Bouchard has an impressing track record, from 1731 and onwards. They have a big cellar with old bottles, the oldest remaing one is 1846 Meursault Charmes. Funny enough I couldn´t order one...
I remember buying some 83´s and 85´s Bouchard wines when they were about ten years old and I liked them a lot. And some years back we arranged a tasting with bottles ranging back to 1969 from Beaune Gréves Vigne de l`Enfant Jésus, or Baby Jesus which is lovingly nicknaned, and they proved to be very, very fine, especially the 1969 and 1985.
But Bouchards really strong suit is their white wines, which this tasting confirmed. Invitation to tasting and lunch from Prime Wine Group - thanks!
Frédérick Weber, chief wine maker, presented the wines, in what he sad was in poor English, but that was not the case, he did great in presenting the wines, wine making and the history of Bouchard. In traditional Burgundy fashion, the reds were presented before the whites.
2014 Bourgogne La Vignée
This young Pinot has a light and fresh nose with some earthy and lingonberry notes.
The taste is fresh and gulpable without much complexity. Good for lighter dishes or as an aperitif, if you would like a red wine as such.
82p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Fleurie La Roche Muriers, Villa Ponciago
The Fleurie comes from Villa Ponciago, an estate that Bouchard owns. The nose is ripe and vibrant with a lovely raspberry nose with some bluberries chucked in. Very fresh and salivating. Liquorice and gravel. Very, very good.
The taste is cool and perky with notes of ripe raspberries, herbs and a tiny touch of tobacco. A long, elegant finish. This is really good, would love to have some of this.
89p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Gevrey-Chambertin
A somewhat withdrawn nose that displays notes of ripening raspberries, perfume and black earth when the glass is vigorously swirled. A bit of old style Pinot.
The taste is good and gravelly with notes of dry raspberries, minerals and dried herbs. A dry finish. Good.
85p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Beaune Gréves Vigne de l`Enfant Jésus
I have had a soft spot for the Baby Jesus wine from Bouchard since the tasting I mentioned above, and I have been drinking a bottle now and again. The 2013 version is a really good one, with a deep, spicy nose with notes of violets, strwaberries and forest floor. Refined, bordering on aristocratic.
The taste is young and focused with notes of ripe raspberries, clay and undergrowth. A long, statemanlike finish with a fine acidity. This will be drinking great 5-25 years from now. This is going on my got-to-get-me-some list.
92p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Volnay Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot
The Caillerets is a beauty, with a nose full of Oriental spices, rowanberries, gravel and herbs. Very finely tuned and with a great Volnay character.
The taste is young and tight with notes of sweet lingonberries, iron, gravel and herbs. A long, fine finish with a fine acidity.
91p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Le Corton
A deep, structured nose with notes of ripening raspberries, gravel, iron and fir. Very young still. Broad shouldered. Needs time.
The taste is as the nose, very structured and with a big framework that´s gonna need time to show the fine fruit that is underneath. Almost monolithic today. Wait at least 8+ years.
90p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Clos Vougeot
The Clos Vougeot sports a concentrated, deep nose with a lovely perfume and notes of red cherries, liquorice and spices. Very, very good. Expensive soap. Very fine.
The taste is broad and ripe with notes of sweet wild strawberries, liquorice and a hint of tobacco. A very long finish with broading tannins, that will need 6+ years to integrate. Really fine and promising.
93p (tasted 2016/05)
2012 Côte-de-Nuits-Villages
From a half bottle. The we turned to the 2012´s and we start with a nice Village wine, that has a medium deep nose with notes of ripe raspberries, smoke and some dirt. Very good.
The taste is fine and fruity with notes of lingonberries, dried raspberries and undergrowth. The nose is better, the finish subsides rather quickly. From a half bottle.
83p (tasted 2016/05)
2012 Beaune du Château Rouge 1er Cru
A rather anonymous nose at first but it deepens wit air and gives aromas of wild raspberries, minerals, steel and, after yet a while, some blueberries. Very good in a restrained way.
The taste is tight and spicy with notes of rowanberries, gravel and a hint of smoke. A long, sturdy finish with a fine mouthfeel. Wait 5+ years.
88p (tasted 2016/05)
2012 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Laviéres
A very fine, perfumed nose with notes of sweet lingonberries, chrushed rocks, smoke and forest floor. Elegant and fine. A graceful nose. Very, very good.
The taste is focused and fine with a very good, old school Pinot taste, with notes of raspberries, cherries, forest floor and root vegetables. Long and fine. A very good acidity. According to Frédérick, this Savigny can be cellared for a long time, apparantly 49 and 53 is in good shape now, and to be clear, it is 1949 and 1953 he was talking about...
89p (tasted 2016/05)
2012 Beaune Gréves Vigne de l`Enfant Jésus
From a magnum. The 2012 is a bit deeper on the nose than the 13 and has a lovely perfumed scent. Otherwise is shows a lot of similarities with the one year younger version. Very, very good.
The taste is, compared with the 13, a tad warmer and gives a more generous feeling. A very good acidity. This also makes my to-get-hold-of list.
92p (tasted 2016/05)
2012 Beaune Clos Saint-Landry
What to drink for lunch? What about a 6 liter bottle? With the stunning lunch this was poured. A wine I have never heard of or tasted. It comes from a 2 ha Monopole and showcases a young, steely lemon nose with additional notes of sea shells, white currants and honey melon. Very fine.
The taste is fine and fresh with lemon peel, grass, elderberries and some oak spiciness. A fine acidity. Long and rewarding. Very, very good.
90p (tasted 2016/05)
2014 Bourgogne La Vignée
After lunch it was time for the white line up. This young, vigorous Chardonnay was first and it has a young, pear like nose with some steel and chalk present. Very good in a light, upfront style.
The taste is cool, tight and steely with fine green apple flavours and some gravel.
85p (tasted 2016/05)
2014 Pouilly-Fuissé
A young, nice, flinty nose with notes of green apples, grass and lemon. A bit discreet in character but very good fruit.
The taste is young and perky with notes of white pears, flint and lemon cream. A medium long finish with a nice mouthfeel. Very good.
87p (tasted 2016/05)
2012 Beaune du Château Blanc 1er Cru
A young, elegant nose with notes of yellow pears, gravel, ripe lemons and some smoke. Very good in a earthy style.
The taste is more creamy than the nose leads you to believe, with fine notes of melon, lemon cream and perfume. A long, silky finish. Very, very good.
89p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Meursault Les Clous
From a magnum. A young, focused nose with notes of white currants, summer flowers, steel and matchbox. Concentrated yet lively. This is fine.
The taste is taut yet eleagnt with fine notes of grapefruit, flowers, chalk and lemon peel. A long, structured finish. Very fine indeed.
91p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Meursault Genevrières
The next Meursault in line sports a young, precisce nose with lovely notes of ripe William pears, dry caramel, assorted nuts and luxuary soap. Complex and rewarding, a truly fine wine.
The taste is seamless and handsome with notes of white currants, pears, chalk and almonds. The finish goes for over a minute and displays a fantastic acidity. Really fine.
93p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Meursault Perrières
What to say about the Perrières other than piling superlatives on top of each other? Some similarities with the Genevrières but the 15% new oak (same as with the Genevrières) lends a more supporting role and makes the impression of a weightier wine, yet with a stunning balance.
The taste is also more mouth filling, combining buttery white fruit with a gorgeous purity and clarity. A two minute long finish. To sum up, a must buy!
96p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Corton-Charlemagne
On to the Grand Cru´s! The CC exhibits a tight, concentrated nose with notes of dark lemons, blood grape, crushed rocks and even a hint of wet asphalt. Very deep. Need time.
The taste is a poster child for concentration and focus in a wine, but this will need time to show its true qualities. There is some great fruit behind the big framework. A great wine in the making, wait 6+ years (at least).
93p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Chevalier-Montrachet
This is a beauty of a wine. The nose is deep and generous with lovely notes of fresh white flowers, sweet lemons, expensive perfume and freshly cut chalk. Still young of course but here you can get a true sense of its inner qualities, and they are exquisite.
The taste is intense and concentrated with notes of lemon cream, dried flowers, chalk and white pears. The finish goes on forever and the acidity is of the best mouth cleansing kind. Just great!
95p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte
Bouchard makes between 3-4 barrels of this heavinly juice, but I couldn´t get Frèdèrick to send me one barrel... According to Frèdèrick, this was once upon a time a part of the Montrachet plot, but changes in maps etc, placed it in Chevalier-Montrachet.
The nose is hard to describe, it has an airy, old viney feeling about it, and breathtaking notes of grilled lemons, fir, freshly cut flowers and smoke. The concentration is of the charts, yet if feels weightless. I could sit and sniff this for hours.
The taste is the same, light as a feather yet with a intensity and focus that has to be tasted for you to believe. In my notebook I have scribbled down some profanity, because words escape me. Suffice to say, one of the best young Burgundy´s I have tasted. I´m thinking of selling one of my kidneys to afford buying one or two bottles...
99p (tasted 2016/05)
2013 Montrachet
Well, how about saving the best for last? Not in this case. But this is no slouch! Bouchard owns 0,88 ha in the hallowed piece of land that is Montrachet. From a magnum no less...
The nose is pure, a bit restrained but oh so beautiful, with notes of elderberries, lemon cream, matchbox and flint. A laser like focus in the fruit. Majestic. Really, really fine.
The taste combines purity, concentration and focus with a astonishing fruit, giving the impression of a complete wine. And it may very well be, once it has had 10+ years in the cellar, for today it displays a sort of regal restraint. But, boy, what a wine!
96p (tasted 2016/05)
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