Bouchard Pere et Fils 2013 Vintage Tasting at Wine Watch

"The First Duty of wine is to be Red...the second is to be a Burgundy"
 Harry Waugh

Ok- but we like the white wines of Burgundy also… and next week we have back to back Burgundy events for you serious Burgundy lovers.  First we have our 2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Vintage Tasting here at Wine Watch on Wednesday, September 2nd and the next night we have a Vertical tasting of Corton Charlemagne from Bonneau du Martray at Café Maxx on Thursday, September 3rd.

We had this 2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils tasting scheduled for a month or so ago but the 2013’s were late in arriving to South Florida.  Instead of canceling the tasting we drank 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 vintage wines from Bouchard Pere et Fils that we had in the store.  Now the 2013’s are here and they have had around a month to rest after their journey across the Atlantic, so we will be hosting our annual new release party for one of our favorite producers in Burgundy Wednesday, September 2nd.  They boast the most premier and Grand Cru vineyards and have had a member of the Bouchard family at the helm here since 1731. 

Luc Bouchard has hosted several tastings throughout the years with us and so have other members of their staff but this year you will have Andy Bouchard conducting the tasting (that’s me).  I was just in France back in may and visited this historic producer and tasted through a bunch of these 2013’s with Luc at the fortress they call a winery in the town of Beaune.  Check out my report on all the wines below and come out to taste these 2013’s with us from village wines to Grand cru all Bouchard Pere et Fils. 

Toni will be making a few small traditional Burgundian dishes to accompany the wines.  This is a sit down pre-poured event and we only have room for 14 tasters.  The fee for this event is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463.

Bouchard Pere et Fils 2013 Tasting at Wine Watch
Wednesday, September 2nd
7pm

Reception:

2012 Bouchard Pere et Fils Bourgogne Chardonnay Reserve
Price: $21.00       Sale $18.48

Reserve Bourgogne Chardonnay is a pale golden color. The nose shows hints of white flesh fruits, including peach and pear. A refreshing and smooth Chardonnay, balanced, with a touch of oak.

The Reds

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Monthelie Les Duresses 1er Cru
Price: $48.50   Sale $42.68     Case $494

Flowers, spices and intense red berry fruit, very exotic tannins ripe and round that exotic spice on the finish very balanced and fresh. Excellent +

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Volnay Caillerets Ancienne Cuvee Carnot 1er Cru
Price: $97.00    Sale $85.36    Case $990
The first vineyard that Bouchard purchased and is one of the top premier crus in Burgundy with a good amount of dark cherry fruit a bit of a vegetal note, aged 10-18 months with 60% new barrels, a good amount of exotic spices, raw steak and rose petal floral notes. A big and chewy wine on the tongue with a good amount of tannins here, that light vegetal note and a slew of spices and a long finish. Finish 45+ Most Excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune Greves Vigne de L'Enfant Jesus 1er Cru
Price: $132.00    Sale $116.16    Case $1347
A beautiful bouquet some barnyard notes with gravelly inertial notes 1791 acquired from the nuns carmelac from the queen of France Ana go atria as a gift there was a statue of baby Jesus and it was so smooth they named it this very gravelly soils so the roots go very deep.  This wine is a bit tightly wound with gritty tannins silky a long gravel laced finish.  Most excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Le Corton Grand Cru
Price: $136.00    Sale $119.68    Case $1388
This wine is a bit more reserved, with a good bit of gravelly mineral like notes exotic spices and cranberry like fruit. Zesty red berry fruit with a nice hand of acidity, a bit reserved wtill tightly wound with a long finish, needs time opening up nicely on the second day this wine needs time but has everything in proportion. Finish 50+ Most Excellent

The Whites

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Meursault Les Clous
Price: $63.50    Sale $55.88    Case $648
A named vineyard that Bouchard owns about 1/5 of this cru, a good amount of tree fruit green apple and lemon drop candy, white flowers and a touch of buttered toast. Smooth and creamy on the tongue with a good amount of bright acidity and fat and round fruit with lovely balance and richness. Finish 40+ Excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Meursault Genevreres 1er Cru
Price: $122.00    Sale $107.36    Case $1245
A good amount of fresh gravelly mineral notes to the bright lemon and apple fruit very nuanced with notes of fresh brioche and a nice touch of oak spice, cinnamon and vanilla bean. Thick and viscous on the tongue with layers of bright citrus, tree fruit and a long layered finish with a firm hand of acidity with tongue tingly mineral notes through the finish. Finish 50+ Most Excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Puligny Montrachet
Price: $83.50    Sale $73.48    Case $852
limestone and clay soils with a good amount of ripe fruits, pear and lemon citrus with a note of flinty gravelly mineral notes. A good amount of ripe tree fruits on the tongue with a firm hand of acidity and tongue tingly minerality on the finish, nicely built with a good amount of lemon drop candy fruit and zesty mineral notes through the finish. finish 45+ Excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru
Price: $200.00    Sale $176.00    Case $2040
A very tightly wound wine on the nose with hints of pine, white peach, apple and lemon drop candy, they own 3.65 hectares of this the largest Grand Cru for whites, up to 20% new oak. This wine has a very rich and decadent texture on the tongue with a chalky mineral note to the finish, very long layered finish, crfeamy and rich but has a firm hand of acidity keeping things fresh through the finish. finish 50+ Most Excellent +
 

Menu

Selection of Cheese:  Epoisses, Chevre and Triple Creme

Pauchouse Burgundian Fish Stew

Coq Au Vin

This is a sit down pre-poured tasting and we are limited to 14 tasters.  The fee for this tasting is $95 + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463.

2013 Vintage Burgundy from Bouchard Pere Et Fils

Here are my notes from my recent visit to Bouchard Pere et Fils with tasting notes on the 2013 wines along with everything Bouchard Pere Et Fils that we have in the store….

Founded in 1731, Bouchard Père & Fils now owns the most fabulous collection of famous vineyards, situated in the heart of the Côte d’Or, where the great wines of Burgundy are born.  Bouchard Pere et Fils owns 130 hectares in cotes d'or making them the largest landowner of classified vineyards with 12 different Grand Cru and 74 different Premier Cru vines with legendary names : Corton-Charlemagne, Clos Vougeot, Montrachet, Beaune Grèves Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus, Volnay Caillerets, Meursault Perrières, Nuits-Saint-Georges les Cailles, to name only a few.  The company trades from the old Château de Beaune, a fortress built in the 15th Century whose bastions with walls as thick as seven meters shield, in the best possible atmosphere, an unequalled collection of exceptional bottles.  Many of these are over a hundred years old and originated before phylloxera invaded the French vineyards. 

The cellars here were built under the reign of Louis the 11th during the 14th and 15th century.  They were built by one of the dukes of burgundy to store arms so they are unique as this was not intended to house wine bottles.  Louis the 16th gave this fortress to the town of Beaune and they were bought by the Bouchard Pere et Fils firm in 1820.  After the French revolution all property of the church was confiscated and sold at auction and it was at this time that Bouchard bought up a lot of vineyards for a very reasonable price.  Today if you were to put a price tag on the vineyards owned here it would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  The have the largest cellar in burgundy with 50,000 bottles of old vintages going back to 1846 Meursault Charmes.  They recork the bottles every 20-40 year, they are sleeping under 10 meters of earth and some of the walls of the cellar are 5-7 meters thick so the conditions are completely perfect and natural.  They are consistently 13-15 degrees Celsius and the humidity is 80-90 percent. 

You can see the old arms bins that now hold wine bottles here in the first picture.  The second picture shows where the three fake walls were placed during the German occupation of this region during WW2.  They have four fake walls constructed to conceal some of the oldest bottles from the Germans.  The third shot is a wall demonstrating just how thick the construction is.

In 1995, the Bouchard family passed the torch on to a very old Champagne family, the Henriots, who have carried on the strategy established by the Bouchards over nine generations. The Domaine expanded in the Côte de Nuits by acquiring parcels in two Grands Crus: "Bonnes Mares" and "Clos Vougeot". Then in 1996 they acquired further vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru "Les Cazetiers".

Finally, in 2005, the Maison inaugurated its new "Saint-Vincent" winery and barrel cellar. The technical team took advantage of 275 years of savoir faire and several years of observation world-wide to carry out this work, so as to maximize the quality of its wines.  With this new winemaking facility, Bouchard Père & Fils is equipped to meet the challenge of the quest for excellence, without concession, in the production of the Grands Vins de Bourgogne.

Luc Bouchard hosted our group for the tasting at the winery and suggested a local restaurant, La Table de Guigone.  This place was very unassuming from the street but the food was divine like the combination of Foie Gras and Sweet breads in a salad format which was spectacular.  The leg of lamb was one of the best that I have ever had and the Beaune du Chateau wines that went with our meal were also incredible as this is one of the best value areas in Burgundy for both red and white. 

If you want to go there while in Burgundy we recommend making reservations as many restaurants in Burgundy are only open 4-5 nights a week- Bouchard Pere et Fils however is one of the easiest wineries to visit as they are open to the public nearly every day of the week and have cellar tours everyday as well in addition to over a dozen wines available for tasting at no charge!! I may have let the cat out of the bag, if you are in Beaune there is no excuse for not stopping by this famous producer and taste through their wines, they are one of the easiest places to tour and see in Burgundy and the wines are excellent.

This 2013's are very sturdy wines.  Skins rather thick longs rotation 2 weeks to 21 days no pumping over to keep freshness in 2013.  Not quite as structured as the 2012’s and more approachable right now, this 2013 vintage should age nicely but they also have a good amount of forward fruit and are charming wines making them a better choice to drink in the short term as opposed to the more structured 2012’s.

2013 - Another Excellent Vintage From Burgundy:

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Gevrey Chambertin
Price: $66.50       Sale $58.52          Case $679
1cs Available

Intense, perfumed bouquet with fruit aromas and an animal touch. Nice structure and lovely fleshiness. Good ageing potential.

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Nuits St Georges
Price: $68.25       Sale $60.06
1cs Available

Intense aromas of berry fruit and spice. Rich, tannic and well structured, this wine develops additional roundness after several years in bottle. Good ageing potential.

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils  Pommard
Price: $67.50       Sale $59.40
1cs Available

Fruity and musky aromas with just the right touch of oak. Structured and firm, this wine has a pronounced personality. Full-bodied in its youth, it softens with age. Good ageing potential.

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils  Santenay
Price: $34.50       Sale $30.36
2cs Available

On the nose, aromas of black berry fruit. This full-bodied wine is underpinned by lovely tannins that give it its character.

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils  Beaune Clos de la Mousse
Price: $63.50       Sale $55.88
2cs Available

Fruit aromas combined with light toasty notes. Both fleshy and refined, Clos de la Mousse reveals its charms with delicacy. Good ageing potential.

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Savigny Les Beaune Les Lavieres
Price: $54.75       Sale $48.18
1cs Available

Delicate bouquet with berry fruit notes. On the palate, seductive with the subtle intensity of its aromas. Good ageing potential

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Volnay Taillpeds
Price: $83.25       Sale $73.26
1cs Available

Aromas of red fruit and berry fruit. With expressive aromas repeated firmly on the palate, this wine has wonderful liveliness, softening with a bit of time and patience. Good ageing potential.

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Chambolle Musigny
Price: $74.00       Sale $65.12          Case $755
2cs Available

The grapes come from the Domaine or through purchase contracts. Bouchard Père & Fils works in a spirit of close collaboration with its partners, to whom it passes on all its knowledge and savoir-faire so as to obtain a harvest that respects its quality requirements.

Wine Watch Tasting Notes:  This is my favorite village wine with a light color and a lot of nuance this wine is not light in flavor but very fine and elegant.  heavy rain flooding in Gevrey wet and warm harvest in Chablis, hail reduced yields once again, this is not 100% Domaine fruit and spends 12 months in 40% new, this wine has a very pretty bouquet of raspberry and strawberry like fruit with pretty floral notes, and exotic spice. Smooth and silky texture on the tongue with a good amount of juicy red berry fruit, pretty spice and a lovely freshness on the finish, lots of spice and perfume on the finish. Finish 45+ Excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Nuits St Georges Les Cailles
Price: $130.25    Sale $114.62
1cs Available

A good amount of small stones in the vineyards for this wine lends a distinct minerality to this wine which is a nice and balanced elegant style, the vineyard was acquired in 1997.  A bit of smoky toasty oak red cherry exotic spices they reduced the amount of new oak, they work with 5 different coppers, beautiful spice dry tannins very big but still balanced very long finish.  Most excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Savigny les Beaune

This wine is 40% estate fruit with a good amount of incense spice, dried flowers and red berry fruit, a smooth and velvety wine with nice purity of fruit, the 2013’s have more rich and forward fruit appeal than 2012.  This was a very small crop cool weather during flowering, the third year in a row that they have had damaging hail and this year it was on the 23rd of July.  Excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Pommard 1er cru

Lighter Color black raspberry fruit 50% of normal crop three premier crus one on top one in the middle rose petal floral notes has chalk tannins a bit tart at the end nice spice and floral notes through the finish.  Excellent +.  Not over extracted

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Vosne Romanee les suchots

Silky velvety with good concentration of cherry liqueur like fruit exotic spices and a long finish.  This wine has lots of volume but also has nice long layered finish.  Finish 50 +  Most Excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Chambertin Clos de beze

From the same parcel every year they control everything this is wine has a lot of exotic spice pretty potpourri of flowers and a good amount of rich red cherry liqueur like fruit very big and chewy with a long layered finish black and red berry fruit with graphite.  Bright and zesty spice laced finish very well balanced with a long layered finish 50 +. Most Excellent

2013 white Burgundy

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Pouilly Fuisse
Price: $29.25       Sale $25.97

The star of the Mâcon appellations lies at the foot of the Solutré and Vergisson crags that rise into the sky like two immense bows of a ship. Pouilly-Fuissé not to be confused with Pouilly fumé which is a wine from the Loire - has become very famous throughout the world. Connoisseurs like its elegance and lively, silky texture.

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune Clos St Laundry
Price: $63.75       Sale $56.10
1cs Available

Suave aromas harmoniously blended with just the right touch of oak. This is a rich wine with expressive aromas and extraordinary smoothness. Good ageing potential.

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Chassagne Montrachet
Price: $76.25      Sale $67.10         Case $778
1cs Available

After also higher acidity than 2012 the low yields gave the wines.  Very good fruit with a clean fresh finish a tongue tingly finish lemon citrus and pear 10% new oak

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Meursault Perrieres

Three parcels go into this blend little stones next to Puligny and this wine can be very right but this wine has lots of concentration of fruit and good minerality.  This wine is very well built with a nice raciness and a long mineral laced finish.  Finish 50+.  Most excellent

2013 Bouchard Pere et Fils Chevalier Montrachet Grand Cru

The only use 15% new oak with this great Grand Cru of consisting of only 8 hectares and they own 1/3 of the appellation.  This wine has a richness and complexity and a firm hand of acidity.  This wine is tightly wound with a long layered finish 50 +   I would like to try this wine in 20 + years. Lots of minerality.  KILLER