Tuesday, March 27, 2018

BOUCHARD Père & Fils (Beaune) -- 2015s Tasted from Bottle



My earlier reviews of many Bouchard 2015s, mostly from cask samples, are here and here. (Continue reading here.)

Sunday, March 11, 2018

BOUCHARD Père & Fils (Beaune) -- 2016 Part III: Whites Tasted from Bottle and Barrel/Tank Samples

Bouchard generally harvested the Chardonnays after the Pinot Noirs in 2016. More on vintage conditions is located here. 

Malolactic fermentations generally were a little later than usual because the cold winter of 2016-17 cooled the cellar. As a rule, they began between January and March and finished in mid-June. Barrels were rolled (bâtonnage) two or three times.

As with other top white producers, the wines are very good here and worthy of your interest. (Continue reading here.)

Friday, March 9, 2018

BOUCHARD Père & Fils (Beaune) -- 2016 Part II: Côte de Nuits Reds Tasted from Barrel and Tank Samples

Details on the vintage are here. (Continue reading here.)

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

BOUCHARD Père & Fils (Beaune) -- 2016 Part I: Côte de Beaune Reds Tasted from Cask and Tank Samples

Harvesting began on 21 September; it finished, on the Côte de Nuits, on 6 October. The grapes were in excellent health, but triage was needed nonetheless to eliminate those second and third generation grapes that had not fully ripened. Overall, crop was 50% off a full vintage, the smallest since 2003; in addition to the frost, mildew seriously held down the crop, and in some areas vines were blocked by the drought in the second half of the summer. 

Vinification varied according to the level of yields. Where there were low yield vines and concentrated grape bunches, maceration was eight to ten days and the crush was moderated to limit extraction. Where yields were normal and bunches larger, the maceration was ten to thirteen days. There was no pigeage (punching down).

For the red wines, malolactic fermentations generally were early.

Beginning with the 2016 vintage, Bouchard will have a new label. Instead of the current label, which is quite individual and therefore easily identifiable at a distance, the new one is understated and almost generic in appearance. (Continue reading here.)

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Domaine FOLLIN-ARBELET (Aloxe-Corton) -- 2016s Tasted from Barrel and a Pair of 2015s from Bottle

Franck Follin-Arbelet said that losses from the frost meant that he did only about 30-35% of a full harvest. The harvesting began on 22 September. There was no red Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru in 2016, and the Aloxe-Corton and  Aloxe-Vercots also suffered badly. However,  following on the frost, there were no problems with mildew, and as a result, there was no need to do a triage. Whole clusters were used in about 10-20%, he said, but more for volume than anything else. 

Malolactic fermentations were late, many finishing in spring, but others dragged on until September.

As usual, there is very good quality here, and the best values probably come from the premier cru wines. The wines show the freshness of the vintage, a contrast to the 2015s where it is the power and ripeness that dominate. (Continue reading here.)