06 November, 2008

2005 Philippe Charlopin-Parizot Red Burgundies @ Artisan Cellars Showroom

Domaine Philippe Charlopin-Parizot is somewhat of a mystery. Amongst several burgundy loving friends, his is a esteemed domaine, one which they passionately search for rather than incidentally purchase. But although many have heard of his name, the coverage he's got through the wine press is surprisingly limited. Considering that the domaine has been around for three decades and growing in size and diversity all these while, this is quite a paradox. My personal encounters with this wine in the past had admittedly been focused on his Gevrey-Chambertin grand crus, namely the Charmes-Chambertin and the Chambertin. All the wines showed deep bright colours and possessed admirable concentration. I have always noted his wines to always evolve positively in the glass. And I have also observed that the wines are progressively becoming more pure and detailed in the recent vintages.

Charlopin's red burgundies are not made in what one would term as traditional in style. This does not mean that he makes over-extracted pinot noirs as opposed to burgundies with character and transparency. For one, it is praiseworthy for Charlopin to insist on making sure he gets as much percentage of old vines in his vineyards as possible, even right down to his village wines. Our tasting tonight confirmed it because none of the wines suffered from shallow fruits lacking natural ripeness. Charlopin, like Fourrier, believes in trapping CO2 released in the bottle to preserve freshness of his wines and prevent reduction. Partially for this reason I took time to air the bottle for no less than an hour before tasting began, and decanted all the grand crus in a semi-wide decanters. Of course the other obvious reason for decanting the grand crus was to allow these phenomenally dense 2005s to relax a little more. I certainly did not relish the thought of chewing oak-scented fruit gum nor expect our guests to enjoy doing that too!

2005 red burgundies are formidable, complete red burgundies, ones whose similar examples I have yet to come across these past decade and more, and if we recall, there were many great vintages produced (think 1996, 1999, 2001 and 2002). While these vintages are excellent and I love them for many different reasons, none by its own merits can match the sheer genius and serendipitously positive natural events that characterised the 2005 vintage. This is why I took a lot of care to prepare for the tasting, trying my darnedest to showcase the wonders these 'babies' will become one day. And I know in our showroom I have full control for at least the preparation and presentation of the wines.

As it turned out, as risky as this little adventure may sound, the wines turned out superbly, particularly at the villages level. Even the grand crus allowed us enough peek into the future. The strengths of the vintage and Charlopin's deft winemaking were positively displayed. The tasting was full and many of us stayed back to try a couple more Charlopin wines in continuation to the enjoyment of the six wines presented at the tasting. The characters of the 3 communes (Morey, Vosne and Gevrey) were distinctly demonstrated, and the step up from villages to grand crus in a comparative tasting like this was illuminating. All the wines were poured into the glass before the tasting began to allow for further expansion of flavours. In the first flight we examined the villages wines, and then moved on to second flight for the grand crus.

As our friends started to stream in, we opened the 2006 Vincent Dauvissat Irancy to serve as apéritif. Coming from the stable of this top Chablis maker, this seemingly 'simple' red wine is full of fresh cut flowers, strawberries and red cherries. Brisk but also juicy, with repeating fresh cherries and slatey minerality in the mouth. An uncomplicated but refreshing red, which makes for both a tasty aperitif as well as easygoing companion at the dinner table (88 points).

The first flight opened with the 2005 Morey-Saint-Denis with its immediate bright red pinot fruits, airy and gently sweet. Pliant, succulent and cool in the mouth, this is a very pretty and understated wine. The 2005 sweetness is already showing through. Elegant and classy but this will age deceptively well (88+ points). A few of our friends tonight adored the quiet elegance and prettiness of this wine. Moving on to the 2005 Vosne-Romanée. Reticent at first but a little while later, ripe dark raspberry nose with hints of star anise and wood spice emerged. Ever changing, revealing sappy dark fruits later on with pronounced Vosne character. We were all thankful we could capture the evolution of this wine throughout the one-and-a-half hour we spent with this wine in front of us; I suppose this is the benefit of a real sit-down tasting with individual glass for each wine. This wine borders of stepping up to the next level (89 points).

When everyone sniffed on 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin "Cuvée Vielles Vignes", nobody was indifferent and the "wows" started popping up around the table. This is definitely a wine of character, with a singular personality and a nonchalant display of gôut du terroir as only a red burgundy from Gevrey-Chambertin can display. Complex, gamey and earthy aromas, quite pungently meaty. The old vines give the wine a creamy texture replete with mineral infused raspberries. Premier cru quality juice, no question about it (90+ points).

As we moved to the grand crus on the second flight, the experience was raised to another level altogether. The first wine, 2005 Clos-Saint-Denis, Grand Cru was deceptively delicious: already luscious and oozing with liqueur like sweetness. Generous and vivacious for a grand cru from this vintage, with predominant pristine strawberry and blueberry fruits one might normally find in a Morey wine. Again, quite creamy in the mouth. Intense but rather fleshy today, this is in need of shedding its baby fats. Firmed up after more than an hour in the glass, hence a good upside potential there (91+ points). Many thought the 2005 Echezeaux, Grand Cru to be simply sublime. Suave spicy berries flavours with a distinct minty coolness in the mouth. Very Vosne-like, there was no rustic-edge characteristics typical of young Ech though. Yet this carried the terroir commendably. There is a positive tension in this wine that I like very much. Very refined and quite effortlessly long. Unlike how I would normally describe an Echezeaux, this will be a beauty. Already showing superb balance and precision (93 points). The 2005 Charmes-Chambertin, Grand Cru took us to a different place. Deeply pitched dark fruits but still very reticent. Intense, brooding and like the Gevrey Vielles Vignes, this came across as rather gamey at first. However, compared to the excellent villages, the concentration of this grand cru went two steps up. Showing a rather wild edge today but turns more refined and airy with extended aeration. Plenty of upside to anticipate (92+ points).

As the tasting went on, we kept going back to each glass over and over again. The advantage of having each wine in each glass with sufficient pour was fully realised as the development of each wine could be studied in the next one and a half hour. The distinction between communes and crus really got everyone rather excited, and before long someone got the ball rolling to contribute a 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin "Bel-Air", 1er Cru from our cellar. Sweet wild raspberries on the nose with almost Chambolle-like spices. Airy, cool and very light in the mouth. Very sleek and elegant. Full of focus and precision thanks to the incisive minerality, and one which impresses with its fineness, not power. Plenty of upside ahead (91+ points). And as they said, good deed begets good deed. Another friend contributed the 2005 Chambolle-Musigny to see how a different commune might taste like. This was quite fine, luscious with ripe red fruits, not unlike a good Chateauneuf du Pape but without the alcohol. It turned spirit-like after a while with focused creamy raspberries flavours. For all the explosive succulent fruits in the mouth this wine is curiously still rather reticent aromatically (88 points). We concluded the night with another contribution by a friend who proudly proclaimed he liked the Gevreys best tonight. His pick of 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin "La Justice" took us back to the pungent minerality of Gevrey earth. Similar meat and game aromatic profile as the Vielles Vignes but with a wilder edge and slightly less powerful. The fruit profile is more red than dark fruits here. Still slightly sullen because of the CO2, but after sitting a while in the glass, like the others, started to put on natural sweetness that is unmistakably 2005 (89 points). My personal thanks to those who contributed these bottles, extending and expanding our tasting experience tonight.

I am reminded that just a weekend ago, we tried Charlopin's 2005 Chambertin, Grand Cru at a friend's house. In fact that bottle belonged to a good friend who, true to the manners of a genuine wine lover, was just happy to share with everyone -- just like our customers and friends who turned up this evening for the tasting. The Chambertin was decidedly formidable. Dark fruits, wild berries and an almost curranty flavours. Roast meat, scorched earth and game were all there too, along with smoke and espresso. What gave interest was the energy of the wine, testimony to superb acidity, as well as the scale of the wine in the mouth. The longer it sat in the glass, the more minerally and brighter the fruits got. A wine of great stature (94+ points).

The Charlopin style marries enlightened winemaking with the burgundian spirit. I was impressed by the fact that there are clear distinctions between different terroirs/communes in spite of the fact that they came from a dense and powerful vintage 2005 wines which, by any account, is still quite young to taste; indeed a well balanced set of wines which deserve more public exposure. Well, at least I know that our friends who attended the tasting have had the chance for this discovery.

PS:
Another friend took 2 bottles of Charlopin's 2005 Marsannay "en Montchenevoy" to dinner the other day and told me the next day that they were delicious... So I know it's not just us at the tasting who were happy with Charlopin's wines...