Domaine Philippe Leclerc In Gevrey

Any thoughts of Domaine Philippe Leclerc latest vintages winemaking style ?! Thanks.

Don’t know about the new wines but we opened a 1985 Combe aux Moines 1985 recently. Tasted like a very fine 15 year old Cornas.

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Really, really rustic and rich. Heavy tannins and dark-fruited.

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fwiw I did a tasting with the winemaker 2 years ago. Did a 10-12 bottle vertical of Combe aux Moines back to late 90’s. I brought back a mixed case from that vineyard (good pricing) -some recent bottles others going back to 2001. Respectfully, I have not been very impressed by the few I have opened, not sure if they are shut down or just uninteresting. Hoping more age will help.

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Lol
Fun guy though

If your palate favors elegant, silky, feminine pinot you’ll be disappointed.

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Friends,

PH Leclerc was awarded 5 stars by R PARKER at the time. Which was devastating. i liked his 83 and 85s but there it stopped. His CHAMBOLLE BABILLAIRES 90 looked like a RosĂ©e. Surprisingly enough when you connsider LECLERC’s reputation for deeply concentraded, highly tannic and dark wines. I no longer buy there because not up there with the best domaines or even good ones. in spite of ROBERT’s five star evaluation

SINCERELY JOHAN

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The 1988 barely mature 
 the 1993 and 1996 definitely not.
Bought also 2002 and 2005, might have been a mistake 
 won’ t be alive anymore 

Rustic concentrated style,lacking elegance and with a tendency to dryness 
 if you love Rousseau and Fourrier 
 stay away 
 more old Gouges with more oak 


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I first visited Philippe Leclerc’s tasting room in fall 1985 and many times thereafter. In 2007 we spent some hours with him touring the building (worth visiting on its own) and tasting his wonderful 2005s. I am as I write drinking a 2005 Bourgogne “Bons Batons” lovely aromatics, deep concentration. Long finish. And quite young.
A lovely Bons Batons (one of the very best Bourgone AOC vineyards; Patrice Rion makes a great one, too).

I looked at my cellar notes before writing this post. Almost all the notes include superlatives and intense concentration of fruit. Some note some balancing aggressive tannins. Almost all were enjoyed at over 20 years old. Some notes on the 1985 “Combes aux Moines”

11/11/98: the Rumsey duck dinner at the Gen. Lafayette Inn. This wine stole the show. Big, lead-pencil nose. Full-bodied, black-fruity, with excellent balance, oak integrated and long finish.
Darned good. and will keep until 2005, probably.

5/15: \grilled chicken; cheese grits. cleaning of heavy sediment and 4 hours aeration, then some “slow ox”. Lovely aromatics of \deep black fruits
deep
surprisingly clean , sl astringent tannins, but so much concentration and harmony. Palate staining finish; tactile. The epitome of a great Gevrey 1er cru made in an “old style”. Would have lasted 10 more years.

My notes on the '93s and '96s are equally enthusiastic, as well as the '90’s 
I have to say I was surprised at how good the experiences were.

I do think they require a minimum of 15-20 years and an appreciation of the style: incredible fruit; some astringent tannins from skins and 22 months in oak (I understand he now includes whole bunches in the fermentation tanks to provide more accessible fruits; started about 2007-9. It is a style that has its place in Burgundy and a clean, tactile style that requires aging, as “old” Burgundies probably did.

They do have to be prepared “right”, whatever that means to you. They need aeration and perhaps decanting off the sediment, but with the right food and 20+ years they have been almost all “wow” wines for me.

If “rustic” it is in the best sense: rudimentary, “old style” winemaking that put Burgundy on the 20th century map after the Depression.

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Haven’t had a P. Leclerc wine in many a year, but even ripe vintages like 1990 were darker than the darkest depths of Mordor. I retreated to Dugat and Dugat-Py for my long-term experiment in what this style of Burgundy can become. I am still relatively unimpressed with my once or twice a year samplings from those domaines (vintages 2001, 2002, 2003).

Cheers,
fred

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Thank you all for you thoughts.

Well, Last week I made a tasting visit at Domaine Philippe Leclerc (part of my search for interesting but not so known domaines in Cote de Nuits). Beautiful cellar, please see some pics below. I like the style and I like most of his wines! My favorite was his Gevrey Cazetiers 1er. I tried 2015,2016 and 2017. I preferred 2015 vintage which was ready and more elegant, with rich aroma, complex mid-full body, nice structure and lovely silky tannins, not too young for my taste. I guess the last vintages are more accessible than it use to be before.
Another interesting aspect is the out-of-the-box business model, that probably makes it difficult for the winery with the professional reviewers, but give us, wine lovers, very good Burgundy wine for less.

Beautiful cellar and wines :wine_glass:
7FFF6F8E-D5C0-429A-BD3F-0823BDCC2891.jpeg

What’s that?

In-cellar direct sale mostly.
For the last ~20 years no reviews by RP, JR, AG etc.

Parkers rating - at that time" is apt, more than 20 years ago he told me he lost his passion for wine making.

We used to import his entire portfolio - I think in the late 1980’s - the mid 1990’s,
Our first few meetings he had me blind taste several vintages - (perhaps 5) and identify
characteristics and which I liked over which, which Cuvée it was, and what vintage - he likes
playing the eccentric


We worked with him a sort of/almost the U.S. importer for a while, unaware that
his style of business was to charge the walk-in private customer visitors the same price
We paid for pallet loads.

He had already purchased most of the entire unground area of Gevrey Chambertin,
and developed it into what would be described as Disneyesque Nightmare bacchanal - I cannot find the words

He was then tired and bored of wine making, and had lost his passion.
Not my words, those were his sentiments.
The village wine was a great value for the price,

If you can get down stairs to his caves that run under the entire town of G.C. it will be one of the most memorable experiences.
From the photos it appears he has taken a small portion of it and made it accessible to any tourist for $10.oo
his son has to be in his 20’s now, I wonder if he has an interest and passion?
What a terrible waste


If you go, let me know if he still uses the medieval pulley system to bring the wines up from the cellar for affect.
I think (if memory serves) there is a area he allows the public to visit, and then his ‘private’ area, in one of Parkers
older books he wrote about the open casket- there is some one in the casket
 of course no longer living

I’m too Romantic about wine making and what can be, and seeing someone just going through the motions

that just does not feel right to me - not that it is my place to judge


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That doesn’t make the domaine harder to review


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I will try to put here some facts, no opinion, just facts.

  1. I read that AG has 2000$ monthly plan for the trade, 3 days score info before the “regular” subscribers.
  2. The trade is not interested in scores of domaine of cellar/direct sales.
  3. No reviews of the domaine by AG ( and RP, JR etc
) in the last ~20 years.

You decide.

I guess you didn’t notice that I review Burgundy for The Wine Advocate! I can tell you that a domaine’s commercial strategy doesn’t impact whether I choose to review the wines. My colleagues and I between us review many wineries that sell much of their production direct. So, I know, does Vinous.

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Just coincidence, maybe. But no reviews