Vintus

International Wine Cellar’s Stephen Tanzer rated the 2008 Lucien Le Moine Mazis Chambertin 97 points, the highest score he awarded to any red Burgundy in the 2008 vintage.

“Medium-deep red. Wonderfully pure, primary aromas of blackberry, violet, licorice, lavender and smoky minerality. Superconcentrated, sappy and dense as a solid, with outstanding intensity to its blackberry and violet flavors complicated by leather and game nuances. With its firm mineral spine this is like a tightly coiled spring today. Finishes with suave tannins and superb, palate-staining flavor. This wine gained substantially during its final months of elevage.” – ST

Climate change in the past few decades has had a significant impact on the evolution of winemaking. Just last weekend, Stephen Tanzer invited Mounir Saouma of Lucien Le Moine, among others, to discuss how climate change has impacted his work and the way the legendary Lucien Le Moine wines are made.

“I see a big change in Burgundy in the last 20 years. In the ’80s we used to pick in September/October; today, we pick in early September or even the end of August. It’s GREAT for the harvest dates: we can pick when we want…In the ’80s when we had a potential of 11% alcohol we were happy; today it’s a kind of competition to see who has more alcohol and who picks later than the rest.

“What is supposed to be positive for a northern area like Burgundy—the ability to pick mature grapes when we want—is, I am sorry to say, becoming a source of short life for the wines. To fight against these quick phenomena of fermentation and aging we invested in air-conditioning in our room for the ‘new’ wines and we searched for more than six years to find our very cold and humid cellar, so that we are able to ferment and age slowly.”

The rest of Tanzer’s roundtable discussion may be viewed here.

At a recent tasting in Wilmington, DE, Anthony of the winelog.net sat down with VINTUS’s own Philippe Newlin to try 11 Lucien Le Moine selections, which Anthony described as “some of Burgundy’s best and cleanest wines.” Writes Anthony:

“Our agenda for the evening was four pairs of Premier, 1er, or 1st Cru wine, 2 white and 2 red, with each pair representing a different vineyard or Cru from the same Village. This was an eye opening experience in how elevation, slope, soil composition, i.e. “Terroir” can influence wines that come from vineyards grown within meters of each other. In addition we sampled Bourgogne white & red first to establish a base line & finally a Grand Cru to top off the evening.”

Refined, decadent, and eye opening, the tasting inspired Anthony to add a few Lucien Le Moine wines to his cellar shortly. Read it all here.

Mounir Saouma took his 2007 vintage wines to St. Louis, Boston, New York, Washington DC and Maryland this week.  Talking about these wines it’s difficult to contain your excitement – like trying to hold inside a monster secret you’re dying to tell somebody, or anybody.  These 2007s are very, very special.  The way in which Mounir is returning to traditional methods of élevage is really without comparison in Burgundy, and these wines just have “it” – spectacular purity and complexity, the ability to transfix you for hours.  What is more astounding is that from Bourgogne Blanc to Bonnes-Mares, each of the twenty or so wines we ended up tasting this week had this magic in its own specific way.  It’s almost overwhelming to spend an evening with ten of these wines sitting in front of you, and beautiful to imagine the decades of divine moments that await.

Mounir in Washington DC earlier today

We’ve loved the 2007 Lucien Le Moine wines since the day we tasted them in barrel.  Pure, racy, they are truly great wines.  The Wine Spectator Insider listed some reviews that will be upcoming, adding to the fantastic reviews the 2007 LLMs have already received.

Mazis Chambertin 94 Points

Marked by bacon fat and smoke notes, this muscular red also exhibits a core of sweet black cherry and blackberry flavors that are concentrated and intense.  It’s all backed by a firm, vibrant structure, and this resonates on the long, mineral-tinged after-taste.

Gevrey-Chambertin 2007 94 Points

A core of pure black cherry and black currant is wrapped in smoky bacon, toast, chocolate and mineral flavors.  It’s all displayed on a sikly frame, lithe and well-toned.  Terrific length and harmony.