Boyer-Martenot 2004 dinner with Sylvie Boyer

There's been many discussion (at least within) my group about the 2004 vintage. It is after all a vintage whose wines are going to appear in the market in the next few months. After the hugely successful 2002 vintage -- which precipitated, amongst others, the escalating prices of burgundy and turning the whole world to christen this region the new darling of the wine world -- followed by the super-ripe heat-infused and early harvesting 2003 vintage which not few publications, especially those of American origin tend to rate highly, it is understandable why there's a lot of expectations on the 2004 vintage. Since the wildly successful 2002 vintage, many onlookers had suddenly diverted their attention to the recent vintages and many had found that despite the less glamorous appeal of the preceding vintages (save for 1999), they now realised that Burgundy had been -- on comparative grounds -- rather successful these past few years. To us the diehard burgheads of course we had known this all along (smirk) and so had been downing with gusto our delicious 1998s & 2000s, and cross-analysing -- with lots of intellect and satisfaction no less -- the 2001s while we confidently await the coming around of the now-dormant 1999s and the still-simple 2002s.

2004, however, does not seem blessed with the good reputes of these preceding vintages. According to many records and reports, the weather pattern was more erratic and challenging. It doesn't help either that not many had tried the wine in the bottle and so the relative pessimism of its wines cannot be mitigated by the proof in the bottle.

I for one have learnt that it doesn't pay to be general and conclusive about any given vintage. I take this stand after many discoveries exploring the wines of the region and have now safely reached a stage where I can, with all honesty, recognise and, more importantly, celebrate vintage variations. My eagerness for tasting 2004 stems from the fact that no one is the better than one who has tasted the wines and has done so as widely as possible. And so I begin my journey of the 2004 with white burgundies from the domaine of Yves Boyer-Martenot and Sylvie Boyer (negociant).

The chevalier congregated to celebrate the Chinese New Year via a tradition beloved and institutionalised by the Singaporean chinese called Lo Hei. The ritual basically includes the tossing of raw fish salad by the whole bunch of us wishing each other prosperity, health and other things auspicious. This time it was held at the Crystal Jade Palace Restaurant at Ngee Ann City.

We started out with the white wines from Sylvie Boyer. First on the lineup (aperitif) was an Auxey-Duresses. The first thing that really hit me was the juicy malic acid that seemed to take the centerstage. "Hmmm... I like it already." I thought, the acid-freak that I am. With further aeration, this came across as meaty and finished with some degree of rusticity. Straightforward, food-friendly wine. (The same bottle, which I managed to taste the day after was somewhat more fleshed out, and seems like a miniature pre-mature Corton Charlie..., i.e., minus the intensity, midpalate and size). St. Aubin 1er Cru from the same house was served next. This has a bit more obvious oak handling with an elegant aroma of pencil shaving and grilled peanut skins. On the palate this was more juicy but still with a hint of earth. As with the Auxey, this finished with a forceful and lifting acid but with somewhat broad shape which lacked some penetration and cut. Still this is more complete than the previous one.

Moving on to the domaine bottling, we started out with a flight of two villages level Meursault. It was remarkable that at once we seem to be dealing with a totally different beasts altogether -- almost as if the wines were made by different grapes (which it wasn't) and the origins clearly differed. The l'Ormeau wine had a creamier, more refined nose. Ripe pineapples (a somewhat trademark of Meursaults) and far more penetrating in the mouth than the previous wines. Still lacking midpalate presence somehow... The Narvaux was a more complete wine and very Meursault upfront. Caramel-infused nose with gunflint hints and the same pineapple-y fruits. Leaner, denser and very primary in the mouth. The austere malic acidity was obvious behind the more sizeable structure and volume than its l'Ormeau sibling. A near complete villages wine.

The next duo was quite anticipated -- at least by me. These are probably the most famous of the Meursault 1er cru vineyards. Again, the up-class breed, intensity and flavour sets are evident. The Charmes showed melons and buttery warm nose, leading toward a palate sensation that was mouthfilling and somewhat structured acid cut I have come to be convinced is a (welcome) feature of this vintage. At once fat, supple and generous with pineapple-y acids which was delicious. I have yet to taste a disappointing Meursault Perrieres and the next bottle perpetuate the unbroken string of excellent Perrieres I've crossed path with. This was entirely different. It was evidently classier, racier and more profound -- not in the manner of lush fruits, but in terms of minerality and saline suggestions. Chicken broth , minerals, earth, and grilled peanuts were the aromas I found in this wine. In the mouth, it was incredibly sharply delineated and hugely penetrating. A linear wine from start to finish. Had there been a slightly more depth and length, this would have been nothing short of incredible. Still, without a doubt, the wine of the evening for me. Downright palate-staining and intense.

Moving across to the famous area of Puligny-Montrachets, Boyer presented one villages and a 1er cru. The villages les Reucheaux was, in my opinion, sadly wrongly placed after the Perrieres. While this is a respectably well-built wine which reflects its origin quite well, there was nothing too noteworthy about it other than it showed the white peach Puligny characteristic clearly but without the midpalate sap I have come to be addicted to at this point of the evening. The subsequent wine, the 1er cru les Caillerets, was a good blend of the delicateness of Puligny and the generosity of Meursaults. It was round and had a nice floral hints to it. It was probably the most ready wine for the night, very delicious -- perhaps too delicious given the youthfulness of the vintage. (I was told that all the wines were pre-commercial bottlings.)

Sylvie Boyer's red wine bottlings were next. The Monthelie was meaty and red-fruit driven on the nose. Berries and a touch of rusticity framed this otherwise very food-friendly wine. Its virtue was its uncomplicatedness. Fairly balanced, it was let down by a rather cloying finish. But then again, at villages level coming from a reasonably difficult vintage, I really shouldn't be complaining, should I?

This was followed by the villages Volnay. While a lot of people found this wine to be a classier, more seductive wine than the preceding wine (I won't disagree with that), I found some troubles with this bottle. Candied fruits, sweet, rather stemmy on the nose, with light and somewhat (again) cloying sweetness, perhaps more so than the Monthelie which had rusticity to balance it off. This had dehydrated sweetness and was probably affected by the hails the region was so famous for in this vintage. Turned syrupy and disjointed in the end.

The 1er cru Volnay les Carelles also shared the same candied berries nose as the villages wine but was cleaner from start to finish. The sweetness too had a more snappy feel to it, and overall there was better density in the midpalate and reasonable length. Delicious wine for dinner.

The dinner ended right about then, after which Andy, Sylvie and I went to Mezza9 @ Hyatt for a chat and drink and we cracked open a Bruno Giacosa Nebbiolo d'Alba 2003 which was a very very nice wine. Sappy dark cherries, tobacco and ash mixed in a very accessible and unusual way. This had the ripeness of the vintage plus a good deal of freshness and fantastic tannic grip at the back. If anything it lacked the nobility I am sure the bigger Barolo and/or Barbaresco brothers would bring when they are released in a couple of years' time. Lovely anyways.....