Rød Bordeaux 1990

Fredagsaktivitet kveld Generalforsamling Vinklubben Kåte Rhoner 24.mai 2013

Smakingen viste at 1990 er en solid årgang i rød Bordeaux der flere slott lagde fremragende viner. Selv om vi ikke smakte storheter som Chateau Lafite 1990, Chateau Margaux 1990 og Montrose 1990, viste smakingen at mindre slott som Grand Puy Lacoste og Haut Bailly lagde sine kanskje største viner hittil dette året. Og at Pichon Baron "overpresterte" med en tyktflytende , fet og tannrik juice. Årgangen har nok spesielt vært vellykket for Chateau Palmer, som "glemte" litt sin feminine elegante side. På Palmer vertikalsmakingen 7.5.13 mente de fleste at den litt utypiske 1990 var best. Og vi hadde 1959, 1961, 1966 og 1983 også ! Men mindre slott kan drikkes nå, noen slott prøvde litt for hardt og det var betydelig forskjell mellom de gode og de dårlige vinene. 2ndre cru`ene + Palmer, GPL og Haut Bailly holdt seg, resten bør vurderes mht. korkspretting.

Gleder meg til østsidesmaking i 1990, Merlot er enda bedre i denne årgangen !

Chateau Clerc Milon 1990, Pauillac

Lys rød farge og lett  Haut Medoc-aktig munnfølelse. Frisk, ren og elegant. Litt volatil med antydning til syrestikk. Tørr rødbærsfrukt. 90 poeng

Chateau Chasse-Spleen 1990, Moulis

Mørkere frukt, noe sursøt med lakris og fremdeles gode tanniner. Litt eksotisk og rik nese. Men ubalansert og ikke god i munnen. 88 poeng

Chateau Haut Bailly 1990, Pessac-Leognan

Medium purpur rød  kjerne med mursteinrød kant. Sursøt, frisk, krydder, kompleks. Pauillac-aktig. Solid frukt med elegant nese. Klar og tydelig. 92 poeng

Are; Klar, middels dyp, utviklet i kantene.Nesa: God intensitet, fokusert, utviklet, moden, men kjølig frukt, aromaer av modne mørke bær, med undertoner av modne røde bær, floral, balsamisk, krydret, salmiakk lakris, appelsinskall, underskog, te/tobakk, urtepreget, fin kompleksitet på nesa med fine overtoner og undertoner, nyansert. Munnen: Fylde 9, fast god elegant munnfølelse med smak av modne mørke og røde bær, snerper endel, men god tanninkvalitet, snerp 9, tiltalende friskhet som gir vinen livlighet, fin intensitet, konsentrert, lang ettersmak av moden mørke og røde bær, kryddertoner, urter, anis preg, Utviklet vin fin dybde i frukten. Vinen er fokusert i munnen og har en elegant munnfølelse. Drikker fint nå, men kan enda lagres mange år.

Chateau Batailley 1990, Pauillac

Lett volatil nese. Men samtidig mokka og relativ typisk Pauillac med sigar, sedertre og kaffetoner. Mere krydder, melkeaktig og tyngre i smak. Men mister årgangens trøkk. Drikk opp. 85-89 poeng

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Chateau La Lagune 1990, Haut Medoc

Dyp og mørk farge fremdeles og flere trodde dette var Pauillac. Tydelige solbær, underskog og en elegant munnfølelse. Sursøt frukt og bløt struktur. Clerc Milon ? 90 poeng

Chateau Pichon Baron 1990, Pauillac

Overraskende lys og lett i munnen. Solmoden med tydelig alkohol. 1% for mye ? Endel fat. kaffetoner og sedertre. Kraftfull og i en litt vanskelig fase nå ? Men et betydelig hakk opp i kvalitet i forhold til de tidligere viner. 91-95 poeng.

A remarkable vintage for Pichon Longueville Baron, 1990 is one of this estate's two or three finest wines made in the last 40 years. Still inky/blue/purple-tinged to the rim, it reveals an extraordinary bouquet of charcoal, incense, creme de cassis, blue and black fruits, and a hint of licorice as well as an impressively long finish. While drinkable, its evolution is extremely slow, and I would not be surprised to see it last another two decades or more

Score: 97

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (183), June 2009

Chateau Lynch Bages 1990, Pauillac

Kjøttkraft og Bag in Box i nesa. Dyp, varm og rik nese. Kraftig med mye smak. Prøver litt mye med fremdeles kraftige tanniner. Uforløst med mokkatoner. Flere tok denne som Lynch Bages. Enten liker eller ikke liker man slike viner. 88-93 poeng

Chateau Palmer 1990, Margaux

Kraftfull og atypisk Margaux. Bra syre, frisk og god i munnen. Fremdeles mye tanniner. Tydelig solbær og en "amerikansk" Margaux-stil. Men har den typiske elegante stilen fremdeles, selv om den nok er litt annerledes enn man kan forvente. Dette var den beste Bordeaux 1990 ! Roar ga denne 97 poeng. Fellesscore; 94 poeng. Kim kjøpte denne primeur i London i 1991. Vinen fikk en relativ lav vurdering tidlig, men dette er en vin som blir bedre og bedre !

Sweet, open nose with some evolution and a subtle herbiness. Perfumed and very soft. Classic, sweet, seamless and earthy. The palate is open, smooth, complex and evolved with a lovely sweet earthiness. This is just drinking perfectly now, with weight and subtlety. Thrilling wine of great precision and poise. 96/100 (Blend: 37% Merlot, 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot)

Christer Byklum fra vertikalsmakingen Palmer 7.5.13: 

1990 Château Palmer:

Bright ruby. Scented, fruity, layered, nuanced and elegant, refined nose. Mint and spicy and touch of Christmas spices. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, lovely fruit and balance, richer and somewhat exotic, refined and very long. 96

1989 Château Palmer:

Bright ruby, garnet rim. Leather, cedar, floral, very subdued and elegant nose, layered and a bit light on it's feet, gorgeous nose. Slightly heavier with air. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, elegant and leaner body, still quite intense, leather, tobacco and still a slight tannic grip in the finish. Long. 94+

1988 Château Palmer:

Lower neck fill. Bright ruby, garnet rim. Some floral notes over figs, anise, plums and blueberries. Slightly herbal and scented. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, playful and elegant, mouthwatering, long, but drops off suddenly.  91+

1986 Château Palmer:

Top shoulder fill. Bright ruby, very thin brick rim. Deeper nose, some plums, cherries, scented and intense nose. Layered and complex. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity and lively, quite playful and refreshing, towards mouthwatering, very long. But looses something with air. Becomes shorter. 95

1985 Château Palmer:

Bottom neck fill. Bright ruby, thin brick rim. Intense and scented nose, floral and layered, cassis and leather, lovely nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity and lively, lovely fruit and texture, very elegant but a little bit short. 93

1983 Château Palmer: 

Lower neck fill. Bright ruby, garnet rim. Scented, cherries, touch of figs and fruit stones. Minty touch. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, lively and mouthwatering, slightly dry palate, long. 92

1982 Château Palmer:

Top shoulder fill. Ruby, garnet rim. Scented, fruity, floral, nuanced and layered.   Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity and very elegant, lively and lovely balance, long. 94

1981 Château Palmer:

Top shoulder fill. Garnet, thin brick rim. Some leather, lean nose. Fresh fruit, slightly dry, easy going but refreshing. 83

1979 Château Palmer:

Very top shoulder fill. Bright ruby, garnet rim. Mature nose of plums, anise, leather and tobacco. Slightly floral with air. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity and plummy even if leaner body, dying off in the finish. 87

1976 Château Palmer:

Berry Bros & Rudd label, estate bottled, dark green BBR foil. Cork confirms label. Bottom neck fill. Bright garnet, brick rim. Scented and floral, lean and very mature nose. A touch of VA that blows off. Sweet and sour. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, lean and drying, somewhat fruitier with air. 85

1967 Château Palmer:

Top shoulder fill. Garnet, brick rim, slightly cloudy. Cherries, liquorice and sweet and sour. Fresh acidity, few tannins, a bit lean and dry, lacks fruit. 82

1966 Château Palmer:

Berry Bros & Rudd bottled, darker red foil, lower neck fill. Cork states Berry Bros Rudd LTD London. Bright garnet, brick rim. Beautiful floral, cherries and red berries nose. Scented, layered and nuanced. Gorgeous nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity and lively, very elegant, quite refined, playful, slightly drying finish, but very refreshing and more so with air. 93

1961 Château Palmer:

Berry Bros & Rudd bottled, golden foil, mid-shoulder fill. Cork reads Berry Bros Rudd LTD London Château Palmer Margaux 1961. Slightly cloudy garnet with almost orange rim. Scented, slightly floral, red berries and cherries, figs, leather and prunes, dried tobacco. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, fruity and lively but drying finish, quite full bodied first, lean finish. Ads with air, getting fuller and longer. 92

1959 Château Palmer:

L'Acheteur negociant bottling.  Top shoulder fill. Cork stated nothing. Bright garnet, brick rim. Scented, liquorice, floral and a touch of mint on the nose. Red berries. Fresh acidity, drying palate, dusty and unpleasant, dry finish. Again it ads with air, getting more body. 86

Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste 1990, Pauillac

Mørk, kaffe med bittertoner. Denne vinen har alltid vært kraftfull og tanninrik. Og kjent for kanskje å være den beste GPL som er laget. Konsentrert juice, fremdeles tydelige tanniner og bør fremdeles lagres. Vi gjettet på GPL eller Pichon Baron. Broadbent er særdeles imponert av denne og spesielt da strukturen *(****) ! 90-95 poeng.

1990 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

1. Tobacco, cigar box, earth, cassis, blackberry and forest floor scents are all over the place. Concentrated, powerful, and stuffed with ripe, chewy cassis, this classic, Pauillac wine is still young and will continue getting better for the next few decades. The $20 price on release continues paying dividends. 95 points - Tasted Oct 23, 2011
   
   
2. Truffles, tobacco, blackberry, cassis, earth, molasses and forest floor scents make up the complex perfume. Ful bodied and intense, this young wine is stuffed with ripe cassis, smoke and fresh black cherry. In select vintages, Grand Puy Lacoste produces stunning Bordeaux wine. 1990 is well worth seeking out. 95 points - Tasted Jun 16, 2011
   
   
3. 90 Grand Puy Lacoste expresses truffle, cassis, tobacco, cedar, leather and forest floor scents. Still young, this powerful, concentrated, masculine wine offers a big, beefy, juicy mouthful of ripe cabernet fruit. Some tannin remains that needs to be resolved. The wine finishes with cassis and a of hint green pepper which detracted from the otherwise sublime experience. I've had other bottles that did not display green notes that earned a higher score. Still, this is an outstanding example of a traditionally made Pauillac. 94 Pts. 94 points - Tasted Sep 27, 2010
   
   
4. Truffles, soy, smoke, tobacco, dark plums and jammy berries with forest scents pop up the moment the cork leaves the bottle, gaining in intensity as the wine slams into the glass. Rich, full bodied and intense, with long powerful, spice and ripe berry, with hints of jammy plums finish. This will age for at least 2 more decades. 96 points - Tasted Jun 28, 2010
   
   
5. I don't care how cheap it used to be. Those days are gone and even at today's prices, for a wine of this quality, it's worth the bucks. To me, when you get down to it, that is the best descriptor you can read. Would you buy more? I would. The rich, ripe, beautiful cassis laden wine is incredibly concentrated. Big, and broad shouldered, this is very well balanced and while not yet fully mature, can be enjoyed today. If you have only a few bottles, you can wait. It's not going anywhere. In fact, I expect it will drink well for at least another 25-30 years if well stored. 95 points - Tasted Feb 10, 2008
   
   
6. Cassis, wood and spice components add to the massive, classy, full bodied wine. But, don’t be fooled by it size, it maintains perfect balance. 94 points - Tasted Jun 15, 2005

   
   

   
   

   

   
   

   Chateau Leoville Barton 1990, St. Julien

Mørk, solbær med mye kraft. Fremdeles endel tanniner, men i et betydelig lettere format enn Pichon Baron & Puy Lacoste. Parfymert og litt overmoden i stilen. Ingen god munnfølelse og 1% for mye alkohol. Svir litt i munnen. Men samtidig litt uforløst og kan nok ligge fremdeles. Usikker.framtid.Broadbent påpeker også at denne er variabel.  91 poeng.

Red Wine of the Year 2011; Klar, intens og mørk Bordeaux som holder fargen helt ut. "Omph" i nesa,  rik og elegant på samme tid. Litt uenighet om dette var en "Parkerized" vin. Kompleks og lang ettersmak, lag på lag, litt 1990 Montrose-aktig soliditet.. 95 poeng. Øyvind tok med denne.

Vinmøte hos Kim 6.5.10: Kaffe, sedertre og solbær. Litt vandig, men elegant. Ganske muted i farge, med skjær av purpur. Litt lukket i stilen nå med whiff av alkohol. Stram og bør fremdeles lagres. Men det virker ikke som den har kraft igjen. 89 poeng

White Wine of the Year 2013

 

Riesling Kiedrich Grafenberg 2007, Weingut Robert Weil

Are hadde med seg en Chevalier Montrachet 2005 fra Leflaive, men den var premox. Så da ble det en overraskende god erstatningsvin. Tydelig riesling på nese og en deilig og åpen frukt. Skifer og mineralitet, jasmin med snev av parfyme og "horehus". Alle var ikke på riesling. Fyldig og rik munnfølelse, varme skifertoner. Elegant og en veldig god vin. Viser årgangens kvaliteter. 94 poeng

Are

Utseende: Klar, middels dyp, gulgrønn, fargevaløren indikerer utvikling. Nesa: God intensitet, kjølig fokusert moden frukt med begynnende utvikling, aromaer av gule steinfrukter, floral, jasmin,  grønt urtepreg, krydret, lime, sitron, syltet lime og jordsmonnspreget; steinmineraler; skifer, kompleks og tiltalende nese med moden sunn frukt med begynnende utvikling, fine overtoner og nyanser i vinen. Munnen: Fylde 8, rik smak av gule steinfrukter, fast god fokusert munnfølelse med flott intensitet som løfter frem jordsmonnspreget og friskheten til vinen, konsentrert med lang ettersmak med smak av gule steinfrukter, lime, jordsmonnspreget, tørrer litt ut noe som gir en litt ru munnfølelse i finishen. Vinen viser begynnende utvikling. Det er fin dybde i frukten, samt at vinen oppleves som elegant i munnen. Meget god og drikke nå, men både frukten og friskheten gir et tydelig signal om at denne vinen har ennå lenge igjen. Prøver derfor å vente til vinen er 10 år med å åpne neste flaske.

Puligny Montrachet Les Pucelles 1cru 2005, Domaine Henri Boillot

Kjølig, allehånde, rik, mye smak. En deilig vin. Noe grønn, undermoden, noen var på Chassagne. Are mente det ikke var nok frukt igjen. Lang ettersmak og en klassisk hvit burgunder.Litt skallmaserasjon i smaken. Spiss og presis. Snev av citrus, tørrer litt ut i finish. Noe skrinn og endel uenighet mht. frukt/ikke frukt.
Knut hadde med denne. 94 poeng.

Maison Henri Bolliot is a benchmark producer of estate and négociant wines that are outstanding examples of some of Burgundy’s most renowned growing areas. From his village Meursaults to his Le Montrachet, Boillot’s wines are intense, structured, linear and ageworthy. Farming in Burgundy since 1855, Henri is the 5th generation to be a vigneron in the Cote d’Or. Dedicated and quality-driven, after working at the family estate for more than 10 years, Henri quit in 1984 to launch his own negociant business. He branched off in another direction stylistically, abandoning the light and delicate house style of his predecessors for more concentrated and powerful Pinots and Chardonnays. His tireless efforts were soon recognized with great acclaim by the press, and after sufficiently impressing his grandfather, Jean Boillot, Henri rejoined the estate, eventually buying out his brothers and sisters in 2005. He quickly changed the name of the winery from Domaine Jean Boillot to Domaine Henri Boillot to eliminate confusion with his brother’s estate, Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot. However, Henri seems amused enough by this confusion that he has continued to market his negociant wines under the Maison Henri Boillot label, thus creating two lines of wines.

Today, Domaine Henri Boillot consists of 14 hectares evenly split between white (mainly Premier Crus in Meursault and Puligny where he holds a monopole in the four hectares of Clos de la Mouchere) and red (several Premier Crus in Savigny, Beaune, and Volnay). Like most top producers, Boillot is fanatical about farming. He avoids insecticides and herbicides, preferring sustainable farming techniques to preserve the integrity of the soil. Heavily pruned in the spring to ensure low yields, the fruit of his vines is harvested as late as possible to ensure maximum phenolic maturity. White grapes are gently crushed to avoid bitterness, and the must is rapidly cooled to 8 degrees centigrade. Fermentation is done in 350-liter barrels (larger than the classic French barrique) to retain freshness and minerality. Malolactic fermentation complete, the wines are bottled after 18 months in barrel. Entirely hand harvested, red grapes must pass through two rounds on the sorting table to ensure that only perfect berries make the cut. After destemming, the must is cold soaked prior to fermentation. During a relatively long fermentation (up to 30 days), the skins are regularly punched down to extract maximum flavor and color. The Pinots are aged in barriques for 18 months and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The wines of Maison Henri Boillot are made in the exact same way as the Domaine bottlings. Every Premier and Grand Cru comes from a single vineyard with a single owner to preserve the authenticity of the site. With the help of his son Guillaume who came on board in 2006 after completing his degree, Henri oversees all work in the vineyard throughout the growing season. The wines of Maison Henri Boillot are produced in a cellar in Meursault while the domaine wines are made in Volnay

Le Montrachet 2006, Vincent Girardin

Grønnskjær, smørkaramell, litt mye alkohol. Tydelig Grand Cru. Rik og deilig vin. Vinen står som en påle i glasset. Are snakket om påfuglfjær igjen... Bør lagres. Snev av linoleum og white spirit sier Øyvind. Lang ettersmak. Roar ga denne 98 poeng. Fellesscore 95 poeng. Medtatt av Kim.
WHITE WINE OF THE YEAR 2013 !

Chassagne Montrachet Boudriotte 1999, Domaine Ramonet

En frisk og karakterfull vin. Gul i fargen og i en moden stil. Parfymert Chanel no. 5 nese. Jasmin, sommerblomster, samtidig mineralitet og skjellsand. Chablis i munnen. Sjøaromaer. Blir mere mineralsk i glasset. Noe søtlig ettersmak. Deilig å drikke moden hvit burgund som ikke er premox. 91 poeng.

Domaine Ramonet is a force of personality, so much so that it is rarely referred to as anything other than Ramonet, and for those who are particularly attached to their wines and work, it is occasionally referred to as Andre Ramonet. But before we get to Andre, we owe his father some acknowledgement. Pierre Ramonet, or "Pere Ramonet" as he was known to locals, established himself as a winemaker in Chassagne-Montrachet in the late 1920's with little more than the shirt on his back and the desire to make wine. As his grandson put it, "He started from nothing, with horses." From his start making wine in makeshift facilities with purchased grapes, Ramonet gradually assembled an estate from scratch, buying a piece of Chassagne-Montrachet here, a piece of Puligny-Montrachet there (the two villages that make up the Montrachet appellation are adjacent to one another). His first purchase in 1934 was a small piece of the "Les Ruchottes" vineyard which he and his son Andre would go on to make famous.

It's worth noting that the process of scraping together vineyard plots in what is arguably France's most famous white wine appellation is not just something that scrappy, up-and-coming winemakers did in the early part of the 20th century. The total acreage in the Grand Cru Montrachet appellation is about 20. Yes, a mere 20 acres, which is currently split among roughly 16 producers. Even Romanée-Conti, which is about as high on the Burgundy totem pole as you can get, owns a mere 1.7 acres of this appellation, which it had to acquire painstakingly over the course of multiple purchases spanning three decades. 

In any case, the Ramonets have been making wine in the region since grandpa Ramonet kicked off the operation in the late Twenties, and it has been in the family ever since. Pierre Ramonet's son Andre achieved near legendary status as a winemaker (hence the use of his first name when people speak of the domaine), and it's not untypical to hear words like "genius" "mythic" and "pinnacle" thrown around when he comes up in conversation. Now Andre is the grandfather, and the estate is being run by his sons Noël and Jean-Claude.

These two continue to run the estate in the tradition of their father and grandfather. The average age of the vines in their vineyards, especially the Grand Cru vineyards is about 60 years. There are areas, however that are planted with younger vines, but in a strict regimen, fruit from vines under 18 years old is excluded from the Domain's cuvees. Yields are kept extremely low, and the wines are vinified using traditional techniques. The wines are aged on their lees (with all the seeds and pulp from pressing) in varying proportions of new oak depending on the wine for between 12 and 15 months.

This wine is from a Premiere Cru vineyard in the Chassagne-Montrachet called "La Boudriotte" or sometimes "Clos de La Boudriotte." The Ramonets produce both this Chardonnay from the vineyard, as well as a Pinot Noir which often goes unnoticed and unremarked given the fame of their white wines.

Chevalier Montrachet 2006, Domaine Leflaive

Litt oksidasjon i nese med toner av brent smør og mye fat. Eldste vin i rekka ? Mye trøkk med brun frukt, epleskrott og honning. Høy modenhet med bra lengde. En kraftplugg, men mangler eleganse. Premox sier Are. 91 poeng. Medtatt av Roar.

Tre velkomstviner Generalforsamlingen Vinklubben Kåte Rhoner 2013

Generalforsamlingen Kåte Rhoner 24. mai 2013

Vi startet på vanlig måte med velkomstviner på terrassen;

Champagne La Parcelle Inflorescence Cote de Bechalin Blanc de Noirs, Cedric Bouchard

Syrlig og slank, virker enkel og er en lite spennende sak nå. Bør fortsatt lagres. Citrus, mineraler, sand, lite dybde i frukten. Skuffende. 86 poeng.

Robert Parker:The NV Blanc de Noirs Inflorescence La Parcelle is a huge, powerful wine bursting with red berries, spices, flowers and licorice. All of the elements come together gracefully in a dramatic, large-scaled wine of incomparable class and elegance as layers of fruit float across the palate. La Parcelle emerges from a parcel of 35 year-old Pinot vines in Cote de Bechalin, a lieu-dit in Bouchard’s hometown of Celles-sur-Ource. This is the first vintage of La Parcelle that Bouchard made from start to finish. Prior releases had been produced by the previous owner of the vineyard. If there is such a thing as a value wine in the lineup, this is it. 95 pts The Inflorescence label uses grapes grown in the vineyards of Cedric's father, but Cedric controls 100% of the farming practices and methods. This is 100% Pinot Noir from a 0.5 hectare parcel. Cedric creates his extraordinary champagnes in a quintessentially classic manner: he hand-harvests, vinifies the first press juice only, and crushes the grapes by foot. Élévage occurs entirely in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts. He gives "La Parcelle" the longest aging regimen of all his wines. This wine is unfined, unfiltered, and aged for 80 months. It is non-dosé. Dn.no:Champagne Inflorescence la Parcelle. kr 556,80Cédric Bouchard is one of the fastest rising stars in the firmament of Champagne. Having only started his own label, Roses de Jeanne and begun producing his own wines in 2000, he is very quickly garnering a reputation as Champagne’s most talented new wine producer, and was just awarded the title as Champagne’s finest winemaker for the year 2008 by the Gault Millau. Monsieur Bouchard’s philosophy borders on the revolutionary in Champagne, as he insists on bottling single vineyard, single varietal (Pinot Noir or Chardonnay), and single vintage cuveés. Rather than blending different sources to make a single cuvée. This is a highly unique concept in Champagne, where so many of the Grandes Marques have made their reputations for many centuries on the high art created in blending various wines and various vintages to make a consistently excellent bottle of bubbly year in and year out. However, blending is anathema to Cédric Bouchard, who seeks to create individual wines of great character each year from his single vineyard bottlings. Each wine is made only from juice from the first pressing, fermented only with indigenous yeast and handled meticulously in the cellar to guarantee the finest wines possible. Monsieur Bouchard began his career in 2000 by taking a portion of his family’s vineyards to begin working on his own, and started out with only 1.37 hectares of vines in the village of Celles-sur-Ource in the Côte des Bar region of Champagne. His approach in the vineyards and in the cellars seeks to maximize quality every step along the way, and consequently Monsieur Bouchard practices dramatically restricting yields in the vineyard (which can often be rather generous in the Champagne region), and which are farmed organically and picked at the optimum moment. There are three distinct bottlings from Monsieur Bouchard’s own vineyards, which are all bottled under his Roses de Jeanne label, These include a Blanc de Noirs bottling from the nine-tenths of a hectare vineyard of Les Ursules made from one hundred percent pinot noir, and which produces annually less than three hundred cases per year; a Rosé made from the tiny (.07 hectare) Le Creux d’Enfer vineyard, which is made by the “saignée” method of crushing the pinot noir and running off the juice after several hours of skin contact to produce the classic rosé color (rather than adding a bit of still red wine), and which only three hundred to five hundred bottles are produced each year; and a Blanc de Blancs bottling from the vineyard of Le Haute-Lemblée, which only produces five hundred to eight hundred bottles per year, and which Monsieur Bouchard has not yet released. 




Han startet opp med sine egne viner i 2000 med hva som nærmest må kalles en åkerlapp på litt i overkant av 1 hektar. I 2008 ble han kåret til årets vinmaker i Champagne av Gault Millau. Hans viner er enkeldruevarianter i motsetning til de sedvanlige blendene i Champagne. De kommer også fra enkeltvinmarker og visjonen er at de skal uttrykke jordsmonnet. Vinene er som regel Non Dosage, hvilket betyr at de ikke er tilsatt most eller sukker. Videre er trykket i vinene hans adskillig lavere enn ellers i Champagne ( 4 bar mot det vanlige 6 bar) Dette gir en meget behagelig mousse. Cedric er med andre ord en mann som ikke er redd for å gå egne veier.Etter min mening er akkurat det hva Champagne distriktet trenger. Det finnes mange små produsenter i Champagne som kan stå på egenhånd som spennende alternativer til de store husene.Jeg har smakt to av tre tilgjengelige viner fra Bouchard. Begge fra vinmarker han har lånt fra sin far. Begge er Blanc de Noirs , det vil si hvit vin av mørke druer, og i disse tilfellene er det kun snakk om Pinot Noir.
Ganske fyldig vin med bra syre og litt rundere frukt enn overstående. Autolysepreget er mer markant og heller mot brøddeig. Den har også en viss mineralitet og frukten minner om bringebær og markjordbær. Ettersmaken er lang og deilig. Strukturen i vinen gjør at den fint kan brukes til mat, og som nevnt i tidligere artikler er Champagne ypperlig følge til fårikål, og denne ville virkelig satt prikken over i'en. Det er overhodet ikke noe i veien for å nyte denne uten mat heller. 95 Poeng


Cédric Bouchard has augmented his tiny initial holdings by now working 1.47 hectares of vines owned by his father as well, which he farms with the same meticulous care as his own parcels. From these he has introduced a new Blanc de Noirs cuvée, which hails from the Val Vilaine vineyard and which he sells under the Champagne Inflorescence label, rather than labeled as Roses de Jeanne. Again, like the wines from his own vineyard parcels, the wine is made entirely from one variety, in this case pinot noir. All of Monsieur Bouchard’s wines are characterized by uniquely soil-driven personalities, with the underlying terroir of each parcel jumping from the glass with a purity of expression that is extremely rare in Champagne. Bouchard believes in a long, slow and cool second fermentation which creates smaller, finer bubbles, and helps to enhance the vinosity of the underlying wine. The wines are produced with very, very low, or no dosage, depending on the vintage, with the goal of allowing the unique terroir of each wine to take center stage. These are brilliant wines made from a young, perfectionist vigneron who is likely to completely revolutionize the landscape of Champagne before he writes the last chapter on his career. The wines are available in miniscule quantities, so it is highly, highly recommended to snap them up immediately when they become available. We cannot recommend these magical wines highly enough.

                                                              

Gewurztraminer Les Comtes d`Eguisheim 1990, Leon Beyer

Gul, tydelig gewurz i nesa, avdempet og en gewurz på den elegante siden. Men med temperatur blir det litt kvalmt. Grei syre, en umoderne vin som er morsom, men ikke altfor god. 85 poeng.

Vosne Romanee Les Beaumont 1cru 1999, Dominique Laurent

Fremdeles god rød kjerne med lysere vandig kant. Produsenten er jo kjent for å eike hardt, det merkes også her. Men en moden og innbydende vin, mangler litt friskhet og dovner i glasset. 90 poeng.