Vosne-Romanée 1er Crus Tasting Dinner in Shanghai

Last week I attended a wonderful, wonderful tasting event hosted in Shanghai by The Fine Wine Experience, a renowned wine merchant based in Hong Kong. This was one of the “BURGHOUND SYMPOSIUM” series with Allen Meadows as one of the hosts; other events (featuring more Grand Crus) took place in Hong Kong and Bangkok, too.

2016 was not an easy year at all. The winter was mild but severe frost hit at the end of April when growth cycle had just begun. The damage was significant and reduced the future harvest a lot. Flowering started in mid-June and only lasted for a few days. A dry and hot period from July to September allowed for good level of maturity. 

(All wines on the list are from 2016 and Vosne-Romanée 1er Crus, in tasting order, every three of them in a flight)

1. Domaine Michel Gros, “Clos des Réas”: tasted salty and high minerality due to the fact that the soil was made up from a Bajocian marl, predominantly of fossilized shellfish.

2. Domaine Méo-Camuzet, “Les Chaumes”: acidity was highest in the first flight and was tightest of them; almost had an iron note to its palate. Allen explained how this Premier Cru benefited from… the run-over soils from La Tache 🙂 

3. Domaine de Montille, “Aux Malconsorts”: surprised to see this in the first flight! The fragrant nose definitely stood out compared to 1 and 2. Acidity was also high. However, it did not last very long and gave in to oxidation after a while.

4. Domaine Jean-Pierre Guyon, “En Orveaux”: one of the finest texture for the night made me understand the pursuit of this producer in recent years.

5. Domaine Jean Grivot, “Les Rouges”: one of the more bizarre wines for the night. The nose exploded with popcorn – a sign of very high reduction. Even so in the palate. It never really went away even after an hour in the glass. The sommelier sittingnext to me reported this as well but not the lady across the table – maybe bottle variance? 

6. Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat, “Les Beaumonts”: another “off” feeling wine in the flight… nose and taste were both yeasty and sweet, reminding me of a Champagne (at this point I was questioning my senses, lol). Luckily it improved a bit and tasted classy and refined.

7. Domaine Lamarche, “La Croix Rameau”: a tiny, tiny plot that sits almost inside Romanée Saint-Vivant. Lots of red fruits and very bright acidity. This one was great!

8. Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet, “Les Suchots”: The largest 1er Cru in VR. Fragrant on nose with delicate spice; still tight in the palate, though.

9. Domaine Jean Grivot, “Aux Brûlées”: initially like (6) but it went away, too. A load of Vosne spices on this one; was it “burnt”? 🙂

10. Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, “Les Reignots”: Allen said this was one of his favorite 1er Crus in VR. It was on a steep slope and so narrow that vignerons had to use horses for plowing. A bit tight at the beginning but it rewarded patience with great precision and silky texture.  Another interesting point was that while Allen stated SC exemplified “less is more” in his winemaking philosophy, the wine program head of the organizer company took a sniff and said “… interesting for Allen to say so; for me I can always blind (call) an SC as they tasted just like SC".

11. Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet, “Les Petits Monts”: located just above Richebourg, balanced and subtle.

12. Domaine Emmanuel Rouget, “Cros Parantoux”: the final one and jewel in the crown… the immense energy it possessed was way above others by a margin. Bright acidity but savory at the same time, delicious but in great balance. Behind the savoriness was a lingering hint of vegetal note, what a wine!

A night to remember; huge kudos to the organizers and the hosts for how well this was setup and prepared. The only complaint I could possibly have was the dinner food… but who came here for food, anyways?

I do have two takeaways: (1) had I do it again, I might use a spittoon at the first half of such events, (2) even inside Premier Crus of VR, producer is still the key!