Flint and delicious waxy lemon oil on the nose, and more than anything an overwhelming sense of freshness and vitality. Seamlessly glides over the palate into a saline, somewhat nutty/yeasty finish. Doesn’t show the heat of the vintage at all; it’s not razor-sharp but still so energetic and alive. This is my second wine from these folks this year, and is just beautiful winemaking from great terroir.
They also did very well in 2019. ‘19s are a touch more concentrated and a touch more tightly wound out of the gates, but with a few years’ bottle age I suspect they will hit even higher highs.
Perrière is one of the younger vine bottlings, if you want to see just how good they can get, try the Sous le Château and Sous la Velle bottlings.
I actually also have one bottle of Sous la Velle from the same vintage - as per your note, I think I’ll likely hold off for another year or two before opening.
Have you come across examples where a producer has been more successful in 2018 than in 2019? I only tried my first non-Bojo 2019 Burgundy last week (the Armand Heitz La Maltroye which was very nice, posted about it here) but have understood from what I’ve read that generally speaking 2019 should be by far the better vintage in the sense that there is more acidity to counter the solar quality and one where you can actually buy familiar producers with confidence unlike in 2018. Obviously it is very early days we are talking about here…
I would say it’s a little more complicated than that! In 2018, alcohols in Chardonnay are rarely that high (often lower than in '17), because the yields were so vast. Whereas in 2019, the alcohols were frequently really quite elevated, and we will see how that works out in bottle (so far so good, based on what I’m trying at the moment, but there will certainly be some wines with noticeable heat on the finish, red and white). In Saint-Romain, one is at the same altitude as the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, so the climate is more moderate and balance in a year like 2019 isn’t a concern: you just get extra concentration. But the Buisson brothers also did very well in '18. So while your generalization is correct in so far as it goes, it has its limitations. Jean-Marc Roulot, for example, prefers his '18s to his '19s for their lower alcohol (though his '19s really came together at the end of élevage).
Well it wouldn’t be Burgundy if it was uncomplicated
The alcohol aspect is not something I can recall people talking about, so very interesting for sure, although I did notice a 2019 Hubert Lignier Bourgogne Rouge stating a whopping 14,5% on the label which made me not want to buy any. I was not aware of Saint Romain’s altitude, but then this is not an appellation that gets much attention. I guess for now the climate change is benefiting the producers there, then.
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