Marquis d'Angerville 2014's and a look at Champans...

Last Wednesday saw the London Press tasting of the 2014 d'Angerville wines. A repeat, in format, of the 2013's at the same time last year. The setting was Home House in the West End. The order of the day is to taste the 2014's in the same way one would typically do so in Burgundy, i.e. to finish with the white. The aim for me here is to give my own, admittedly biased, views. But a few words from Guillaume d'Angerville to start seems fair.

"We had a superb potential crop ahead of the June 30th hailstorm. The hail reduced the volume of the crop, but quality was preserved and is intact. The wines are classy and powerful, clean and complex at the same time" October 2015.

That Volnay should have seen hail again in 2014 really was unbelievable. The last full harvest having been 2009. This is true of all of Burgundy but the exaggeration of difference was by far the most savage around Volnay over this time. So to the tasting:

Volnay 2014 - Lovely pure red fruited freshness with poise and a crunchy energy, lovely length and easy to appreciate.

Pommard 1er Cru Combes Dessus 2014 - Darker fruit character and some lovely, proper grip, depth two but not crudely so, sweetness joins on the mid palate and leads to a good long finish. Impressive. 

Volnay 1er Cru 2014 - Bright red fruits and considerable focus. Lovely drive through this and some grip but less than the Pommard before it. Very correct and pure.

Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Angles 2014 - Ripe nose, markedly so, more sweetness and life. Then a very grown-up grip and structure, makes you pay attention. Red fruit yes, but seriously so. Very impressive, the best Angles I have had and a surprise in a very positive sense.

Volnay 1er Cru Fremiet 2014 - A little deeper of fruit, some darker fruit making itself known. Freshness balanced by a little more flesh, you could even say a little rounder or lusher. More density and tannin also.

Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets 2014 - A little more muted on the nose, which could be seriousness. Then the palate is actually more giving before again being a little tight. You get a sense of more power and strength but no real feel for whether this is the character or a phase. A little less flesh, intriguing.

Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds 2014 -  Crimson fruited drive, cranberry even, real focus. More generosity and ebullience than Caillerets but still with a certain seriousness of structure. Very long, classy.

Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2014 - Darker fruit, to try to quantify it I'd say 30% red and 70% ripe black fruits. There is a lovely streak of saline to this as well. All in all it suggests a little more savoury character and seriousness than some of the crus at this stage. Sweeter creamy fruits on the palate slightly contradict this. Good overall structure and a very impressive Champans.

Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 2014 - Crimson fruit on the nose more akin to the Taillepieds than any other site. A little graphite and almost stem-like character too. The acidity, grip and fruit in good balance.The savoury edge of Champans also shows but with a mineral (stones) follow through rather than heading towards savoury decay. Serious but appreciably good even now.

Meursault 1er Cru Meursault-Santenots 2014 - Salted white fruits, lean (by which I mean focussed) with a briny energy. The palate shows more ripeness and depth. Best of this that I have had. The impression here (backed up by the 2012 at Lunch, see below) is that this white is being taken more and more seriously. 

Over-riding impression - The 2014's here are serious in quality but appreciably enjoyable even now. It strikes me that 2014 plays to the strengths of Volnay, red fruited drive and lift with grip and stuffing tucked away to be deployed later. The sites I think showed as clearly as ever and certainly more so than tends to be the case is a vintage of more consistent heat. I can't see that these will close down either for too long or in too serious a way. Large, wide, drinking windows.

Having tasted it was time for a few bubbles before lunch, that honour fell to Wiston Blanc de Blanc 2010. Made down near worthing this is a property to watch and 2010 manages to combine clear ripeness with a good amount of poise. Lunch was designed to play a good second fiddle to the wines and so it did. I could have eaten quite a lot of the middle course which was delicious with the five reds.

Wood pigeon salad, caramelised onions, soft grilled crostini

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Escalopes of veal, truffle mash, morel mushroom cream sauce

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Aged comte cheese, thin charcoal crackers, quince jelly

The wines, as with the tasting, were all served cool and poured nice and early (without any decanting) so they could develop in the glass.

The first flight was a trio of Champans all of very different vintage character:

Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2009

Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2011 en magnum

Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2012

The d'Angerville parcel in Champans is the largest holding with 4hectares of the 11 and right in the middle, Guillaume observed that the rows in this site are very long, as long as 300metres at times. It is the one site he feels you would show someone the wines from if you were to try to explain the typical Volnay.

The 2009; the last "volume" vintage, with yields of 36/38hl/ha, did show the "Sexiness and class" that Guillaume mentioned. The coolness of serving helped emphasise the saline side but there was a nice subtleness to the darker fruit as well. The class was so evident on the nose with the sweetness and more extrovert side on the palate, lovely. 2011 was a vintage that was overshadowed by the 2010 that preceded it. A "lovely pinot vintage" with a very early picking date. There is a drive to this and a clear red fruit side with the focus being elegance and vigour over lushness. I liked it and found it moreish which is always a good sign. 2012 was the most heartbreaking of vintages with a quarter of the normal crop and Guillaume observed that the wine had been concentrated by nature. This was immediately evident by the colour, much darker. Guillaume also observed there is a compressed nature to the wines, like the 1999's he said. I loved this finding an odd note of ripe graphite, for me there was a nod to the northern Rhone in its masculinity but then freshness drove through on the palate and I immediately wondered what I meant. The word "serious" appears three times in my note. A special wine for being true but Atypical at the same time. 

The next flight saw a different comparison, that of site rather than vintage. Both served from magnum it was Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2007 alongside Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 2007. I have been enjoying a lot of red Burgundy 2007's the last few years but if truth be told the first one I really loved was Champans 2007. This wine has a lovely mid-development now with good fruit but a lovely cheesecloth side, like the rind on a brie. The palate is far more fruited with good sweetness and that all important "drink me" moreishness. Clos des Ducs is more forward here than almost any other vintage I can think of and I am lucky enough to have had a few. It is going to age well but when it tastes this delicious now you can to a degree start to wonder what you might be waiting for. Great balance.

I slightly gave away, above, the fact that the Meursault 1er Cru Meursault-Santenots 2012 was rather good! There is a nice whiff of reduction, gunflint, to this that just, for me, adds seriousness and counter-balances what is a lovely ripe yet restrained palate. I would struggle not to drink this if I had it at home but can well imagine in 2-3 years this will be even better.

And with that the lunch came to a nice close. Cracking wines and much fun. One of Burgundies big names showing exactly why that is so.

D'Angerville 2013's and others...

Each March Guillaume d’Angerville comes to London to do a press tasting of the recently release vintage, in this case 2013. Volnay as a village has had a rough time of it with minute yields in 2012, 2013 and also in the yet to be release 2014. When you combine this with the fact that 2010 and 2011 were not large it is not a happy story. What is good news though is that the wines produced in all those vintages, against the odds, show that this Domaine is as good, and very possibly better, than ever. Guillaume is very deferential to previous generations, of which he is the 6th, but I think it is fair to say the conversion to Bio-dynamics that started in 2006 and was fully up and running in 2009 has had a great effect. This tasting and the lunch that followed were both held at Quo Vadis yesterday

The wines were tasted, as is usually the way in Burgundy, with the white last. None of the wines are bottled as yet. Up to the Taillepieds are in tank awaiting bottling soon, Champans, Clos des Ducs and Meursault are all still in barrel.

Volnay 2013
Quite dark fruit, leaning to black over red but with real precision and focus. A little dash of mellow white pepper. Lovely focused and red fruited palate, nice bit of grip but there is sweetness to balance.

Volnay 1er Cru 2013

Lovely nose of red fruit with a little black, a little more full than I expected even a little more brooding. The spice is less present but only because of the richness of fruit. Lovely, more dense.

Pommard 1er Cru Combes Dessus 2013

Wonderfully different, airy but intense, more sweetness on the nose, almost a herbal citrus note then there is a darker fruit on the palate but again a sweetness. Not without some grip and minerality. There is though a persistent citrus freshness on the finish, not like any Pommard I have had. Very interesting to note that Guillaume commented that Bio-dynamics have really made a significant difference here, more energy and focus coming to the wine.

Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Angles 2013

Really refined, red berry fruit, really poised, incredibly focused but beautiful. Lovely volume of red fruit and herbs with less spice, wonderful in the mouth, hard to spit, very Volnay, very complete. A star.

Volnay 1er Cru Fremiet 2013

More concentrated and bolder than the Angles, denser and somehow a little more shy, the palate too is a little drier and bigger and may be a shade less overt. Bolder, bigger, drier. This could be a sleeper.

Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets 2013

A little more leafy, more sinewy but good for it, redder fruit. More and more comes out in glass, the fruit is oranges as well as red currant, there is grip but elegance also.

Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds 2013

Really balanced and harder to describe as a result, good grip once on the palate but great acidity and energy, even nervousness which translates as drive, red berries but with a dash of spice. Very d’Angerville.

Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2013

I am biased here as I have a real soft spot for Champans, there is a roundness and completeness to this wine on the nose (as there was with the 2009 over lunch), on the palate it is more brooding and a little drier, the empty glass smells delicious which I always rate as a good sign.

Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 2013

Densely mineral with darker fruits, black even, very very intense, this is weightier but the palate tells a great tale, this is so Clos des Ducs, there is a dramatically long length, stunning texture.

Meursault 1er Cu Santenots 2013

The nose reminds me of grand cru Chablis and citrus but with a little generosity of Meursault in texture on the palate, it is this lovely texture combined with the right amount of mineral energy that drives this wine. I asked Guillaume about the refined nature of this wine and he commented that it only sees 25% new oak here and that the new oak barrels Guillaume now buys are bigger than standard

After the tasting we moved to the dining room for Lunch and a selection of different wines and vintages – it is a format that really works because however fascinating a tasting, it is always best when set in the context of doing what these wines are made for – drinking them!

Lunch Wines

Meursault 1er Cu Santenots 2011

Very pale colour, a little reduced, which I really like, some smokiness, then white fruits, not citrus, this will become more nutty and complex, I really liked this right now though.

As we moved onto the 2009’s Guillaume made a very interesting comment about elevage, saying how crucial it is and in contrasting ways in different vintages, the 2008’s put on “weight”  whilst the 2009’s became more refined.

Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2009

Pure but seductively extrovert, the fruit is red and open. There is lovely balance and just a shade of cool stoney minerality that comes through. Just so drinkably delicious…if I had this at home it wouldn’t last “5 minutes”.

  

Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets 2009

Markedly darker colour, sweetness and richness are the watchwords here. I can see this ageing brilliantly as there is a sweet savouriness under the covers. Clearly a site to watch closely as the vast majority of this site was replanted in 1999-2000 so we are talking about young vines. Interestingly Guillaume has bought an parcel of older vines recently.

Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds 2007

2007 was the third most precocious vintage the Domaine has ever know with picking on the 3^rd September. There is a focus to this wine and also a complexity – I loved Guillaume’s summary that “it is not an arrogant wine…it is what it is”…it is ready now but there is no rush.

Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 2008

A tricky vintage that was not picked until over three weeks later than 2007. This was initially taut and tight in the glass but where the 2007 let you have it from the start this toys with you and opened out in the glass, there is significant classicism here, an academic wine that will age well, I feel.

Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 1999

Guillaume commented that he could relax with the 1999 as it was not “his”, referring to the fact Guillaume whilst involved was not solely responsible until the 2003 vintage. The 1999 is a wine I have had recently (Clos des Ducs 1920-2002) and it is just starting to hit its stride, still a little muted there is a very great wine here. Very vinous, complex, a salinity as well as a lovely herbal edge…if you own this continue to be patient – you won’t regret it…

I am already looking forward to next year…and whilst the 2014 is small again (though not on the scale of 2012 or 2013) I a praying that 2015 will bring a large and wonderful crop because this Domaine is coiled ready to pounce on just such an opportunity…

Clos des Ducs 1920-2002 @ La Trompette...

What a line-up

A Grande way to start!

This was an a unique opportunity, set up by the hard work of Jordi Orriols-Gil to taste so many different vintages of the Clos des Ducs a 1er Cru monopole belonging to Marquis d’Angerville. It was wonderful to have Guillaume d’Angerville there. Guillaume is the 6^th generation of the family to head the estate that by common consent is the pacesetter in Volnay. The Clos des Ducs itself is a 2.15 hectare site (Volnay 1er Cru is 110 hectares as a whole) and has a unique exposure in Volnay being the most northerly of the vineyards and facing East-South-East.

The dinner was held at La Trompette in Chiswick, the service and food really worked well. We started with Bollinger Grande Annee 1982 from Magnum – A little spritz on the attack then the wine gets quite mellow pretty quickly. Some toffee and richness, dry but nutty, quite a foody Champagne, very much Pinot based. Good.

Flight 1

Pot roast pheasant , root vegetables and chestnuts - A beautifully clean dish with just the right about of flavour, reminded me how much I love chestnuts in things.

Legend in the making?

2002 – A dash of cheesecloth, very red cherried purity, some lovely minerality to the palate, showing very well if dense and taut. Serious wine with really lovely balance. If you own it you’ll be best off being patient and excited!

2000 – A little darker in the fruit character than the 2002, with a little spice and black pepper, very typical of 2000 red burgundy in being balanced, easy and really quite accessible, there is a warmth. Nothing like the seriousness of the 2002 but a lovely bottle.

1999 – The last wine of the first flight. I often, almost always, prefer the 1999’s to the 2002’s. This had a very vibrant red fruit core with a little grip to the finish, serious for a 1999 when often they show less structure. Possibly not quite the potential of the 2002 but nicely different and very good.

Flight 2

Hand rolled macaroni with Vacherin mont d’or, ceps and burgundy truffle – A rich dish with flavours that complimented the age development the wines are starting to show.

1996 – Richness here and density but as with many 1996’s is there charm? I think the room was divided, I like the strictness of the wine but I think it is something of an acquired taste, may be my Nebbiolo obsession helps here. There is a nervous intensity, if it were a person it would be an academic.

1995 – This was a surprise package, balanced and approachable, really lovely actually, just easy to enjoy, there is structure but it has started to mellow.

1991 – This bottle had a little seepage and on tasting sadly it showed, not fair to comment really as there had been definite oxidation. Other reports on the wine from those who have tasted recently were glowing so a shame.

1990 – Deep colour and rich texture, the most savoury yet. I could see the 2002 developing this way. There is power but also hedonistic opulence, very impressive and very true to the vintage.

1993 – This was a late addition and a splendid one. I had the Taillepieds 1993 recently and really enjoyed it. This had a similarly, al be it more concentrated, feel to it, red currant fruit and crunchy freshness, really lovely right now, almost crisp which is amazing for a wine of 21 years old.

Flight 3

Fillet of John Dory with smoked lardo and creamed potato– A fish dish that didn’t really behave like one, delicious use of texture.

1989 – Quite savoury with an opulent texture, hazelnut, chocolate and mocha all appeared on the nose, amazingly different in style. There is fruit but it is secondary, a sexy vintage and a very impressive wine. The 1980 vintage flight as a whole was very strong.

1988 – To my mind this was not a perfect bottle, a dusty slightly metallic nose. With the flight being so good though, I just moved straight on…

1986 – A strange nose initially that reminded me of cucumber water, disappeared with a swirl. Thereafter the wine settled into a secondary aroma of cep and other mushrooms with an undertone of oyster shell, impressive.

1985 – Delicious even given the high expectation, lovely balance of fruit and a savoury sweetness, in a lovely phase right now…a little chestnut shows on the nose…special

1983 – Sweet leather and spice, brown slightly degraded fruit, good volume, very fine. A tricky vintage on the face of it but this really outperformed that…very complete, may be the pick of the flight for me but it had competition from ’89 and ’85 – a lovely problem to have…

Flight 4

Suckling pig belly with golden turnips – lovely dish with great fat that worked well…

1976 no1 – the first of two bottles of 1976, a crazily hot vintage, referred to as a “sauna” vintage by Guillaume (a phrase I plan to “steel”) who commented that Clos des Ducs never suffers hydric stress as there is a natural well in the Clos and when you combine this with there being woods above the site as well there is always a natural retention on moisture. This first of the two 1976’s was a little more subdued than…

1976 no2 – quite opulent and open, lovely now, just enough sweetness, slightly resinous, from all the chat around the table it would appear this has taken a while to open up.

1972 – Cocoa, mocha and a brown fruited nose, some people saw this as over-mature and on the palate I can see their point but on the nose is just very tertiary and a shade madeirised but fascinating, with ones eyes shut you could almost image this was old sauternes. I loved it.

1971 – Instantly good and enjoyable. Sweet and in impeccable condition manages to combine lightness of touch and a persistent brilliance of balance, very pure and with red fruit still there.

Flight 5

Pressed shoulder of Pyrenean lamb with Jerusalem artichokes

We then had 1953 Champans and Clos des Ducs served side by side – we were asked to guess which way around, amazingly it was fairly clear that we had Champans first and then Clos des Ducs.

1953 – Champans – Super, lightness of touch, a little dash of Soy which is just a slight sign of age but a good bottle.

1953 – Clos des Ducs -  Depth, even quite bold, my note says “becoming quite farmyard, delicious”, impressive definition. What struck me here was that the wines from this site age so well but never with a feeling that they needed to be big in youth to age, there is a balance at all times.

1920 - memorable to say the least

1947 – This didn’t quite show as well as expected by some, caramel, quite bold and opulent with decent concentration but it quite quickly started to tire.

1920 – This was served blind and comes with a fascinating story about how Guillaume acquired a “few” bottles of the 1920. The wine showed so well, full of life, the fruit was orange rather than red but that is as expected. The nose had an amazingly fresh aroma of tangerine rind but even the empty glass had a lovely sweetness and life…a truly memorable experience but not a novelty as these old bottle can be.

With some cheese we had the last wine of the evening – Meursault Santenots 1990– this was by far the oldest stage at which Guillaume has tasted his white wine. The nose was unctuous and nutty after a little air, it showed well and worked with the cheese.

And sadly a wonderful evening had to end, I think even those who came with high expectations, always dangerous, left very excited. There were many anecdotes and wonderful comments…exactly what these great evenings are all about! Bravo Guillaume and Bravo Jordi!