Checked in on a few ‘14’s over the past fortnight. From Chablis, to the Côte de Beaune and down into the Mâconnais, this is universally a brilliant vintage for white wine.
2014 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux: Drinking wonderfully well but supremely youthful. The nose is all citrus with a sprig of mint. The palate has the usual Raveneau textural feel, layered with flavour and voluminous. It has the vintage’s precision and a dollop of cream. Balance and length are superb.
2014 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Chapelot: Even tighter than the Butteaux that we had a few days earlier. Has a pristine rainwater quality to it. There are fine citrus notes. It is so precise and sharp, but with no hard edges if that makes sense? The finish is minty fresh and so long.
2014 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets: Drinking superbly. Complex aromatics of toast, peach, aniseed and chalk. It is rich and voluminous but with excellent detail and loads of citrus punctuating the back-end. It has superb length and is not far off Grand Cru quality for mine.
2014 Domaine Francois et Antoine Jobard Meursault En La Barre: Very reduced with petrol dominating the nose at first. It breathes to show sappy orchard fruit flavours. It is dense, with a line of minerally acidity. Needs a long decant if you want to approach now.
2014 Michel Bouzereau et Fils Meursault Les Tessons: Open-knit and in a wonderful place. There are perfectly ripe orchard fruits, almond butter and mineral. It is beautifully balanced and proportioned. There’s a light creamy texture and a fresh citrus closure. Every sip invites another.
2014 Domaine Thibert Père et Fils Pouilly-Fuissé Les Cras: Generous of fruit, with loads of apple and peach action. There’s some vanilla spice and a hint of aniseed too. There’s some struck match and a little decaying leaf development. It is rich and voluminous, bursting with flavour and possessing the wonderful acid balance of the ’14 vintage. It is ready to go.
Not familiar with Bouzereau and Thibert. Is there a back story? You make me wonder if I have any '14s lurking. I have been pretty light on whites of late, but picked up with PYCM offerings in '17 and '18.
Haven’t had a wide selection of wines from Michel Bouzereau or Thibert, but have certainly enjoyed the ones that I have had. Purchased these two off a restaurant wine list.
I bought quite a lot of 2014 on release. Wish I had bought more.
I bought as much as I could possibly find/afford of the 14s EP and still continue to buy them whenever I can. The one vintage in any region/colour that really delivers consistently across the board as a vintage of a lifetime in my view. Had the 14 jobard genevrieres last week and that slipped down like a pair of gold silk knickers!