Quelques notes Burghound pour annoncer le line-up... Les 2 rouges seront servis en confrontation, un duel qui risque de créer une forte émotion. 
Meursault premier cru Perrières Jacques Prieur 2007, SAQ N° 11184765
Producer note: Martin Prieur, and consulting enologist, Nadine Gublin, told me that 2007 began with an "exceptional April that jump started the vegetative cycle. There was however a substantial difference between the flowering of the pinot and that of the chardonnay. By May the vines were so far in advance of a normal vintage that we thought that we might be harvesting by the 15th of August, which would have been a week before 2003! We began picking the reds on the 30th of August and picked slowly and carefully, finishing up on the 6th. There was a lot of sorting required, which we did twice as we sorted initially in the vineyard and then again at the cuvérie. We had about the same quantity as we realized in 2003 with fine sugars at between 12 and 13%. The reds have turned out quite well and about the only real change compared to say 2006 is that, with the exception of the Clos de Vougeot, we bottled a bit earlier to make sure that none of the wines dried out." As I have commented before, since 2003 I find that the majority of the Prieur wines are slowly becoming purer and more classical in style and while their '06s were very good, as the scores suggest the '07s, when taken as a group, are definitely better.
Tasting note: In contrast to the prior wines, here the wood is more generous and while it stops short of being intrusive on the white flower and citrus suffused nose, it is hardly invisible. It does not however interfere with the mouth feel as there is strikingly good definition and wonderful purity to the middle weight flavors that are wrapped in a lovely, and quite prominent, underlying mineral component, in fact so much so that the finish reminds me a bit of a classic Chablis in terms of how the wine is built around its minerality. The beautifully balanced finish is sappy and gorgeously persistent and I very much like the potential as the wood should be successfully integrated. This is very Perrières in character. Tasted: Jul 01, 2009Score: 91-94Drink: 2014+
La Romanée grand cru Monopole Vicomte Liger-Bélair 2006, SAQ N° 10780565
Producer note: Louis-Michel Liger-Belair told me that 2007 is a vintage of "extreme precociousness. Unfortunately, after May 15th we had one good day followed by a bad one and as a result, rot pressure was substantial. It was interesting to see that the vineyards that I took over in 2006 had more problems handling the rot than those that are mine and thus used to my viticultural approach. Exactly why I am not sure but I believe that mine are used to fending more for themselves. With the cool weather you absolutely had to have relatively low yields to obtain good phenolic ripeness. We began picking on September 1st and picked quickly, finishing on the 5th. We had excellent sugars at between 12.5 and 13.5% though yields were fully 30% less than a normal crop. I vinified the '07s about like I normally do. As to the wines, it's a good vintage to have after the more substantial vintages of 2005 and 2006 as the wines are generous, approachable and should drink well early." As the scores and comments suggest, the in-bottle '06s have turned out very well and while most of the wines in the range were not there in 2005, those that are were not far off the performance achieved in that great vintage, a high compliment to the quality of the Liger-Belair '06s.
Tasting note: As it usually is, the nose is positively kaleidoscopic with a wonderful breadth of red and black fruit aromas, violets and Asian spice nuances that continues onto the rich, full and very stylish medium full flavors blessed with impressive amounts of supporting mid-palate sap that relegate the firm tannic spine to the background for the moment before exploding into a youthfully austere and mouth coating finish that seems to go on and on. This is not an especially big La Romanée but like several of its brethren, it's tightly focused, balanced and carries enormous flavor authority. Tasted: Jan 30, 2010Score: 95Drink: 2022+
Romanée Saint-Vivant, Domaine de la Romanée Conti, 2007
Note: this 5.29 ha vineyard is presently divided into fourths by the Domaine and one section is never used, another is always used and the remaining two are evaluated and added or not as quality dictates; generally the amount held out amounts to 1.5 ha
Producer note: Co-director Aubert de Villaine yet again described 2007 as " a vintage of the vignerons, meaning that to be successful you had to have done excellent vineyard work as you could not have had high quality fruit without it. Bud break was extremely early thanks to an extremely warm April that also caused a significant advance in leaf development. Indeed it was so warm and the vegetation so advanced that we initially thought that we might have another 2003 on our hands. The extended flowering was also extremely early as it began around the 20th of May but then required three weeks to complete, which of course makes the final vineyard maturities highly variable and in some cases, even among the individual bunches. This predicted variability did indeed occur because even at véraison there was a difference of up to one week. The variability wasn't just limited to ripeness levels either as the summer weather was consistently inconsistent with a day or warmth followed by rain followed by cool weather and this pattern allowed powdery mildew, gray rot and botrytis to obtain footholds. The cool and damp weather slowed the maturation process and while we originally thought that we might harvest around the 20th of August, it was delayed until the first of September, which made for approximately 115 days after the flowering rather than the more usual 100. The warm and dry weather accompanied by the north wind that arrived in late August caused a rapid climb in maturities and sugars shot up like a rocket while the cool winds preserved the acidities. We picked slowly and deliberately over a ten day period under ideal conditions and finished on the 11th, except for the Montrachet which was picked on the 17th. We knew we would have to sort carefully and the work was exacting but what we kept was of excellent quality and quite ripe. The fermentations occurred with no difficulties using between 70 to 80% of the stems." M. de Villaine usually is willing to opine as to what other vintages a young one might resemble but in the case of the '07s, he demurred, noting that "the wines have changed so much from month to month during the élevage that it's really difficult to pin them down. There was a dramatic change after the malos were completed as the wines picked up color, flesh and power and I'm honestly not sure where they will finish stylistically speaking. It does appear that they will be classically structured wines of finesse and purity and will have crystal clear vineyard differences but other than that, it is more prudent to watch and wait at this stage of their development."
As the in-bottle scores and comments suggest, the DRC '06s are indeed quite impressive as the natural elegance of the vintage and the traditional vinification approach melded to produce wonderfully aromatic and refined wines. Indeed, I would completely agree with de Villaine's characterization of the '06s as wines of finesse and elegance (see Issue 29 or the database for more information). It is important to point out that while most readers already understand well the need to cellar for considerable periods the better vintages from the Domaine, in the case of the '06s it will be a necessity as they are definitely on the restrained if not out and out taciturn side at present.
In other developments, fans and followers of the domaine will be interested to know that a long-term agreement has been signed with the former Domaine Prince Florent de Mérode for its grands crus vineyards in Corton. Both the prince and the princess de Mérode recently died and the family had no successor interested in being directly involved. A call was placed to M. de Villaine, who expressed interest and ultimately a 36 year lease was signed for .57 ha of Clos du Roi, 1.2 ha of Bressandes and .5 ha of Renardes. Thus, beginning in 2009, there will be new wines under the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti label. As an aside, Corton-Renardes is an appellation measuring 14.35 ha though 20% of it (2.88 ha) is entitled to be declared as Corton-Charlemagne if it is planted to chardonnay. I did not think to ask M. de Villaine if the Mérode parcel was in this section or not though I do know that for decades Mérode had always declared it as Corton-Renardes. What is of course interesting is that if by chance the vines were in the Corton-Charlemagne eligible section, they could be grafted over to chardonnay and the Domaine could issue a Corton-Charlemagne, which would indeed be a worthy partner to the Montrachet! Domaine de Montille, for example, recently did this with a portion of their Corton-Pougets vines.
Note that there is no Cuvée Duvault-Blochet in 2007 but there was one in 2006; see the in-bottle review below.
Tasting note: An ultra elegant, pure and quite delicately fruited and spiced nose that is extremely fresh, floral and expansive that is more layered still as it introduces seductively textured, detailed and gorgeously delineated middle weight flavors that possess laser-like focus if less density than is usually seen with this wine. Indeed, this is rather like a ballerina with limited power and weight but the watch word here is purity, purity and purity. I quite like this but it will strike some as unduly light though I believe the underlying material is present such that it will add weight in bottle as it ages. Tasted: Jan 30, 2010Score: 94Drink: 2019+
