(Please see my overall vintage review here.)
An outstanding set of wines here, notwithstanding the challenging conditions of the vintage.
An outstanding set of wines here, notwithstanding the challenging conditions of the vintage.
Jean-Nicolas Méo said that harvesting began on 29 August at Corton and then continued on 1 September for the Clos-de-Vougeot. Yields were generous, some vineyards set records. There was some green harvesting over the summer, too. The wines are between 12.9% and 14% alcohol. Malic acidities were low, and the malo-lactic fermentations accordingly were quick. Almost all wines were from entirely destemmed grapes.
In spring and early summer, Vosne-Romanée suffered quite a bit of mildew and some oïdium after that. As a result, although the estate has long followed organic practices, in 2018 it was necessary to use some chemical treatments. From 15 July on, there were no more problems in the vineyards.
Jean-Nicolas compares the vintage to 1989 and 1985, two ripe vintages that have lasted well.
These wines were served from samples that had been bottled and then a Coravin was used for serving, a practice that makes wines more difficult for me to judge.
We start with two whites:
2018 Bourgogne-Hautes Côtes de Nuits Clos Saint-Philibert
The heat of recent vintages has been most beneficial for the wines from the Hautes Côtes, of which this is always a leading example. The wine show good acidity, stoniness, and minerality in a medium-weight body with plenty of freshness. It is a mini-Chevalier-Montrachet in style. (90-92)
2018 Saint-Romain
Saint-Romain is another cold climate that is benefitting from the heat. The wine shows freshness, acidity, and lime fruit. This wine is from grapes that Méo-Camuzet purchased (and harvested) and will be bottled under the Méo-Camuzet Frère & Soeurs label. (90-92)
Passing to the reds:
2018 Bourgogne-Côte d'Or Pinot Noir Cuvée Domaine
I understand that in addition to this estate wine, there is a negociant Méo-Camuzet Frère et Soeurs version. This wine shows crushed cassis fruit, a smooth texture, freshness, firmness, and a medium-light body. (87-89)
2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges
This wine features dark fruits that are focused, pure, fresh, and intense with good balance and density. (91-93)
2018 Vosne-Romanée
The Vosne is intense with spicy dark fruits and quality tannins. (91-93)
2018 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras
This is one of several vineyards from the old Tim Marshall estate that Méo-Camuzet farms, yet the wine is technically a negociant wine, and so will be bottled under the Méo-Camuzet Frère & Soeurs label. The wine is beautifully pure and precise with red fruits, a bit of dark ones, stoniness, nervosity, and good energy and penetration. (92-95)
2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Perrières
The Perrières is another Méo-Camuzet Frère & Soeurs wine from the ex-Tim Marshall estate that Méo now farms. The wine is dense with dark fruits, but less minerality than usual. It is smooth in texture and shows quality tannins. (91-93)
2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Murgers
The Murgers has floral aromas. The palate is dense with cassis and dark plum fruit, freshness, and excellent depth. (92-94)
2018 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots
In contrast to the other wines, Boudots was made with a bit of stems. It is an elegant Boudots with earthy dark and red fruits, a creamy texture, and round tannins. (92-94)
2018 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes
This is quite good Chaumes with minerality, density, and dark fruits in a medium-weight body and overall elegance that one hasn’t always found in Chaumes. (91-94)
2018 Clos-de-Vougeot
Méo’s holdings in the Clos are superb and the wine is always reflects this fact. The wine has greater density, depth, and penetration than the foregoing. It shows dark fruits with salinity, finesse, and power. (93-95)
2018 Corton Clos Rognet
Probably the most underrated wine in Méo’s line up, the Corton Clos Rognet is silky in texture with long red fruits and overall elegance. (94-96)
2018 Echézeaux Les Rouges du Bas
This used to be one of the less-inspiring wines in Méo-Camuzet’s stable, but recent vintages have shown tremendous improvement. I asked Jean-Nicolas about it, and to give the short version, vines were replanted nearly twenty years ago to better vegetal material and those vines are now beginning to be mature. The wine shows Echézeaux sensuality with red and dark fruits, a light texture that floats above the tongue, minerality, and freshness. (94-96)
2018 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brulées
Located on the south slope of the Brulées vineyard, abutting Richebourg, the Brulées is always a star at Méo-Camuzet, and it’s no different in 2018. The nose is floral and spicy.The mouth is dense with pure dark fruits , minerality, and a denseness of texture so that the wine rolls off the tongue. (95-97)
2018 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Cros Parantoux
Most vintages, Jean-Nicolas picks the Cros Parantoux at the end of the harvest, but in 2018 he changed his picking order, as did many other producers. The nose is floral with dark fruits. The mouth is even more dense than that of the Brulées with dark fruits, the exoticism of Cros Parantoux and Richebourg, freshness, and seemingly endless length in the mouth. (96-98)
2018 Richebourg
Last, the Richebourg is impressive for its dark fruits, especially plums, and shows outstanding length and structure, but it doesn’t match the freshness of the Cros Parantoux and Brulées. (95-97)