rathdowne cru blog

A Bouchard a day keeps a man’s thirst at bay

As we roll into day 9 of our tour, Phil & I were looking forward to cutting back our 3 visit days to a more manageable 2 visit. Little did we suspect the our first visit today would be a marathon 5.5 hours!

We began with a vineyard tour to many of Domaine Bouchard holdings, including but not limited to, Le Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Meursault Genevrieres (pictured) & Volnay Taillpieds, amongst others.

A great experience, that was then topped by our tour of the cellar & caves at Bouchard’s castle chateau. Once the palace of the King of France, it now belongs to Bouchard and houses their incredible cellar (back to 1846) and the majority of their current vintage bottles.
A tasting of 6 Bouchard wine ensued, led in my view by the Beaune du Chateau rouge 2006, Le Corton 2006, Meursault ‘Les Clous’ 2006 and Corton-Charlemagne 2006. Again the purity and balance of the 2006 vintage showed thru, confirming what we had noticed in other tastings, in that 2006 is a beautifully balanced vintage, especially for the whites.

Needless to say we didn’t expect the lunch that followed (in the cellar), but the opportunity to discuss wines and local history with Luc Bouchard over lunch was really great - and the 2 x 2001 we drank didn’t hurt either!

The hospitality and generosity of the people at Bouchard was terrific, and it certainly left us with a great impression of a producer founded all the way back in 1731.

So after rolling out of Bouchard we collected our thoughts and then headed off to visit Christian Gouges at Henri Gouges in Nuits-St-Georges. A short barrel tasting of the 2007’s left me in clear thought that I am not cut out to taste wine before malo. Whew, what a job.

But the 2005 Clos de Porrets and 1993 Les Vaucrains he subsequently opened displayed the trademark elegance and finesse of the domain, and highlighted the potential for ageing in this producer. C’est tres bon.

All in all a good day, and one which also brought us another delight… that of ‘Abbaye de Citeaux’ cheese - a delicious soft, mild washed rind cheese local from Nuits-St-George. If you visit Burgundy, we insist you try this great fromage.
Salut.