Vintus

Richebourg, Grand Cru

The 20 acre Richebourg vineyard sits just up-slope from Romanée-St-Vivant and north of Romanée-Conti.  Indisputably one of the great red Burgundy sites, the power and complexity of the Richebourgs made by Lucien Le Moine has been dazzling.  Mounir says that the essence of Richebourg can be boiled down to a dual personality: one side viscous and animal, the other side fruity crème de cassis.  It is a Grand Cru because it shows you two complicated things; it is both big and fine; it can be both vulgar and classic.  A deep, savage and fruity wine.

• 2009 Vintage

   There is more talk and interest about 2009 in Burgundy than in any vintage since 2005.  Mounir Saouma has warned us to be careful, however.  He loves this vintage, and in fact believes it is the greatest he has seen in his two decades in Burgundy.   He believes the fruit had everything from the start, and the wines from the beginning were healthy and beautifully balanced.  The major issue was to understand and respect the wines, and avoid working them, since they already had everything they needed in superb balance.  Overly working the wines, he believes, resulted in a loss of freshness and delicacy.

    2009 is the first vintage at Lucien Le Moine that Mounir did not do any lees stirring whatsoever, and as usual he never racked the wines in their nearly two years in barrel.  He didn’t add sulfur until a few months before bottling, and yet his wines are still completely fresh; some whites he describes as even having a tint of green.  The Lucien Le Moine 2009s across the board are beautifully pure and focused, with the exquisite harmony of truly great wines.

  •  "A reserved and almost reluctant nose of elegant dried rose petal, violet, red berry liqueur and a wonderfully broad range of spice nuances. The minerally, rich and regally powerful broad-scaled flavors are taut and classy as the underlying tension is palpable on the precise, driving and explosively long and linear finish. This is quite youthfully austere at present and may remain that way for some years as the flavors seem quite introverted and backward today. But, given enough cellar time, this has the potential to be brilliant." 93-96 Points Burghound

  •  "Deep red. Mineral-driven crushed black raspberry and crushed rock aromas are complemented by notes of molten dark chocolate and espresso. A huge wine of great sweetness and depth; conveys an almost candied character but also an impression of medicinal reserve and powerful extract. The superb, slowly building finish goes on and on. More harmonious today than the RSV." 94-97 Points Burghound

• 2008 Vintage

  There is a big difference in how most people in Burgundy see 2008 and how Lucien Le Moine sees its 2008s.  In a typically unique perspective, Mounir Saouma believes 2008 is a great vintage in Burgundy, one of the greatest of the decade.  2008 was the third in a series of historically normal vintage conditions.  Over the last hundred years, on average the rainiest month in Burgundy has been June and the driest month has been September; rain in the summer is common, occurring more than half the time.  The light, fine skin of Pinot Noir benefits from the freshness in the summer, needs it, and it helps the fat Chardonnay on its way to maturity as well.  The idea that only the “modern” vintage – hot and dry – can be great is a big issue for Mounir.

  In June 2008, within a given week rain always alternated with hot sunny periods.  The results were small bunches of grapes that were getting mature while keeping acidity, and slowly ripening.  Ultimately, there was a naturally low yield, an excellent sign, with 20% fewer grapes than a normal year, providing sweet fruit and high levels of tannin.  Very importantly, Mounir believes that in recent times Burgundy has lost its simplicity to some extent – when you tasted the grapes in 2008, there was no issue with rot.  Most people looked at their vineyards, were terrified of the rot and pressed very lightly to get clean juice, only did short macerations with not a lot of lees, didn’t stir, and then fined or filtered to bottle clean wines. 

  Lucien Le Moine did the opposite.  They pressed hard, bringing a lot of lees into the wine.  To balance the high acidity and some of the unripe bunch areas due to the cool weather, they topped with fine lees every ten days instead of topping with wine.  They did not stir, and so the lees would take a full week to fall to the bottom of the barrel, slowly imparting complexity and richness.  For about five years, Lucien Le Moine has been the last producer in Burgundy to bottle, and they were again with the 2008 vintage.  Malolactic Fermentation was not as late as usual because of the lees that was added, and finished in April/May instead of June/July.  Lucien Le Moine has never never acidified or de-acidified, so while some people de-acidified 2008, they didn’t touch the wines, and watched them over the summer become sweeter, fatter and more balanced, more attractive.  They started bottling around May 2010, and finished beginning of October 2010, after the harvest of 2010. 

  Looking at surrounding vintages, the 2005 is ageable, full of body, massive, tannic, with high acidity.  2006 has almost late harvest flavor, very deep, beautiful maturity, and nice acidity.   2007 is transparent, the perfect example of terroir in Burgundy, but will not age perhaps as long as 2006.  The 2008s are going to be the year for people who care about Burgundy.  They will be appreciated the next two-three years, for their very fresh fruit and balanced bodies.  Then they will sleep for a few years, but not like 2005s which are so big they will need a long time to awaken.  The 2008s will come back as classic wines of Burgundy, but not in a spicy, sous-bois manner; they will be traditional, but have a little bit of flashy fruit.  A very particular combination. 

  Lastly, the particularity of the Lucien Le Moine 2008s – a lot of wines are cloudy due to the lees; make sure to stand them up before decanting. 
   

  • "An elegant and refined nose of notably ripe and very spicy blue and black berry fruit aromas that also evidence distinct notes of violets and dried rose petal merges into textured, naturally sweet and robust broad-scaled flavors blessed with ample amounts of dry extract that confer a velvety mouth feel onto the explosively long finish. This knockout effort will need plenty of patience but it's also one that should reward 15 plus years of cellar time." 94-96 Points Burghound

  • "While undergirded with abundant fine tannins, Saouma's 2008 Richebourg (of which there is but one barrel) is seamlessly sleek and sweetly, palate-staining in its black-fruited richness. Notes of cedar, black tea, faded lily, raw beef, and iodine lend piquant mystery on both the nose and palate. This strikes me as remarkably refined and winsome for young Richebourg - but I am not lodging a complaint! It has 15-20 year cellar potential." 93-94 Points Wine Advocate

  • "Good medium red. Captivating aromas of candied cherry, violet and rose, with a mineral pungency giving lift to the nose. Tactile, savory and vibrant; fills the mouth without leaving any impression of weight. As youthful as the flavors of red fruits, minerals and flowers are, there's nothing hard about this grand cru, even at this early stage. Perhaps strongest today on the very long, perfumed aftertaste. A beauty in the making." 92 Points International Wine Cellar

• 2007 Vintage

  As Mounir Saouma says, “2007 saw a fresh summer – when we say fresh summer, we mean well-balanced rain and sunny days.   There were cool but not cold days, days with some rain and sun, but not exaggerated either way.  And you see in the wines there is beautiful acidity, but not as much as 2008, and nice sweetness, but not as much as 2006.” 

  This character of mid-way but not extreme in many areas resulted in wines that took a long time to reveal their nature.  “The wines started fruity and the tannins were firm, and slowly we started seeing a kind of melding between sweetness and acidity after the malolactic a year later; we started seeing the real character of the wines after 14 months.  

  This development of the vintage is the reason that 2007 was the latest bottling Lucien Le Moine has ever done, and why they were the last producer in all of Burgundy to bottle.  Typically Lucien Le Moine starts bottling in January or February; in 2007 they started in February, but the majority of bottling took place from May to September.  Mounir aged all his 2007 wines on their lees, without sulfur, and never racked.   

  Mounir compares 2007 and 2006 a lot; they will both be vintages that are approachable and will last, and their technical numbers are similar, but they are physically and aromatically in completely different worlds.  “2006 is more about sweetness and for some people a heavier character; 2007 is more about freshness.  We will enjoy 2007, but it doesn’t take anything from the aging. 

  Some general commentaries on the Crus in 2007:  for people who love freshness and silkiness, with tannins that melt away, the Vosne-Romanées, Volnays, Chambolle-Musignys, and Morey-Saint-Denis show ethereal balance and almost transparent tannins.  For those that think 2007 is a light and easy year, the Gevrey-Chambertins, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Pommards and Cortons will show them depth and power.  

  • "Good deep red. Musky raspberry, blueberry and a meaty complexity on the nose. Wonderfully dense, sweet and concentrated, with uncanny depth of flavor and solid underlying structure. A great and classic manifestation of the vintage. The big tannins, which arrive late and build inexorably, will require an extended elevage, noted Saouma, who estimated an August 2009 bottling for this one." 93-96 Points International Wine Cellar

  • "This is also perfumed, cool and kaleidoscopic in its aromatic breadth and depth with remarkable spiciness and I love the floral component, particularly rose petal and violet, that adds nuance to the largely red and blue fruit that slides gracefully into the rich, full and focused broad-shouldered flavors that possess excellent phenolic ripeness and simply gorgeous length though it’s not quite as long as the very best here. Still, this could easily surprise to the upside as young Richebourg has a way of adding lots of depth in bottle."  92-95 Points Burghound, “Don’t Miss”

• 2006 Vintage

  Mounir Saouma’s approach to the 2006 vintage differed from many. His growers picked late, allowing the fine September weather to draw out the maturity of the grapes and compensate for a cool, wet August.  It was a risk, and not a typical vintage for Mounir, who usually harvests earlier than most, giving him the good acid levels he likes.  The reds express the typicity of their terroirs, and will be enjoyable to drink earlier than the 2005’s, but also possess the heft and structure to age nicely.  

  • "Good deep red. Deep, wild, slightly reduced aromas of brooding red fruits, smoked meat and mocha. Thick, sweet and full in the mouth, but with its impressive volume leavened by a peppery lift. This viscous yet vibrant and superbly concentrated wine boasts a 2005-like texture but is a bit inscrutable today. Finishes quite backward and smoky, with building tannins." 92-95 Points International Wine Cellar

  • "Somewhat unusually for Richebourg the aromatic spectrum runs almost completely to high-toned red fruit liberally sprinkled with plenty of Vosne spice, hoisin and soy notes that extend to the rich, sweet, full and detailed flavors that possess ample depth and fine balance with a slightly sweet finish that may originate with the oak treatment." 92-94 Points Burghound