Amazing red Burgundy QPR: 2010 A.F. Gros Beaune 1er Cru Les Boucherottes

I just have to get this wine out to you. On my way back from work yesterday I stopped by my local wine shop and bought a bottle of the 2010 A.F. Gros Beaune 1er Cru Les Boucherottes. I haven't had it before and haven't heard much about the producer. All I saw was a very reasonable priced 1er cru from Beaune from the amazing 2010 vintage.

There are currently 4 Gros domaines in Burgundy. This is a result of retirement of one generation and dividing the vineyards up so that every child gets a vineyard. The Domaine A.F. Gros today makes wine from Pommard, Beaune, Vosne Romane and Chambolle Musigny.

Tasting note on the 2010 A.F. Gros Beaune 1er Cru Les Boucherottes

It is a bit closed on the nose not giving that much, but that is probably only due to the lack of air this was given. The notes I pick up are red berries in form of raspberries and strawberries.

On the palate you get hit by delicious red berries, with the raspberries continuing from the nose on to the palate. There is a floral component there as well and mineralty. The finnish again has great fruit, florality and the minerality gets more focused. With air, redcurrants get more obvious and really brings the wine to the next level.

The wine has a great acidity, a smooth feel and great transitions from beginning to end. There is good length on the finnish. 92+ points

I need you to go out and find this wine. I got it at $50 and I bet you can find it at even better prices. This wine is just so yummy. Is it the most complex wine ever? No. Is a great wine that gives ou a lot of pleasure? Yes! Seek it out!

2007 Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

Domaine Christian Moreau has it's history going back to 1814, but it wasn't until the 2002 vintage that Christian Moreau's family gained the right to exploit own vineyards and make and market the wines belonging to their domaine.

The Domaine has a total of 12 hectares of vineyards in the Chablis area of Burgundy. It holds areas within the following vineyards:

• Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, Clos des Hospices
• Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
• Chablis Grand Cru Valmur
• Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir
• Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot
• Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon
• Chablis
• Petit Chablis

Christian Moreau has about 100 acres of land within the Grand Cru vineyard of Valmur with the average vine age being 50 years. The wine is aged in 55% stainless vats and 45% in barrels.

Tasting note for the 2007 Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur

I get ocean, minerality and citrus. The wine has the weight you expect from a grand cru. The mouthfeel is mooth with green apples and a nice citrus driven acidity. There's good length on the finnish with salt water, minerality and tropical flavours. 90+ points

This is a good wine. It has the weight and the length that you expect from a grand cru Chablis, but there is really not that much more. It delivers, but it does not blow me away.

2004 Chateau Musar Hochar Pere et Fils

I've been facinated by Chateau Musar since the beginning of my wine interest for three reasons: The fact that it is from Lebanon and the QPR. The Chateau Musar was established 80 years ago by Gaston Hochar. The estate was established in a castle from th 19th century in Ghazir, about 20 miles north of Beirut.

The estate makes both red and white wines. The red wine grape variatals in the vineyards are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsaut, Grenache, Mourvedre og Carignan. The 2004 Hochar is a blend of 50% cinsault, 25% cabernet sauvignon, 25% carignan. The alcohol level is 13.5%.

Tasting note for the 2004 Chateau Musar Hochar Pere et Fils


On the nose: some alcohol, dry plum. On the palate: some strawberries, plum and pepper. Juicy plum finnish. Good length. Actually quite balanced. Southern Rhone style, but the balanced kind. 89 points

 This is for me a very Southern Rhone style of wine. But while I tend to find many Southern Rhone wines to be a bit too ripe, lacking freshness and have unbalanced alcohol, this is not the case for this wine. It has fresh fruit and good balance.

If you are in to this style of wine I highly recommend that you try to seek it out. Chateau Musar has a pretty good distribution so it should be possible to find.

2007 La Gravette de Certan

The La Gravette de Certan is the second wine of Vieux Chateau Certan. The Chateau's vineyards are situated close to the church in Pomerol with nabours such as Petrus and Certan de May. The vineyard is 14 hectares and consists of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.

The 2007 La Gravette de Certan has 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc. The alcohol comes in at 13%

Tasting note for the 2007 La Gravette de Certan

 Back currants and leather on the nose. Very good mouthfeel. Fresh blackberries and black currants. Some leather notes as well. I get some oak on the finnish but its well integrated with the delicious berry flavours. At the end  the berries lean more towards red berries. Nice length on this medium bodied wine. The tannins are well integrated. 91 points

This is a great Bordeaux considering the price point. I see than Huon Hooke gave it a 93. I would say that is a bit high, but I totally agree with him that this is a hidden treasure. I have 3 more bottles of this in my cellar and I'm super excited.

If you're into Bordeaux, but kinof sick of the prices you need to pay for good wine, this is the wine for you. It's drinking well right now, but could easily last for 5 more years. Not sure if it will get much better though.

At Sotheby's Wine you can get a bottle for $34.95. That's a steal!

2010 Giardin Saint Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly

It's been embarrasingly quit on this blog over the Christmas break. That doesn't mean I havn't enjoyed wine, ot in some cases had wine and not enjoyed it that much. I have many tasting notes saved on my iPhone, so I hope I will have wime to get them all out to you soon.

I've posted a tasting note on this blog earlier of the 2010 Hubert Lamy Saint Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly, a wine that I liked very much. As I said then, St. Aubin is a region within Burgundy where you can find some good values.

Vincent Giardin took over his family's 2 hectares of vineyards in 1980. Today the domaine has 20 hectares in 42 different parcels around Burgundy. Vincent Giardin har lately been troubled with his back so his wife has taken more control over the domaine, but the wine making philosophy has so far been kept relatively the same.

The Giardin wines are often great value wines. It is not a top producer, but it's a good bet for a tuesday night wine.

Tasting note for the 2010 Vincent Giardin Saint Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly

Very tight nose right after opening. Apples, honeydew melon and pineapples. Sweetness on the nose and oak (very butter popcorn). Apples og kataloupe melon. A good portion oak on the palate as well, especially on the finnish. Butter popcorn on the palate as well  A bit to heavy and oaky. Lacking balance. 82 points

Although I tend to find the Giardin wines good value, this one was a miss. The oak here is just crazy. I find that Giardin often manages to balance the oak, but not in this case.

I had to google this a bit after tasting it to see what others have written about it. What I find is that even though everyone notices the oak here, there is some variations in whether they find it balanced ot not. Maybe there is some bottle variation, but my guess is that even with a great bottle this wine will be a bit overoaked. Perhaps with a good bottle (assuming this one wasn't) I could have given it 85-86. 

Either way, I do think there are better wines to buy than this. For example you can try out the Puligny Montrachet les Enseigneres from the same producer. I've had it in other vintages and it has been good.

2010 Maximin Grünhaüser Riesling Qba Feinherb

The Maximin Grünhaüser estate lies within the Mosel region in Germany, a region probably best known for its sweet Rieslings. Maximim has three vinyards in Mosel, and all three are monopoles, meaning that Maximin Grunhauser is the sole owner of the vineyeards. The three sites are as follows:

• Abtsberg: 14 hectares
• Herrenberg - 19 hectares
• Bruderberg - 1 hectare

The 2010  Maximin Grünhaüser Riesling Qba Feinherb has 11% alcohol, 19 g/l sugar content and the acidity is 8.9 g/l.

Tasting note for the 2010 Maximin Grünhaüser Riesling Qba Feinherb

Minerals and somebanana on the nose. Green apples and the minerality continues on the palate. I also find hints of banana as I did on the nose. The sweetness is balanced out with acidity, but I would actually prefer a little bit more acidity.The finnish starts off with minerality, but the apples take over. Quit long finnish for a wine at this level. 89 points

 This is a good wine given the price point. What strikes me the most is the length on the finnish. It is not super long, but given the price it is actually longer than expected.

 

2010 Taupenot-Merme Gevrey Chambertin

Hey everyone,

I am so sorry for the lack of updates on this blog lately. There's been sp much to do at work so I haven't had time to write here. It is my attention to update this blog way more often than what I have done lately. I apologize for this. That said, let's talk about some wine!

Even though Taupenot-Merme has been making wine in Merey St. Denis since the 18th century, most of the voneyards have been bought after WW2. Today Romain is the winemaker at Taupenot Merme. He is the 7th generation og winemakers in his family. In total, Taupenot-Merme only has 13.2 hectares of vineyards so the yearly production usually is around 70-75 000 bottles.

Romain, the winemaker, tends to use between 25-40% new oak barrels.

Tasting note for the 2010 Taupenot-Merme Gevrey Chambertin

Red berries on the nose with the dominate flavours being cherries, floral notes and some raspberries.. Medium bodied palate. Love the lightness on the palate and the silkfactor. Cherries, raspberries and soil . Hints of oak, but this shows that new oak can be well integrated even when the wine is young.

Good finnish where dirt flavours come in more strongy. Also get som pine needles. Firm tannins but absolutely drinkable right now. 91 points 

Wow wow wow. This is just great and is the definition of why I love Burgundy: red, fresh berries, not overripe, nice acidity and the floral and dirt flavours. This could age for some years, but its worth opening one or two right now.

This is the first TTaupenot-Merme 2010 I've tried. I've also bought some premier crus and put in my cellar, but I think it will be hard to not open some of them young. Given the prices of Burgundy these days, Taupenot-Merme is actually a really good value. Look for the 2010 vintage.