Kings of the Cote d'Or

A Burgundy masterclass with Joseph Drouhin

At the end of July, Imbibe teamed up with Burgundy négociant Joseph Drouhin to run a masterclass for some of the country’s top sommeliers. Chris Losh went along in the hope of a free glass of Montrachet

A rainy day in London in late July saw Imbibe join forces with the Burgundy négociant Joseph Drouhin to deliver a Burgundy masterclass to 14 of the country’s top sommeliers. The speed with which the limited places were snapped up, and the fact that all the sommeliers arrived early, showed just how keenly awaited the tasting was.

Drouhin’s agents in the UK, Pol Roger, had put together 20 or so wines, ranging from Chablis and straight Côtes de Beaune red to premiers crus from Puligny and Gevrey-Chambertin.

The intention was to show off the terroirs of Burgundy, some current and older vintages, and also give the tasters some idea of the Drouhin house style. Hosting it all was Drouhin’s export director, the affable Jean-François Curie – a man who had boarded a Eurostar in Dijon in a French summer and stepped off three hours later into what looked like a London autumn.

Curie was candid in admitting that, since Burgundy sales tend to track the economy, the region had seen a temporary slow down, but that in the medium to long term it was benefiting from a shift
in drinking patterns.

‘People are moving back to cool-climate wines, and Burgundy provides this,’ he said. ‘Plus in the past decade there has been a big improvement in the quality of Burgundy’s wines. Not just at Drouhin, but across the region as a whole.’

Was he right? The first wines were poured and the sommeliers got the chance to put the theory to the test.

FLIGHT ONE

The tasting began with two Chablis: Drouhin’s basic Chablis, made from bought-in grapes, and the Propriété Chablis, from vineyards that the firm owns. Drouhin is unusual as a négociant in that it has some pretty sizeable land-holdings. It’s also unusual (and courageous) for its commitment to biodynamic winemaking in Chablis.

‘It can be scary,’ said Curie, with a certain amount of understatement. ‘In fact, without our experiences on the Côte d’Or, where we saw that it can work, we might not have carried on with it.’

The two wines were both very young – bottled only two weeks beforehand – but there was some genuine affection for each. Not least because there was minimal use of oak and, therefore, good typicity.Some, such as Jade Koch, ex-The Tate, and Ransome’s Dock’s Martin Lam, enjoyed the zesty minerality of the AC Chablis; others enjoyed the added weight of the Propriété. A good start!

FLIGHT TWO

There was a significant step up in ambition (and price) here, with three premier cru whites from 2007: two Puligny-Montrachet vineyards and one from Chassagne-Montrachet.

In fact, this turned out to be a fascinating exercise. The two Pulignys were from the Les Folatières vineyard and La Garenne; the former from the middle of the Montrachet hill, the latter from thinner soils high up the hill – the roots practically digging into pure bedrock.

It gave two quite different wines: the Garenne more subdued, but persistent in the mouth, the Folatières with a bigger attack and a complex finish. The Chassagne, meanwhile, had some floral top notes and a real flinty crunch, with good persistence through the mouth.

It was, as Curie explained, a good illustration of the 2007 vintage – a year that was cool and wet throughout the summer, but then rescued by a good September, giving wines with purity, freshness and minerality. Also, crucially, they are drinking well now.

A show of hands revealed an almost even split between the three wines, with four for the Clos de la Garenne, five for the Les Folatières and five for the Chassagne.

FLIGHT THREE

The final white flight, this was intended to be a vertical of three vintages of Clos des Mouches. It’s not Drouhin’s most expensive wine, but it’s a significant part of its portfolio, with the firm owning 17 of the Clos’ 21 hectares in the Côte de Beaune.

There were meant to be three vintages on show here: 2007, 2002 and 2000. Sadly, both bottles of the 2002 were dead on arrival (Drouhin puts only its basic red and white AC Burgundy under Stelvin).

As for the wines, the 2000 was very developed: a lot of cream, toffee and caramel. For some it was over the hill, for others (such as Roussillon’s Roberto della Pietra) it was a good, rich food wine that still had some minerality behind the fat.

The 2007, however, was arguably the star wine of the entire tasting. Fresh, zesty and complex, with a terrific stony minerality and good mid-palate punch, it was a terrific example of high-quality Burgundy that could either age or be drunk young.

‘This is the kind of wine I could see on our list at The Dorchester,’ enthused China Tang’s Igor Sotric, while Lam praised its ‘clear, ringing note’.

‘When you are fortunate enough to own a large parcel of Burgundy, it’s easier to cherry pick,’ said Curie modestly.

FLIGHT FOUR

The afternoon began with two basic reds: the Chorey-les-Beaune and the Savigny Premier Cru ‘Les Guettes’. At £10 and £15 ex-VAT they were highly affordable, but there was a significant jump in quality from the Chorey to the Savigny. While the former was soft, round and fruity, the latter had no small amount of class and personality for the price.

‘The Savigny is a far more food-friendly wine,’ said Mark Deamer, ex-The Greyhound. ‘It shows presence, tannin and structure.’ Della Pietra saw it as a good commercial proposition, noting that he could get it on his list at under £50.

Interestingly, given the less-than-stellar reputation of 2007 as a vintage, there was no hint of greenness in either wine. Both were at the lighter end of the scale, but they were ripe, round and balanced.

FLIGHT FIVE

The tasting continued with three 2007 reds from top appellations: a Gevrey-Chambertin, a Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru ‘Les Proces’ and a Griottes-Chambertin. Arguably, this was the most problematic of all seven flights of wine tasted, with one bottle of the Griottes corked and one slightly reductive, and both of the other two wines being still quite young and sulky.

Hearteningly, while it was hard to assess the overall quality given their youth, what was obvious was that the wines had not been forced or over-extracted.

‘We only macerate for 12 days for these wines, just like we do for the cheaper ones,’ said Curie. ‘We don’t try and put any more wine into the bottle than comes in from the vineyard.’

As with the whites, the ageing potential for these wines was reckoned to be fairly short – about six to eight years.

‘But then no one leaves wine a long time anyway,’ said James Simpson, sales director of Pol Roger. ‘We all get very excited in the trade, but consumers drink the wines after a couple of years.’

FLIGHT SIX

Next up was a flight of three Chambolle-Musigny Premiers Crus, from 2007, 2003 and 1999. Chambolle is Drouhin’s signature red – ‘where we feel most at home,’ as Curie put it – with the feminine elegance of the village a particular attraction. The fact that the wines often hover on the borderline between ripe and green gave them a certain thrilling quality that appealed to the sommeliers.

‘I often find it easier to trade people who like New Zealand Pinot into Chambolle,’ said Deamer, though he was less than enamoured of the 2003 vintage, which he felt should have been declassified on grounds of atypicity.

Alexandre Ceret of The Greenhouse, for one, disagreed. ‘It’s a very ripe, rich vintage,’ he said. ‘But it’s not been acidified, and it’s a good example of that year.’

FLIGHT SEVEN

The tasting concluded with two very contrasting reds: Drouhin’s Côte de Beaune Rouge 2002 and the Clos des Mouches 1990.

There was a lot of positive comment for both wines, with the sommeliers impressed by the £12 Côte de Beaune. ‘It’s got a lot more complexity than I would have expected for the money,’ said L’Anima’s Gal Zohar, while a happy Lam declared there would be ‘no spittoon’ for the 1990. Several of the sommeliers commented that, at £30, it seriously over-delivered, particularly when compared to one or two of the reds from the premier cru vineyards – though to be fair it did have an extra seven years of age on its side.

All in all, this was a useful and interesting session, showcasing different crus, and different vintages of this always-popular region as well as giving an excellent idea of the house style of one of Burgundy’s great négociants.

Many thanks to Jean-François Curie for coming over to talk through the wines, the team at Pol Roger for supplying so many great bottles, and Roberto della Pietra and the team at Roussillon for hosting this Drouhin masterclass so magnificently.

star wines

as voted for by the tasters

Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru ‘Clos de la Garenne’ 2007

Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru ‘Morgeot’ 2007

Beaune Blanc Clos des Mouches 2000

Savigny Premier Cru ‘Les Guettes’ 2007

Côte de Beaune Rouge 2002

Beaune Rouge Clos des Mouches 1990

What the sommeliers thought

MARTIN LAM, RANSOME'S DOCK
  ‘It’s clear that Drouhin is now a very good domaine and non-domaine négociant, with wines that are proper representatives of their appellation. I particularly liked the Chablis and the Savigny, with their vibrancy and power – a snapshot of modern Burgundy at an affordable price.’

ROBERTO DELLA PIETRA, ROUSSILLON
‘The Savigny had really good structure and was drinking well now, but I also really liked the feminine style of the Chambolle. For the whites, I loved the Clos de la Garenne Puligny.’

GAL ZOHAR, L'ANIMA
‘I really liked the 2007 whites. They are bursting with acidity and you can drink them now. The Clos de la Garenne was amazing; it’s youthful but there’s a lot going on there.’

FLAVIANO SCARATTI, THE WATERSIDE INN
‘I loved the Clos des Mouches 2007 white and the 1990 red. It was rich, complex and charming. I was pleasantly surprised by the Côte de Beaune as well.’

ROBERT GIORGIONE, EX-THE ORRERY
‘This was a good line-up of wines that showed the house and its style – very precise and expressive. I really liked the basic Chablis 2008 – it had freshness and minerality.’

ANDREA BRICCARELLO, CORRIGAN'S MAYFAIR
‘The Pulignys were still quite tight, but the Chassagne was better – richer and well-balanced. And the Clos des Mouches 2007 white was stunning.’

ALEXANDRE CERET, THE GREENHOUSE
‘I was impressed by the range of whites. They were pure, elegant and good value, especially the Chablis Propriétaire. My best white was the Clos des Mouches. I loved the texture and the spiciness; a really elegant wine.’

SIMONE GALIAZZO, THE WATERSIDE INN
‘I really liked the Chablis 2008, Les Folatières and the Pulignys. Drouhin always has the same elegant house style, which is important. There’s a consistency there.’

OLIVIER GASSELIN, THE BLUEBIRD
‘All of the 2007s were excellent. They had freshness and drinkability, even though they’re young. My star wines were Clos des Mouches 2007 white and Chambolle-Musigny 1999; it’s unusual and develops musk, leather and floral characters with time.’

IGOR SOTRIC, CHINA TANG AT THE DORCHESTER
‘The whites were really good. The 2007 reds still tasted a bit young to me, though I loved the Savigny. My top wines were the Clos des Mouches white and red.’

THOMAS SORCINELLI, THE RITZ
‘The whites generally are very impressive; consistent and with character. The difference between good and great Burgundy is texture – wine that isn’t contaminated by too much wood.’

DAVIDE VAREILLE, THE BLEEDING HEART
‘It’s unusual for a winemaker like Drouhin, which is practically a brand name, to be making so many very, very good wines. The Clos des Mouches, especially, were drinking really well: complex, with real character. Almost all of the 2007s were terrific.’

JADE KOCH, EX-THE TATE
‘I loved the La Garenne. It was drinking well now, but will age for a long time. The Chambolle 1999 was perfumed and expressive.’

MARK DEAMER, EX-THE GREYHOUND
‘My favourite wine was the Chassagne-Montrachet. Against the polished Puligny it may easily be written off as the uncouth relative that no one talks about, but I found its youthful brashness quite charming. It was a good flight of wines, leaving me positive about Drouhin as a house style.’

Editorial feature from Imbibe Magazine - September / October 2009

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