Remoissenet Père et Fils 2007s
Remoissenet Père et Fils is a medium sized negociant in Beaune. I’ve been lucky enough to taste numerous examples of many of their wines, particularly the Corton-Charlemagne and Montrachet for which they are renowned, thanks to Fred Schilling who imports them in small quantities into Australia.
Remoissenet changed hands a few years ago and the injection of new blood and money has, in my opinion, lifted the standard, particularly in the reds. The wines are long lived and I’ve been lucky enough to drink examples from the 60s, 70s and early 90s which show this. The history of Remoissenet is fascinating and I’ll have to find time to put my notes together and run them passed Fred to fill out the detail.
Remoissenet is now run by Bernard Repolt, an ever so crumpled Burgundian who embodies the unique Burgundian negociant business — one which mostly trades on intimate knowledge of history, growers and gossip. He was kind enough to invite me around for a quick tasting of a few wines that will be bottled on Monday. All are from 2007.
whites
Chassagne-Montrachet Maltroye 1er Cru: Spicy, resiny nose. Deft use of oak here gives some sweetness to the palate and balances out the acid. Excellent effort, I like it a lot.
Corton-Charlemagne: Tight, smokey, prickly acid on the palate, a little gassy and not really showing at the moment. The usual Charlemagne minerality is there.
Batard-Montrachet: from Bachelet-Monnot. Like this better than that I tasted at Bachelet-Monnot even though it’s the same wine. Leaner than Bâtard usually is. Spicy, well structured, balanced palate. Long finish. Not showing now but likely needs a lot of time. Like it a lot.
Montrachet: another dimension, excellent structure, layers of complexity. Excellent. Exactly what I would expect.
Rouges
Corton: gaseous nose, typical Corton structure (masculine, abrupt), a bit dull at the moment. Likely the gas is the cause.
Chambertin: rich, ripe nose, lifted rhubarb and blackcurrant aromas. So feminine, almost atypical for Chambertin, except for the spicy finish. Excellent structure and balance. Excellent quality.
Charmes-Chambertin: Is there a bad Charmes-Chambertin in 2007? I’ve seen about five examples and they’ve all been superb: rich, concentrated, pure, balanced. The palate here is slightly chalky in flavour but sumptuous in texture. Superb. My pick of all the wines.
Chapelle-Chambertin: Tighter, masculine, powerful. More minerally, less red fruit. On the finish, it shows a lot of black fruit. Light, fine, grape tannins. Very good. Will need longer to show than the Charmes.
Clos Vougeot: ripe, lifted nose of black berries and violets, masculine and powerful palate, drier feel. Made from their own vines, a superb effort. Will drink best after ten years in bottle, I feel.
As elsewhere, the 2007s here look better in red than white. The oak handling here adds some richness to the palate which is missing elsewhere.
