This afternoon I was lucky enough to tag along with a friend and attended a tasting of the wines of Bouchard Père & Fils hosted by a French wine merchant. General Manager Stéphane Follin-Arbelet was in Hong Kong to greet us and talk about the wines. He explained that wines from the 2008 vintage had just been bottled, and were still showing the vibrant characters of the vintage, while the 2007s are now a little shut. This was very clear as we compared wines from both vintages.
2008 Meursault Genevrières - nose of mineral, toast, a little buttery, flint, a little ripe and almost tropical.
2007 Meursault Genevrières - nose was more shut with some citrus and toasty notes. After swirling in glass, the wine opened up and the ripeness was apparent.
2008 Corton-Charlemagne - beautiful and open, with lots of white flowers, perhaps a little musty, along with toast and sweet vanilla. The ripe nose was very nice, but the wine was a little short. Perhaps it was a little too warm?
2007 Corton-Charlemagne - flinty, toasty notes with a little citrus and a hint of ripeness. The acidity was coming through.
2008 Chevalier-Montrachet - nose of minerals, citrus, floral...ripeness was apparent and there was a little marmalade, almost a little oily with a hint of popcorn. Very soft on the palate. A feminine wine.
2007 Chevalier-Montrachet - still a bit closed, with some minerality showing through.
2007 Montrachet - acidic and closed. There was a little sweetness like marshmallow and some citrus.
2008 Montrachet - there was no doubt that this was the best wine of the entire tasting, and why should that come as a surprise to anyone? This was a beautiful and opulent wine, with sweet corn, toast, floral notes... Pretty sweet and ripe. Wow! This is everything I could ever want from a white wine!
2003 Beaune Grèves Vigne de l'Enfant Jésus - a huge nose...sweet with cassis, minerals and iron, a little gamey and musty. Drinking well now.
It was clear that Bouchard's wines are of very high caliber these days, and I was thankful to have the opportunity to taste through a range of them. We thanked our hosts and made an exit, heading to the Acker auction that started especially early today...
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