2010 Bouchard Père & Fils Burgundy Tasting
2012
Earlier this week we had a great tasting of some of Bouchard Père & Fils 2010 red and white Burgundies. Following on from our Faiveley tasting last month, it reaffirmed the quality of the 2010 with another set of outstanding wines. One of the characteristics of the 2010 vintage seems to be a great sense of balance and elegance, with all the wines showing a beautiful combination of perfectly ripe fruit without any overripeness and refreshing acidity. It’s perhaps a vintage that produced more classic wines than the very ripe 2009′s.
We kicked things off with the 2010 Bouchard Père & Fils St Aubin Premier Cru. An elegant and fairly restrained nose led on to a riper and weightier than expected palate. This had lovely balance though with hints of grapefruit and orange peel on the long, rich finish. A nice value for white Burgundy at around $50.
We stepped up to the Meursault Genevrieres Premier Cru next. A quite elegant and refined style of Meursault, with a tighter, more structured palate than the St Aubin and a strong mineral streak. Very refined.
If we thought the Meursault had a bit more structure, the 2010 Corton-Charlemagne was something else entirely! Much tighter still, dry and minerally, this opened very slowly in the glass to reveal delicate citrus, but wouldn’t give up much at this early stage. This was screaming out for a few years in the cellar but clearly has loads of potential.
Moving on to the reds, we started with the Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune Teurons Premier Cru. Quite a ripe nose with plum and dark cherry notes, and a touch of oak. This was pretty grunty in a slightly rustic style but with nice balance. As usual, this wine from Bouchard is a great value Premier Cru and should age well.
Volnay Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot Premier Cru was next up. As expected the Volnay was a lighter, more elegant style with a very nice floral and red cherry nose and fresh acidity.
The Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Cailles Premier Cru was a contrast. A ripe, cherry and plum nose with some classy oak influence, led on to a weighty, plummy palate, leaning more towards the riper end of the spectrum, with hints of cola on the finish. This was delicious with loads of upfront appeal.
Onto the Grand Cru reds, we hit the 2010 Le Corton. This is usually one of the best buys in the Bouchard line up. A really refined, cool nose of red cherry and spice. This was pretty tight but did open up to gain in richness and complexity. Very fine with a long finish. This should age really well.
The last wine of the night was the Bouchard Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. A fascinating, complex, nose. Very floral with a hint of earth and oak. Ripe and rich on the palate with sappy, ripe cherry flavours and a velvety mouthfeel. This had great balance. A very sexy wine.
