Where to start… if someone puts together a 4-day blind tasting of 200 Grand Cru Burgundies of the vintage 2000 that features all 33 GC appellations including ALL Grand Cru wines produced by the cult producers Leroy, DRC, Rousseau, Roumier, Coche-Dury, Leflaive, etc. accompanied by a famous Chef on each day, I would say: you’re kidding! Yet, it happened in Singapore and a few lucky friends were invited – generosity on a different level. The host is one of Asia’s prolific collectors, who not only has a 50k bottle deep cellar but also has done his reading homework with WSET and other exams on his belt. This epic blind tasting had the following features:
The tasting was called Route de Grand Cru (RdGC) 2000, meaning tasting all Grand Crus appellation of the vintage 2000 in a way that all anchor producers of each Grand Cru site were shown. As mentioned, of the very top producers, all of their GC wines were shown! For this, sometimes dedicated producer flights were showcased in addition to the appellation flights. The tasting was organized in 12 flights of 4, 48 btls per day over 4 days, with ringers in some of the flights to keep us on our toes. There were also some separate surprise flights in-between and after tasting nite cap bottles, as if we had not enough wines, with ringers from all over the world. All wines, including the ringers, were from the vintage 2000.
Observations:
- To the surprise of many, the whites did not have much premox issues and showed more consistent than the reds (also, not many corked bottles). The light and challenging vintage produced great whites. The best whites were not the heavy ones, but the ones that retained a mineralic, flinty note. They were simply stunning. Some whites where maturity was pushed, smelled too much like a pina colada (pinapple plus cream).
- The reds were light as the medium quality vintage suggests. They are at the end of their drinking window with browning edges. The top reds were excellent, classic and elegant, they gave a lot of pleasure. Producers clearly trumped terroir.
- Leroy and Coche were a class of their own. Boy, are they expensive, but are they awesome. Leflaive, Henri Boillot also top for whites. DRC, Ramonet, Roumier good but not at the level of Madame’s wines – looks like they fired the wrong person at DRC back in the days…
Enjoy the tasting notes of the 4th day.
2000 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut, 95 Points
Aperitiv wine. From MAG. This felt more like a BdB Champagne today with lots of lemon elements and a discrete buttery elements. Very elegant, very precise, lemon oil, quite lean and tight. The is a little spice thought that may point to Pinot said an MW and Champagne expert on the table – they were right.
Flight 1
2000 Domaine Francois Lamarche La Grande Rue, 92 Points
Green and tannic, rich and ripe, commanding masculine tannins, but nice aroma with bakery, pine. Dry finish.
2000 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Romanée St. Vivant, 92 Points
Tannic and rich wine also here, more ripeness, more whole cluster, dry tannins but less dense/pushed. The RSVs did not show as well as the Richebourgs for once.
2000 Nicolas Potel Romanée St. Vivant, 93 Points
Dark cherry and sour cherry aromas. Rich and tannic, finishing drying. Deduct points for tannins, precise otherwise. The RSVs did not show as well as the Richebourgs in this tasting.
2000 Sylvain Cathiard Romanée St. Vivant, 93 Points
Nose here is riper, softer, more advanced but not oxidative, but clearly with some overripe more strawberry marmalade, deducted some points for this feature
Flight 2
2000 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières, 93 Points
Rich, ripe, pine apple, exotic, cream, oak, spices, rich but enough acidity here, still, feels like a ripe Chard.
2000 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières, 100 Points
Wow wine here, lots of lemon aromas, rich, herbs, match stick, awesome aromas. Very nice, generous palate but good acidity, chiseled. In the as good as it gets category.
2000 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières, 92 Points
On the ripe side with pina colada aromas, too rich for me, too ripe. Much more advanced the outer worldly Choche and Boillot next to it.
2000 Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières, 99 Points
Wow, so deep and complex, so precise, lemon curd, flinty elements. Elegant and precise palate. As good as it gets. Wow wine!
Flight 3
2000 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley, 92 Points
Ripe nose, lovely, bakery, ginger bread notes. The palate is really dense with some drying tannins that give a few points deduction.
2000 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares, 94 Points
Nose of strawberry, cool elements as well, precise, cool, impressive. Clear and light color, a bit to watery almost but good overall.
2000 Domaine Thenard Corton-Clos du Roi, 88 Points
Rich and ripe, plum, rum pot, too ripe, sweet palate but drying finish. This is past its prime.
2000 Prince Florent de Merode Corton-Bressandes, 93 Points
A touch of bell pepper, good ripeness though as well from the fruit. Rich, ripe strawberry marmalade Lots of whole cluster, slightly unbalanced. Drink up.
Flight 4
2000 Gerhard Markowitsch Pinot Noir Reserve, 95 Points
Ringer. From MAG. Nose of white chocolate and red fruit, spices. So sweet and succulent on the palate, very generous. Quite unique, different to the Burgs but good in its own right.
2000 Domaine Prieuré Roch Vosne-Romanée Le Clos Goillotte, 95 Points
Cloudy light color, browning rims. The nose is so aromatic here as well, spectacular, stays fresher despite its age. Special.
2000 Kistler Pinot Noir Cuvée Catherine, 95 Points
Ringer. Nose of chocolate cake, chef pastry with cupcake, lots of acidity as well to support the ripeness, stays elegant on the palate. No idea what this is, but it is good.
2000 Gantenbein Pinot Noir, 95 Points
Ringer. Dark chocolate here as well in the nose, pastry cake, good acidity, elegant yet sweet. Generous, good showing like the Kistler next to it.
Flight 5
2000 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, Not Rated
Oxidatdated with Sherry aromas.
2000 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, 98 Points
Holy cow, what a nose! Complex aromas of lemon curd, pop corn, traditional rich proportions yet classic old Burg with fresh, mineralic finish. Top.
2000 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, 95 Points
Richer than the Auvenay Criots next to it. More sweet spices, bready, a bit too plush for a higher score, but still very good.
2000 Hubert Lamy Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, 96 Points
Lighter on the palate, yet very ripe as well, going towards the pine apple spectrum, but still in check, very good, rich finish yet good acidity, if a rich wine can be good than this is an example.
Flight 6
2000 Domaine Martenot Grands-Echezeaux, 95 Points
Nose of gingerbread, cinnamon spice, ripen fruit, good and elegant, a bit thin for a higher score.
2000 Gros Frère et Sœur Grands-Echezeaux, 97 Points
Wow, this was really nice. Whole cluster, plum, cola, rich, ripe, deep and complex. Stays fresh on the palate despite the ripeness. Gros Frere et Soeur can be a hit or miss producer. This was a hit.
2000 Domaine Leroy Chambolle-Musigny Les Fremières, 97 Points
Wow, great wine in the glass here as well. More whole cluster, lots of sweetness, very good, as good as it gets, a bit lighter than the Grand Echs in which flight this was smuggled in. Amanzing what Madame can do with a village level wine…
2000 Domaine Thenard Grands-Echezeaux, 90 Points
The nose here was bready with Maggi, late in the game, fully tertiary. Still decent to drink but needs to be consumed now.
Flight 7
2000 Joseph Drouhin Charmes-Chambertin, 97 Points
Great wine here. Soft, rich, cinnamon, gingerbread, a bit of a Rayas style, lots of sweetness, lighter than the others in this stellar Drouhin a flight but with more aroma. Excellent.
2000 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Louise, 96 Points
Ringer. This was deeper with more more pine tree, darker pitched, masculine, sweet and dark at the same time. Impressive. The Drouhin flight was really excellent across the board in this tasting.
2000 Joseph Drouhin Musigny, 96 Points
Elegant, precise, long, classic, very good and very aromatic, good fruit sweetness as well, cola on the finish. Very fine, very precise. The Drouhin flight was really excellent across the board.
2000 Joseph Drouhin Griotte-Chambertin, 93 Points
Slight pruny, overripe, a bit too much for me, rich, dark black cherry. It was the group’s favorite, usually also my favourite wine of the stable, but not in this line up. The host mentioned that is usually the best wine in the Drouhin stable.
Flight 8
2000 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny, 95 Points
Ringer. Funky nose, complex, earthy, green herbaceous bell pepper CabFranc style. Very green, strict but less tannic than the others. Love this one.
2000 Chateau Musar, Not Rated
Ringer. Fully oxidized.
2000 Abreu Thorevilos, 89 Points
Ringer. This smelled very Italian, high tannins, as drying as it gets on the finish. More like a Barolo. Too tannic. Meh!. Had better bottles of this. Aroma 94, Palate 85
2000 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único, 92 Points
Ringer. Another tannic wine, good aromas though, a bit riper than the Thorevilos next to it. Some bakery notes, high acidity, high tannins.
Flight 9
2000 Domaine Michel Niellon Chevalier-Montrachet, 95 Points
Nose of pear, cider, a bit “off message” for a Grand Cru white Burg, but very good nevertheless, then pine apple on the finish. Ripe but racey enough. Drink up. Strangely, the Chevalier flight did not do nearly as well as anticipated.
2000 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles, 97 Points
Wow, fresh, lemon rind, crisp, rich, mineralic, ripe and racy at the same time. A very grand white Burg.
2000 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles, 88 Points
Very dark yellow, very sweet, drinkable but getting oxidative. Late, drink up. Strangely, the Chevalier flight did not do nearly as well as anticipated.
2000 Domaine Jean Chartron Chevalier-Montrachet Clos des Chevaliers, 94 Points
Hmm, aromatics towards chinese candy, with cinnamon, vanilla, Asian spice box, orange rind. Different than what you would expect from a Chevalier but still ok. Strange, the Chevalier flight did not do nearly as well as expected.
Flight 10
2000 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Mazy-Chambertin, 96 Points
Soft palate here with cola, rich fruit, sweet spice. Impressive overall, elegant and fragrant.
2000 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Latricières-Chambertin, 96 Points
This was darker, deeper pitched, pine, forest floor, elegant, refined, citrus elements as well, cooler sight. Light, really nice.
2000 Domaine Leroy Latricières-Chambertin, 98 Points
Dark fruit, precise, brooding, lots of reserve, very impressive, masculine, opened up with air and displayed amazing complexity.
2000 Faiveley Latricières-Chambertin, Not Rated
Corked
Flight 11
2000 Domaine Prieuré Roch Clos Vougeot, 96 Points
Nose of sweet spices, rich and ripe almost Grenache sweetness and spices intermixed. Beautiful.
2000 Domaine Francois Lamarche Clos Vougeot, 96 Points
Wow, absolutely top as well, more dry extract, fresh, beautiful and aristocratic, this is really held up in the glass and was on par with the best.
2000 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux, 95 Points
Rich fruit here with cola, beautiful, soft, elegant, aromatic, nice and polished. Did not hold up for long in the glass, drink up.
2000 Domaine Leroy Clos Vougeot, 96 Points
Rich and ripe, spice box, great structure too despite its light appearance, slightly dry tannins on the finish but very aromatic and it held up well in the glass.
Flight 12
2000 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Montrachet, 100 Points
Rich and ripe, caramel, beautiful aromas, ripe apple, apple cider, racier htan the other in this flight with pear as well. Really generous, ripe in a good way. Absolutely top.
2000 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet, 99 Points
Fresh, structured rich, yet with appropriate dry extract. Lemon curd and pop corn finish, second favorite of group, also in the as good as it gets category.
2000 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Chevalier-Montrachet, 100 Points
A touch fresher than the others in this to die for flight. Aromas of apple cider, then lemon curd, so much freshness and acidity, A crisp and precise wow wine.
2000 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet, 100 Points
Ok, when you thought this flight could not get any better, this perfect wine came around. Richer, riper but with lots of minerals. This was the favorite of group, rich ripe plush. DRC’s Chard reputation was rescued by its bottle. May be a cooler vintage helped a wine that I usually find too late picked/nutty in its aroma profile.
Encores
2000 Château Latour Les Forts de Latour, 95 Points
Non blind, an addition for the lamb rack main dish. Elegant, precise, restraint and very aromatic claret, lighter than the Grand Vin from a day before (no surprise) and really an excellent food wine today. 95+
1967 Pétrus, 95 Points
Nose of sour cherry, really funky, incredible structure, a little drying, lots of horse saddle, residual sweetness, sugar molasses. Good, but drink up.
1982 Château Haut-Brion, 96 Points
Fully tertiary nose with dark fruit and farmyard. End of life but still with enough energy. Lovely, polished palate.
1973 Maison Leroy Vosne-Romanée Clos de la Goillotte, 87 Points
This was past peak, with lots of farmyard funk, quite acidic as well.
1982 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti, 100 Points
Cloudy color. Wow nose here right of the bat with sour cherry, cured meat, sweet spices. Another of these as good as it gets wine.
Closing Remarks
Simply the biggest and most dazzling tasting of my life. I cannot thank the knowledgeable and exceptionally generous host enough.
Author: Christian Raubach, WSET III, FWS, WSG Champagne Master
August 2022