yet lined up your allocations – or if you don’t have a friend in the business – you might want to consider getting your tail off the sidelines!

 

Domaine Tortochot - 2010 Clos de Vougeot
Medium deep colors of pure red ruby, with a nice crystalline quality here. Farming purely according to agriculture biodynamic produces wines of classical aromatic profiles Chez Tortochot: the Clos Vougeot 2010 offers nuances of freshly turned earth, forest floor and menthol married to crushed and macerated blue pinot fruit. On the palate, there’s purity to the earthy, mineral infused quality of the wine that takes center stage to the fruit. This is a large scaled effort, yet the tannins are well integrated, suggesting patience will be well-rewarded. 93 points

 

 

Burgundy Comes to San Francisco: Some Tasting Notes April 29, 2012 - http://www.vinography.com

 

ALDER YARROW   Since January of 2004, Alder Yarrow has been publishing Vinography.com, where he writes daily about wines, the wine world, and good restaurants around the globe. San Francisco Magazine has called Alder "the wine world's brightest cyberstar," and Vinography is widely acknowledged to be the world's leading wine blog. The site, which Alder began as a way to collect his own personal notes about wine and food, has garnered praise from Food and Wine Magazine, Bon Appetit Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, The LA Times,The Washington Post, FastCompany, and 7x7 Design Magazine, among others.   In both his writing, as well as his selected postings of news and miscellany from the world of wine, Alder tries to create an alternative to the traditional sources and styles of wine journalism, partially by focusing on the stories, the people, and the passion behind wine from a decidedly down-to-earth perspective. Vinography was recently honored as the Best International Wine Blog in a global competition held in conjunction with the Salon de Vins de la Loire. Alder lives in San Francisco with his wife Ruth.

 

It's been two years since I've been to Burgundy and I miss it terribly. And not just because I haven't had my fix of Delice de Pommard, the utterly addictive soft cow's milk cheese that is encrusted with whole mustard grains. Burgundy is magical, and so are its wines. There's nothing like winding your way through the back roads of the region to little towns like Pouilly-Fuisse (pictured at right), stopping to step down into ancient cellars and taste vibrant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with people whose lives are suffused with wine and the soil in which it grows.

 

If you're like me, you don't get to drink as much Burgundy wine as you might like. Not for lack of desire, but mostly for lack of funds. While a humble Bourgogne Blanc or Bourgogne Rouge are relatively easy to afford, and not horribly difficult to find here in the U.S., provided you have access to a specialty wine retailer, cru-level wines are a different matter altogether. I'd drink a hell of a lot of Premier Cru Chassagne Montrachet if I could, but I'm not yet at the point in my life where my everyday drinking wines can cost me $80 a bottle. And forget ordering a nice bottle at most restaurants, unless it's a special occasion.

 

All of which is a way of saying that as someone interested in constantly educating my palate on the wines of the world, I always jump at the chance to taste more Burgundy, no matter what the circumstance.

 

That's why I played hookey from work for a couple of hours last Monday when the BIVB (Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne, the main marketing association for Burgundy) rolled into town with fifty or sixty producers to show off the latest (2009 and 2010) vintages to members of the trade and media. One of the greatest perks of having been at this blogging thing for a while is  getting the opportunity to have a press pass to great events such as this.

 

Held under the skylights of one of San Francisco City Hall's atriums, the tasting was very well put together, and surprisingly sparsely attended by the trade. The room was quite abustle at the hight of the tasting, but far less so than, say, the average ZAP Zinfandel or Rhone Rangers tasting. Hell, I've seen busier Riesling tastings.

 

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Nor were the other folks who were there. I was perfectly happy to stroll my way around a beautiful space, sampling wines that ranged from very good to utterly fantastic.

 

While I consider myself a die hard fan of California wines and wine regions, I must admit that the average quality of these wines was definitely higher than I would find at a similarly sized California tasting. I'm proud to have catholic tastes when it comes to wine -- more so than many -- perhaps I do lean a little towards the Old World in my preferences. But perhaps, too, it was simply nice to taste a lot of Chardonnay that wasn't viscously ripe and treated with too much wood, and a lot of Pinot Noir with high levels of acidity.

 

In any case, it was a fantastic tasting, and not just because they were serving Delice de Pommard along with freshly sliced baguettes. A nice selection of producers, from larger negociants to tiny little domaines were there, and many were pouring some of their better wines.

 

I'm pressed for time this week and weekend, so I'm not writing up every wine I tasted. Here are some of the highlights.

 

RED WINES WITH A SCORE BETWEEN 9 AND 9.5
2010 Domaine Tortochot Gevrey-Chambertin "Lavaux-St-Jacques"
2009 Domaine Tortochot Charmes-Chambertin
2009 Domaine Tortochot Mazis-Chambertin

 

RED WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9
2010 Domaine Tortochot Gevrey Chambertin "Les Corvées"
2010 Domaine Tortochot Gevrey Chambertin "Champerrieres"
2010 Domaine Tortochot Gevrey Chambertin "Champeaux"

 

 

Tasting at Domaine Tortochot by Karen Ulrich on April 9, 2012 - http://blog.tedwardwines.com

 

Last week, we published our first piece on the journey to Burgundy, beginning with our trip to Domaine Tortochot, and now it's time to follow with some tasting notes. After walking through the 2011 vintage, sampling from the cellar barrels, we moved to the tasting room upstairs to taste from the bottles.

 

Domaine Tortochot Gevrey-Chambertin "Les Jeunes Rois" 2010
From the lieu-dit, "Les Jeunes Rois", in the Commune Appellation of Gevrey-Chambertin, this is a vineyard with 30-year-old vines. The nose here is wild–wild horses, spiced forest undergrowth, twigs and bramble fruit; notes that deliver on the palate too. The fruit is light, and the acidity is distant star bright, with tannins that express a minerality that lingers.

 

Domaine Tortochot Gevery-Chambertin "Les Corvees" 2010
Another lieu-dit from the Commune Appellation of Gevery-Chambertin, the vines of "Les Corvees" are 50-years-old. Earthy with light wildflower notes, the fruit here offers acidity that positions the fruit's freshness front and center and long on the palate.

 

Domaine Tortochot Gevery-Chambertin 1er Cru “Lavaux St Jacques” 2010
Located upslope from the village, as a parcel between two hills, “Lavaux St Jacques” totals 9.53ha.  The microclimate here is slightly cooler than in the nearby Grand Cru vineyards; and the later maturation of the parcel yields wines with a fine, feminine style.   At the time of tasting, Chantal’s 2010 was closed tight, like bud in early spring, rendering the red fruit a little tart with light tea tannins that were balanced by the wine’s floral delicacy and mineral undertones.

 

Domaine Tortochot Gevery-Chambertin 1er Cru “Les Champeaux” 2010
Residing north of “Lavaux St Jacques”, “Les Champeaux” totals 6.68ha of vines that grow on rocky, terraced soils.  Producing more masculine wines than its nearby neighbor, the fruit in the glass here is certainly riper, though still wild, and rich, with fresh acidity and integrated tannins.  Near the finish, there are spicy notes that linger alongside juicy fruit, long after the wine makes its exit.

 

Domaine Tortochot Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2010
Chantal owns 0.57 of this Grand Cru vineyard, which totals 30.83ha when combined with its neighboring Mazoyeres-Chambertin.  Gently sloped, the soil consists of somewhat decomposed limestone with gravel and stones.  A beautiful nose, the 2010 shows purple flowers that sit close to the ground in a deeply wooded forest.  In the mouth, there’s a perfect marriage of floral notes and fruit with soft tannins that sit upon a dark,rich soil; yet the finish is lady-like and chalky.

 

Domaine Tortochot Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2009
The 2009 is rustic, when compared to the 2010.  Floral with a silky viscosity, the wine shows an anise spice that precedes the wild fruit, which is bolder than the 2010.  The finish here is kissed with spice and carried by the wine’s bright acidity.

 

Domaine Tortochot Chambertin Grand Cru 2010
Of the 12.9ha of this Grand Cru vineyard, which is divided into 55 separate parcels, Chantal owns 0.31ha. Sitting at an altitude of 275-300 meters, the site is gently sloped with limestone based soils.  Incredibly feminine, this is a wine that’s age-worthy, but also suited for drinking young.  Producing wines that are generally more feminine in style than others in Gevery-Chambertin (and in Chambertin Grand Cru, which generally yields more masculine wines), Chantal achieves this effect by punching down less and pumping over more, which is a much gentler process.  Floral with a chalky minerality, the 2010 is quite elegant, with raspberry and cherry fruit, and lightly spiced tea-leaf tannins that turn chalky on the finish when accompanied by the wine’s lingering acidity.

 

Domaine Tortochot Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2010
Located in Vougeot, Clos de Vougeot, which is 50.59ha, totals more than 80% of the vineyards in the commune.  Of this total, Chantal owns seven sweet rows, or 0.21ha, of the largest Grand Cru in Côte de Nuits.  Producing wines that are known for their minerality, Clos de Vougeot has such a wide range of soil structures and drainage, with 100 different parcels that are owned by 80 proprietors, that notes of minerality might be one of the only unifying factors.  Chantal’s Grand Cru shows beautiful stones on the nose and palate, with red fruit and anise, which Georgia described as red licorice.  The minerality here is so omniscient that it dominates the fruit, which peaks mid-palate and is carried to the finish by chalky tannins.  This is clearly a wine with great aging potential…

 

      

 

 

Dégustation Primeurs Millésime 2010 organisée par le syndicat viticole de Gevrey-Chambertin par Patrick Maclart du blog bourgogne-wineblog.com - Novembre 2011

 

Grand Cru "Mazis-Chambertin" – Domaine Tortochot
**** Nez réservé, tellurique, fruits noirs, conforme à son cru. C'est intense et profond. Bonne bouche, belle vinosité (grande qualité de ce vin), du caractère mais malgré tout de la finesse (encore un Mazis). Long, puissant et intense en finale et rétro.

 

Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru "Lavaux Saint-Jacques" – Domaine Tortochot
****(*) Beau nez vibrant, spectaculaire de pinot, fumée, tellurique, bien ressemblant à son cru, caillouteux. Très belle attaque vive, trame acide impeccable, très belle concentration. Du vin en milieu de bouche, finale tonique. Très belle bouteille. 

 

Gevrey Chambertin "Champerrier – vieilles vignes" – Domaine Tortochot
***(*) Très beau nez fumé, marqué par l'élevage, terrien, beau ! La bouche est plus fluide que je ne le supposais, et c'est un peu décevant. La finale est soyeuse, peut-être un peu trop. C'est consensuel, et ça justifie une note un tantinet sévère.