As long time followers of this Blog are aware your scribe with lots of learning experience is a passionate admirer of Chablis. Many postings including links here of August 28, 2023, June 1, 2020, and September 4, 2017. The first two provide vintage assessments back to 2007 and the last one describes the Grand Cru vineyards in some detail with the fine distinctions between them. Two years ago at the Vancouver Tastevin Paulee many fine examples with the 2014 Les Clos Domaine Christian Moreau (DCM) edging out 2020 Moutonne Long-Depaquit & 2010 Les Clos Domaine William Fevre (DWF). An exciting Summer event on July 29, 2025 at Blue Water Cafe of the Vancouver Group of Eight with spouses provided another opportunity for a Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru vertical update. Some impressions on the two flights served plus 3 other vintages of Les Clos DCM tasted this past month totalling 11 notes:

We started with an exquisite 2012 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL ROSE CHAMPAGNE of 56PN/44C with 15% oak ferment & saignee method colour on a perfect plateau rounded and silky full rich body with delicate finesse + class. We finished with 1983 CHATEAU BRANE-CANTENAC MARGAUX better than their 1982 with mature open complex bouquet but drying with prominent acidity on the finish more welcome when paired with a superb chicken supreme course. Also dark gold 1990 CHATEAU RIEUSSEC SAUTERNES  forwardly apricot honey sweet and powerful – almost very ripe peaches like the appropriate dessert.

2022 CHABLIS LES CLOS DCM: Young look with clean fresh more Macon-like Chardonnay fruit. Excellent but softer juicier rounder textures than the old classic vintages coming together more forwardly with less apparent high acidity. Easy & delightful already but with some future. Consumer friendly. Buy 2022 instead of riper large crop 2023 & less successful 2024. 2023 had more Summer rains than 2022 with more potassium in the grapes that increases the pH therefore with less typical Chablis distinctive acidity tartness.

2016 CHABLIS LES CLOS DCM: Frost & hail issues. Bottle variation with one showing pre-mox and the other better but still needed to drink currently. Ready to enjoy now from a mixed variable year.

2014 CHABLIS LES CLOS DCM: Brilliant green tinged so bright and vibrant. Still so young and balanced. Pure intriguing mineral complex bouquet just starting to develop. Outstanding structure and long aging potential with finesse & delicacy. Clearly the wine of the flight. Not convinced Raveneau or Dauvissat is better than this. What a vintage! What a wine!

2005 CHABLIS LES CLOS DCM: Full excellent year is better for Burgundy reds than whites. Bottle variation here too. One maderizing but other drinking on a beautiful aged mature plateau but lacks the energy vigour zip of unique best Grand Cru Chablis.

2020 CHABLIS LES CLOS MAISON JOSEPH DROUHIN-VAUDON: Deeper darker look yet balanced but seems “sweeter” in style than the others. Prefer 2020 DCM over this showing more structure and balance.

2014 CHABLIS LES CLOS DWF: That 2014 vintage is again sensational here. Fun to compare with the 2014 DCM. Similar young look. This has less nose but a fuller richer body but perhaps less elegant. Both great indeed for unlimited exciting future development turning into the best Chablis vintage ever! Patience required for top award.

2012 CHABLIS LES CLOS DOMAINE LAROCHE: Unusual odd skunk cabbage or cider apple juice nose. Strange, unattractive and outclassed here. Big fan of Michel Laroche & his wife Gwenael old Chablis but sold the Domaine Laroche in 2010. There are much better wines being produced by DL over the last 10 years.

2010 CHABLIS LES CLOS DWF: Younger colour than 2020 & 2012 but more yellow than 2014. Open complex true Les Clos bouquet impresses. Intense perfection. These two bottles of the reduced crop 2010 have really developed and reached a higher level than 2 years ago now at 15 years of age while 2014 is still more closed in and slowly advancing. This was a deserving group favourite for tonight. Delicious.

2015 CHABLIS LES CLOS DCM: Hail storm September 1st complicated the harvest. Always enjoy this wine as it is so full, rich and ready. Super bottle on July 31 with fresh Alaska Sockeye Salmon steak was a marvellous matching. Way better than 2016. Not the steely acidity of 2014 or liveliness of 2017 but should hold on this wonderful high plateau for some time. Enjoy.

2012 CHABLIS LES CLOS DCM: Late flowering and dry Summer with harvest rains. Good structure. Your scribe has been drinking 2012 up over the past two years with pleasure but not in the same class of 2014 or 2010.

2010 CHABLIS LES CLOS DCM: Another beauty having the advantage of vintage age over the other younger ones. Shows off the well situated prized site of stones + white clay (very little marl) with dense Kimmeridgian limestone. Close in quality to the wonderful DWF and both capture that special Les Clos mineral terroir combining power with acidity balance. Only in Chablis! My two fav vintages of 2014 & 2010 shine brightly yet again! What a treat.

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Question: Would you kindly recommend an interesting Rosé for me to drink this Summer?

Answer: So many choices and not sure what is readily available in your market. The traditional Provence style ones usually work well showing that defined lighter pink look with a dry delicate fruit style. Your scribe believes an important characteristic of Rosés is to be charming. A couple of the better ones I have tasted in the last month are both 2024 Crafted in British Columbia wines from Washington State grapes. The Bartier Brothers Pristine label Rosé 2024 (2800 cases) a 4 grape blend but mostly cabernet sauvignon (94%) fits that style at an excellent $18 value. My fav with more colour is the Moon Curser Confiscated Rosé of 100% Pinot Noir ripe grapes (24.3 Brix) grown at high elevation (1300-1500 feet) on the Clos CheValle Vineyard-Lake Chelan Washington State retaining good acidity with no malolactic fermentation. Only 473 cases produced of this dry subtle delicacy showing the true grape variety with balance is delicious on its own plus well suited for many appropriate food pairings. Recommended.

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Your scribe admires a lot the complexity of white Burgundy and is fortunate to enjoy it quite frequently. Magical with seafood courses and other most appropriate food pairings. I’m a long time collector who experienced some real highs with the age worthy treasures for mature drinking including twins 1985 & 1986 and 1989 & 1990 plus other older top vintages. Also some disappointing lows from aging those premature oxidation (pre-mox) years starting with the 1995/1996 vintages and sporadically since then. However this has improved lately and most producers now are quite reliable recently. One of the best IMHO has been Bouchard Pere whose bottle aging record is impressive. Supporting this style has been their emphasis on early picking for white Burgundy first by winemaker Philippe Prost and his assistant since 2003 Frederic Weber, the current cellarmaster. Smart harvest decisions were made over the last 20+ years generally to pick Chardonnay earlier than most other vignerons to retain better acidity levels that led to some unwarranted criticism that the white wines were “too light with less body”. Yet with cellaring those wines have shown the structure and balance to age well and develop outstanding complexity. Currently with climate change most everyone has changed now to earlier picking. In 2022 a partnership union was created with Bouchard Pere and Artemis Domaines.

Over the past month with home dinners your scribe has studied in detail (plus overnight airing) five vintages of a fav property Meursault Perrieres Premier Cru Bouchard Pere. The results were impressive indeed with these wines continuing to move to another level but still no rush to appreciate at their very best.

Some impressions:

2008 MEURSAULT PERRIERES PREMIER CRU BOUCHARD PÈRE & FILS: Cooler year of higher acidity. This bottle was slightly pre-mox mature compared to other tries but still with more fullness than expected from this vintage. Variable bottles. Less rich weight of flavours. Marvellous matching with Copper River Sockeye Salmon. 13.5 abv.

2009 MEURSAULT PERRIERES PREMIER CRU BOUCHARD PERE & FILS: Much hotter growing season usually results in creamy rich forwardly 2009 white Burgundies. This bottle surprises with remarkable young greenish tint colour so well balanced but reluctant. Served with grilled octopus. Not giving much closed on the nose and still a fresh lively fair acidity palate. Better the next day. Sat next to Frederic Weber on May 17, 2024 at a dinner at Bouchard Pere served with “thon rouge en deux facons” 2009 Mags of both this wine & Chevalier Montrachet La Cabotte both splendid and more open. Frederic mentioned the earlier picking particularly for hotter years like 2009 “gives better balance” and “2009 only a tad softer than the outstanding 2010, 2014 and 2017”. He “strongly feels Perrieres blended from 3 parcels is always their best Meursault combining minerals & depth”. No rush. 14 abv.

2010 MEURSAULT PERRIERES PREMIER CRU BOUCHARD PERE & FILS: Classic year with more intensity from a reduced crop. Seemed too young previously but knitting together. Young green/yellow look with an open complex mineral bouquet and creamy full pure rich delicious taste. Showing as clearly the best of these presently on a phenomenal plateau of enjoyment at 15 years. Memorable with marinated sablefish course. Should hold here for quite a while. 14 abv. Congrats.

2013 MEURSAULT PERRIERES PREMIER CRU BOUCHARD PERE & FILS: Another cooler year. Drinking nicely now with enough freshness there but lighter bodied and not quite as pure and classy as 2010 or 2014. Recommend to open and enjoy. 13.5 abv.

2014 MEURSAULT PERRIERES PREMIER CRU BOUCHARD PERE & FILS: You have to admire the potential of this amazing wine. Still looks so young with greenish tints. What clean fresh vibrancy to it. Outstanding structure with admirable balance of all the elements including intense concentrated fruit extract, wonderful acidity, and minerality. More Chablis Les Clos like at the moment. Patience. Unlimited future. Ultimately best. 13.5 abv. Big congrats.

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Question: Is replanting of vines in the Okanagan proceeding?

Answer: Yes indeed after those two major freezes of December 2022 and the even worse one of January 2024 many vines have not recovered therefore necessitating replanting. This presently is proceeding by many wineries in British Columbia. A good recent example is #spearheadwinery replanting 24000 new vines on their home #estatevineyard on benchlands of southwest Kelowna – part of the East Kelowna Slopes Sub-GI. The positive aspect according to Grant Stanley (Winemaker & GM) is that it provides a fresh opportunity to plant with purpose deciding on which locations best suit which grape varieties. A new beginning.

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We hosted a dinner party on July 19 with an educational wine tasting of three red wines just before and with the main course of duck leg confit. Big fans of those classy 2005 Bordeaux reds with that attractive structured concentration of fruit with firm tannins. The vintage conditions were favourable with warm dry days and cooler nights helping to preserve balanced acidity. Many classified growths now are starting to show their wonderful quality classic style on an early plateau of outstanding pleasure. Some of the Cru Bourgeois are drinking beautifully now. Wanted to serve the underrated Chateau Cambon La Pelouse Haut-Médoc 2005 but decided to compare it with two other 2005 reds made in a Bordeaux like style but from elsewhere all at 20 years of age. Picked a Napa Cab and a BC Okanagan Meritage for the comparison. Your scribe as host knew the wines and the order but the guests didn’t and tasted them initially double blind. All thought they were perfect pairings with the duck course.

Here are the three red wines of 2005 and some brief impressions:

2005 MERRYVALE CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA VALLEY 2005 started off wet but was an excellent vintage also in Napa not overly hot but with cooler conditions. This winery in St. Helena from long time owners the Schlatter family produces wines in a classic style. Visited their tasting room several times and appreciated the use of quality grapes from key vineyards in Carneros, Yountville, and St. Helena resulting in this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine. They use native yeast fermentation, extended maceration on the skins with 18 months in French oak barrels (32% new) with quarterly racking. Nice dry-sweetness. At 14.5 abv it shows rich ripe intense black olives and menthol notes in a smooth mouthfeel. A very Cab Sauv focus showing that Napa style. Popular.

2005 CHÂTEAU CAMBON LA PELOUSE HAUT-MÉDOC CRU BOURGEOIS SUPÉRIEUR Left Bank property in the Macau commune well situated near Chateau Cantemerle & Giscours. This blend of 50/30/18/2 of Merlot, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot used 50% new oak and was impressive on release. Less alcohol at 13.5 with that remarkable Bordeaux ageability. Shows a wonderful developed charming bouquet but is so much softer now yet still fresh with finesse & elegance. Most complexity and length. Beautiful delicious drinking.

2005 BURROWING OWL ESTATE WINERY MERITAGE ESTATE BOTTLED Family owned winery in south Okanagan at Oliver BC Canada by the Wyse family who always produced fine balanced wines with ageability. This blend at 14. 4 abv is mainly Merlot 64% with Cab Franc 25, Cab Sauv 10, and tiny amounts of Malbec & Petit Verdot for 1455 cases. Renowned reviewer John Schreiner in 2008 for Appellation America noted 2005 “small fruit set due to rain at flowering …reduced yields naturally.” His comments at that time were “It is a wonderfully rich wine, beginning with aromas of vanilla, chocolate and cassis. Palate flavours plum cassis & touch of spice (cloves). The long ripe tannins contribute to the wine’s appealing texture. There is elegance and balance here, with a drink-now accessibility but enough firmness for several years of cellaring.” Today it surprises with mellow round attractive supple textures full of life. Definitely in this ball game. It has a rather distinctive unique character of blackberry blueberry earthy sweet spice notes from those deep sandy soils. Well done. From a global perspective top quality wine from many key regions even at 20 years of age can really surprise you.

This insightful friendly tasting made for an interesting social evening over dinner. Put your own themed wine grouping together for a similar fun function. Enjoy.

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