White wines: the "war of styles"!

Below is the article published in the 25th anniversary issue of Bourgogne Aujourd'hui, dedicated to the ongoing "war of styles" in Burgundy. As a reminder, any subscription to a digital version of Bourgogne Aujourd'hui or any purchase of a single issue grants immediate online access to the relevant issue(s). 

To try and find a solution to the problem of premature oxidation, while also meeting consumers' supposed demand for fresh and "taut" wines, winemakers are exploring very different technical approaches. The debate intensifies at harvest time, with widely spaced harvest dates and Meursault today, it stands out as a catalytic vineyard in this "war of styles". In partnership with the Maison Pion, at Meursault , which distributes wines from around twenty estates Meursault We wanted to verify whether, by tasting blind, it was really so simple to classify the wines into the three profiles: "taut", "rich" and "balanced"; we also verified whether each of these categories corresponded to a common technical route.

The tasting

Twenty-two Meursaults- villages were tasted blind in September 2019 at the offices of Pion Le Meilleur du Vin, in Meursault by Olivier Pion, Managing Director, Vincent Lainé, Head of Communications, Gilles Trimaille, Emeritus Taster of Bourgogne Aujourd'hui and Christophe Tupinier 20 from the 2017 vintage and 2 from 2014. Fifteen (all from 2017) are reviewed below; the other 7 were closed and showed poor condition on the day of tasting. The wines were selected from among Pion's partner estates and by Bourgogne Aujourd'hui.

Profile of "tense" wines

Anne Boisson Rich aromas of yellow fruits, citrus, pepper blanc … The wine has a lot of depth, a long finish, in a juicy, fresh, pure, “taut” style… One can easily project oneself into the future!

Domaine Coche-Dury: Gold-green robe. Fine, pure, subtle aromas of menthol, citrus, toast… The wine is long on the palate, chiseled, saline, dense, not yet settled but the aging potential is evident!
Domaine Génot-Boulanger – The Meix Chavaux Le domaine This is one of the last vineyards to have harvested (on September 11th), yet the wine is considered "taut"... Aromas are still discreet and pure, with citrus notes. The palate is full of energy, long, with lovely lemony fruit and a savory finish.
Rémi Jobard – Les Chevalières. Beautiful gold-green color. Precise, fresh aromas of menthol, fennel, and citrus, with an elegant toasty note. This is the archetype of a very successful "taut" wine: pure, lemony, mineral, and with a long finish.

"Rich" wine profile

Domaine Buisson-Charles – Old Vines Aged for nearly two years, this meursault It expresses intense aromas of yellow fruits, ginger, and spices… The wine is opulent, with juicy fruitiness and a pure, saline finish. A wine that is already delicious and built to age beautifully.

Raymond Dupont-Fahn – Les Tillets The initial nose is not very expressive, but with aeration, notes of ripe yellow fruit emerge. There is a great deal of richness and opulence on the palate, without heaviness, and with potential.
Vincent Girardin – Vieilles Vignes Golden robe. Expressive aromas of yellow fruits, lemon tart… Lots of substance on the palate, density, with a still a little “tight” side, but we bet without fear on the future.

Alain Gras – Les Tillets. Aromas of ripe yellow fruits with an exotic note: fresh mango, pineapple… The wine is rich, full-bodied, with a creamy texture on the palate. A good wine to pair with a meal.
Albert Grivault – Clos From Murger: Discreet, sweet aromas with floral and toasty notes… The wine is rich, opulent, with an almost impressive body. This is a meursault Thoroughbred, on guard!

François Labet – Les Tillets. Golden robe. Rich and precise aromas of yellow fruits and spices… The wine is rich, generous, almost compact, and saline. It is not the most open of the series, but one of the best equipped to age well.

Vincent Prunier – Les Clous Aromas of open yellow fruits, spices… The oak still marks the wine a little, but the whole is concentrated, rich, generous and without heaviness.

Domaine Caravan – The Meix Chavaux: Fresh, mentholated, floral, and spicy aromas, with a charming yellow fruitiness. The wine has richness, body, a beautiful volume, fine bitterness, a lovely balance, and a precise finish. A "controlled" richness.

Profile of "balanced" wines

Michel Bouzereau – Les Tessons Aroma of linden, citrus, flowers, with a woody-toasty note. On the palate, the "fruit sweetness" and density are balanced by a juicy side, all with great class and elegance.

Domaine Fichet – Les Gruyaches Fresh, precise nose of lemon cream, linden, peach, with a woody-toasty note… The wine is both indulgent, with its ripe and juicy fruitiness, chiseled, almost “airy”, with a beautiful length.

Domaine Michelot – Clos Saint-Felix monopole. Sweet, expressive aromas of yellow fruits, lemon tart, and white flowers. Rich, fresh, crisp juice on the palate, with omnipresent fruitiness, enveloped by beautiful oak and a noble reduction.

Conclusions

Before delving further into the analysis of this tasting, which made no claim to scientific rigor, it's helpful to clarify what we mean by "taut," "rich," and "balanced" wine profiles. A "rich" wine can have freshness, and conversely, a "taut" wine can have substance. But to summarize, a "taut" wine will have a slender profile, focused on purity, while a "rich" wine will be more dominated by a sensation of opulence and density on the palate; the "balanced" profile falls somewhere in between. These are sometimes subtle nuances, even for experienced tasters… Is the harvest date, since it's the hot topic of the moment, enough to explain the stylistic differences? No! Two estates, whose wines were considered "taut," harvested almost two weeks apart (August 30th for Anne Boisson and September 11th for Génot-Boulanger), while three other estates (Michel Bouzereau Roulot and Rémi Jobard harvested their wines around the same time (September 4th and 5th), yet they fall into all three categories. So what's the problem? We asked the estates to provide information on the following points: harvest date, type of press, and whether or not they underwent "tight" settling. vinification and aging in barrels and/or tanks, percentage of new barrels, malolactic fermentation or not, aging time with or without tank fermentation before bottling, filtration and/or fining. Reading the technical sheets confirms different choices between winemakers, but makes it impossible to associate a "typical" technical approach with a single "profile." Some dominant characteristics do emerge (pneumatic press, relatively short settling periods to retain lees, long aging of sixteen months or more, little or no lees stirring, a proportion of new barrels around 20%, etc.), but these are common to all three profiles. It is therefore clear that many other parameters influence the "profile," such as yields per plot, the terroir, and of course, the winemaker's own style.

Christophe TUPINIER

Publishing Director