Back in April of 2017 I walked into Canoe Restaurant on the 54th Floor of the Toronto Dominion Centre to taste the Henriot Family wines of Villa Ponciago, Domaine William Fèvre and Bouchard Père & Fils. This tasting hosted by Woodman Wines and Spirits is more than just an annual highlight, it is an event borne of necessity for a multiple of triumvirate reasons. Gamay, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; Beaujolais, Chablis-Bourgogne and Bourgogne; Village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru; Fleurie, Chablis and Les Côtes, d’Or and Chalonnaise; Climat, Climat and Climat. If you want to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between producer, Village and Climat then you cannot miss such an opportunity.

Related – Bourgogne in a word: Climat

The vintage may have been one borne out of sunshine and the wines are unquestionably rich. From a vantage point of precision and structure they may not be as stubborn, focused and direct as 2014 but they hold a famous adage accountable to its meaning. No wine can truly be great if it does not taste that way from the very beginning. Fruit must be there from the start. It will not later be found. These are the 2015 Beaujolais and Bourgogne as exemplified by these three categorical producers.  I would have liked to taste all 33 wines on offer that day but time constraints for one got in the way, not to mention this tasting is so popular amongst the media and trade in Toronto so several of the wines were drained before I could get to them. Nevertheless I did manage to squeeze 23 concentrated sessions into a 90 minute time slot and these are my notes. Thank you as always to Russell, Jason and Rachel Woodman.

Villa Ponciago La Réserve Fleurie 2015, AOC Beaujolais, France (Agent, $25.00, WineAlign)

Been waiting for 2015 to come along for Ponciago’s no pain Fleurie la Réserve, a gamay always firm but now of fruit like compound berry butter from the giving vintage. Now with more black cherry than almost ever, or at least in recent memory, the tart compressed, compounded too but variegated mille feuille-like so not really tart at all. No war of juicy versus grippy so “I resist what I cannot change.” Persistent as needed but not forever, so this drinkable drug is just what the Beaujolais doctor ordered. Drink 2017-2020.  Tasted April 2017  chateaudeponcie  #villaponciago

Villa Ponciago Cuvée Les Hauts Du Py 2015, Fleurie, AOC Beaujolais, France (Agent, $31.00, WineAlign)

Even the generous vintage can’t distract from the quartz-lined granite bedrock of the Hauts du Puy but it does make for an intensely layered cuvée of moving parts. This 2015 is possessive of a repeatable Réserve condition but with bigger, broader and more complex dark red berries, though also here in the throes of the mineral streak of diffidence. There are few examples of Fleurie that concentrate, purify and integrate inchoate soil and munificent fruit like Les Hauts and with the vintage so forward and early expressive this is as gamey getable as there is on the market today. Pour this critical mass with reckless abandon. Drink 2017-2021.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Premier Cru Beauroy 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $58.00, WineAlign)

There can be no surprise that Beauroy is broader, creamier and it can be said, fruitier than Vaillons though again, the salty earth and the ancient ocean are swirling with their liquid mineral solutions and rushing through with their waves. As Févre is so want to insist, to call to order, even in the thick brushstroke of Beauroy. Drink 2017-2020.  Tasted April 2017  williamfevre_chablis  woodmanws  @williamfevre_  @WoodmanWS  @domainewilliamfevre  Woodman Wines & Spirits

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $58.00, WineAlign)

Vaillons walks along a kimmeridgian trail with so much fruit from the elongated slope and valley in ’15. Though truth be told (winemaker) Didier Séguier has kept the fossils, salinity and direct mineral injections consistent with not only ’14 but in omniscience and with complete trust to what came before. This is not no much a piercing as it is indeed an injection. There is much to learn from how Fèvre approaches Vaillons becuase the consistency is second to none. Vintage matters less and that is the calling card of the house, at least with respect to this Premier Cru. Drink 2018-2022.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Premier Cru Montmains 2015, AOC Bourgogne (488718, $39.95, WineAlign)

Montmains is different, that much we know but this is 2015 and no modern era vintage speaks with more fruit clarity. Still the herbology mixed into the salinity and brine consistently forms the basis for the Montmains oeuvre. What conspires from ’15 is more depth and soild tang than what comes off of the nearby hills. It’s like lime over lemon but it’s not exactly citrus that sits at the forefront, more like savoury syrup swirled in but in thick rotation at the conical bottom’s narrowing point. This is quite intense for 2015, but it is Montmains that effects this indelicacy with great presence and the most insistent Premier Cru persistence thus far. Drink 2018-2022.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $69.00, WineAlign)

This Premier Cru of greatest surface is committed to by Fèvre with a singular duality, of a domaine within a domaine and as cru versus cru. The greater Fourchaume is a Grand Cru hill place of five distinct climats in which Fèvre holds blocks in Vaulorent so they bottle both it and this ubiquitous Fourchaume. Upwards of four hectares deliver a best of all Premier Cru worlds Chablis as Forchaume is gathered for a collective sumptuousness, really layered and propping up the most kimmeridgian of the line-up to date for ’15. Carries its ilk in its DNA and its expresion; compression, lemon and lime citrus, soil conditioning and the broadest yet most direct feel of appeal. If you want Fevre, 2015, Premier Cru and ancient wisdom all wrapped up in one clear package this is the bank expression for you. Drink 2019-2024.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $99.00, WineAlign)

Bougros, the approachable one. Bougros, with great unction and deep intensity but not hard to get. How this has gathered its sensibilities so quickly is a matter of vintage and place but there are layers, many of them, left to peel away. You get a conditioned and developed salinity meets acidity unlike any Premier Cru and yet you can’t help needing to think it should be drinkable straight away. The potential of mille-feuille layering is leaps ahead of (most but not all) of the Premier Pru. Quite domesticated Grand Cru Chablis that is easier to understand than most. Drink 2019-2025.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $125.00, WineAlign)

If Les Preuses isn’t the Fèvre piece, of resistance and resilience. Of memory and understanding, of formidable variegation and in ’15, teasing and tempting open doors. Don’t be fooled or duped because there are many doors and so many fences to tear down before you can find what’s behind the barriers. Intensifies in its delivery of more citrus and compressed stone clarity than Bougros (or at least with more crunch and bite) but it will take years of ruminative meal matching possibilities and execution before you might know where it stands and with it, relative to you. Drink 2020-2027.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2015, AOC Bourgogne, France (641381, $130.00, WineAlign)

Fèvre’s Les Clos takes a bit of an unexpected turn so from 2015 it currently goes stone cold and remains intensely locked. From what we know the vintage should be generous from the start but in this instance Les Clos makes use of every ounce and fibre of kimmerridgian being to lay only salt, fossil and stone before you. The fruit kept hidden away makes you pine for fleshy orchard apples. Nothing can really prepare you for the Les Clos iron gate, especially when you were expecting a welcome mat laid out at your feet. Take the time to charm and be charmed, at least 15 minutes with a glass or 15 years if you can offer up the time. The Grand Cru will slowly open up and speak in a vernacular of controlled energy, fineness of acidity and exceptional balance. This will be one for the ages.  Drink 2021-2035. Tasted April 2017

Bouchard Père & Fils Montagny Premier Cru 2015, AOC Bourgogne, France (653683, $38.00, WineAlign)

Montagny is rich and expressive with a shot of tonic and quite the textural viscosity. A bit reductive though another six to 12 months will put it in a honeyed, waxy and preserved citrus place. Drink 2018-2021.  Tasted April 2017  bouchardpereetfils    @BouchardPere  Bouchard Père & Fils

Bouchard Père & Fils Saint Aubin Premier Cru 2015, AOC Bourgogne, France (Agent, $57.00, WineAlign)

Saint-Aubin’s proximity to Montrachet and high percentage of Premier Cru vineyards should be an automatic to elevate its esteem but it still flies under the radar. Bouchard feels otherwise and proudly boasts and toasts its ability to effect fine chardonnay. Great 2015 fruit be scorned this is a terrifically taut example but yes it is certainly fruit expressive (apples and such). In relative terms to Saint-Aubin it delivers more perceived sweetness and spice provided by the barrel in what is ostensibly and sensibly really well-intended and generous from the start. A bit of a wild child this one with plenty of upside. Drink 2017-2020.  Tasted April 2017

Bouchard Père & Fils Puligny Montrachet 2015, AOC Bourgogne, France (Agent, $80.00, WineAlign)

It has often been said that Village level Puligny-Montrachet from top growers can be very good indeed, but is all too often unexciting and disappointing. Combine that statement with a humid 2015 vintage and you may be left to wonder what will happen from a non vineyard-specific Puligny. Bouchard’s stands firm, acts forthright and tackles the suspicion head on. This is a direct, linear, layered and unctuous P-M with layers of lemon and fresh glade air at their get me vintage finest. It’s also a wine of grace and elegance away from barrel and into something ethereal. Acidity suits the flesh, not as an injunction but as an extension and takes the fruit into a place of inflection. Such a beautiful wine. Drink 2018-2026.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Meursault Les Clous 2015, AOC Bourgogne, France (661322, $59.95, WineAlign)

Bouchard’s Meursault Les Clous seems akin to acknowledging the ideal of Bourgogne that sit somewhere along the line between Village and Premier Cru and in this instance well right of centre on that line. Les Clous is a bit more reserved than the Puligny, not so much reductive as much as it is wrapped a bit tight. It may be construed as perhaps a bit couterintuitive to Meursault but certainly not impossible to accept. Really brings the idea of lemon curd and a melting barrel into the ideal. Needs two years to integrate and if you are patient it will reward with a comforting hug at that time. Drink 2019-2025.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Meursault Premier Cru Genevrières 2015, AOC Bourgogne, France (Agent, $129.00, WineAlign)

Meursault Genevières is so much more fleshy, fruit forward, expressive and feminine than Les Clous though never straying too far from carrying a necessary liquid limestone, chalky streak through and through. The soil speaks more from the middle to the back, creating a fascinating transition for this wine. A warmth challenged vintage be anathematized this Genevières has not gone to blazes, constantly re-energizes and is built from a constitution to see it hang in for the long haul. Drink 2018-2028.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Chassagne Montrachet Premier Cru Morgeot 2015, AOC Bourgogne, France (Agent, $141.00, WineAlign)

Bouchard’s Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot is an intense expression of Bourgogne Premier Cru distilled into the finest, most elegant and ancient geology captured expression. The integration and balance is remarkable when you consider how Climat must contract intuition and acumen for the purpose of harnessed power and controlled energy. This is one of the major stars of the vintage. From soil to microclimate and through temperament it just has it all. Drink 2019-2030.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2015, AOC Bourgogne, France (Agent, $260.00, WineAlign)

Corton Charlemagne is a thing of great opulence, not the intense and controlled energy of Chevalier-Montrachet but here strutting and the wood more apparent. The fruit component shows off more desire (like Vaudesirs in Chablis but with the volume turned way up). This affinity with Grand Cru Chablis is curious, in a way interchangeable but respectfully mutual, apparent and beneficent. The munificence of this Corton breathes to fleshy texture and from mellifluous honey and bees waxy genteel notes. Power is evident but gorgeous and together is even more so. Toasty in the end, as in the beginning, with lime in gelid curd. Drink 2019-2029. Tasted April 2017

Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Chevalier Montrachet Grand Cru 2015, AOC Bourgogne, France (Agent, $480.00, WineAlign)

Chevalier-Montrachet is a matter of aromatics, of the finest of the finest, preserved, reserved, impressionable and of quietly powerful impression. The deistic and the parrhesiastic are reached in this Grand Cru, “one who speaks the truth to power.” Elysium in chardonnay is captured for the perfectly ripe orchard and crushed stones. The young palate is almost severe but takes its first steps down the most ethereal path, with the finest drawn lines and rendered streaks of energy lit, sparked and smouldering. This is Bourgogne of intrinsic value, slowly rising to a crescendo where a flame flickers but within the sheltered lamp of a hurricane. How is such harnessed power even possible? Only like this, in Chevalier-Montrachet . Drink 2021-2037.  Tasted April 2017

Bouchard Père & Fils Monthélie Les Duresses 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $57.00, WineAlign)

Monthélie is intensely floral where roses merge into violets and then strawberry melds into raspberry. Some firm grip as the Climat would suggest but it’s really quite a salvo, like shots fired into the air as an announcement of the wine’s drink early ability. Dureté could just as easily be fermeté because there is strength in trust, belief and assurance. Les Duresses brings attention to itself quite easily and with shameless selfie confidence. Drink 2017-2021.  Tasted April 2017

Bouchard Père & Fils Gevrey Chambertin 2015, AOC Bourgogne (661330, $59.95, WineAlign)

Bouchard’s 2015 is incredibly forward Gevrey Chambertin, full of fruit, flowers and a beautifully integrated red liquid chalky syrup. It’s just plain getable and is the godfather to all of its peers. If you want to show the world and everyone in it who knows or knows nothing about high-level Bourgogne then perhaps consider this to be the journey’s departure point. Gevrey and especially in the hands of Bouchard is such a gate for what it means to build pinot noir from the earth upwards. It explains what needs in a language you can understand and makes an offer you can’t refuse. Pour this every day simply because it is quintessentially ripe and structured stuff. Drink 2018-2026.  Tasted April and November 2017

Bouchard Père & Fils Chambolle Musigny 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $78.00, WineAlign)

Initial mannerisms direct the imagination to view this Chambolle Musigny as taking a turn towards a gentler version of itself. It’s quite floral and mineral with fruit the protein in between the covers. The condiments of spice, espagnole and coulis derived by that wood-soaked red fruit provide the structure. There are moments when this pinot noir seems more mineral than fruit and this equivocation will surely repeat depending on the time each one is opened but in time the genial will emerge and remain. For now the fleeting impression is of a grippy, firm, intense, citrus circus of acrobatic ability. At the finish it turns to the botanical and the tonic. Drink 2018-2024.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Ancienne Cuvée Carnot Volnay Caillerets Premier Cru 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $116.00, WineAlign)

Caillerets Ancient Cuvée Carnot is no young, impressionable and misunderstood bit of Bourgogne winemaking. There is DNA in this fruit that connects back 240 years to the house’s first vineyard dating to 1775. Here Volnay exhibits a substantial amount of chalky limestone swimming with variegated aggregate and firm, not quite ready to dissolve crunchy stone behaviour. Dark fruit and so much fraises de bois meets this perception brought on by mineral aromas and flavour. A bit savoury and all in for Volnay. So bloody in charge of its structure with grippy persistence. A classic Climat meets vintage of strength, courage and purpose. Drink 2020-2029.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Beaune Grèves Premier Cru Vigne De L’enfant Jésus 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $156.00, WineAlign)

When I asked Luc Bouchard which Climat most defines the notion for the estate he replied “from Bouchard estate we are very proud of the Climat of Beaune Grève Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus, monopole of Bouchard since 1791, a unique terroir with gravely soil (unique in Beaune). The roots go very deep into the soil (9m), so if we have a very dry summer there is always enough water far below and if there is heavy rain storm, the drainage is so good that the water is not directly swallowed by the grapes. That explains the consistency of the wine, it’s unique texture and ageing potential.” Beaune Grève Vigne de l’Enfant Jésus in 2015 is the wondrous inhalant, like (dare it be said) Hermitage if it were married to Côte d’Or, of an impossible liqueur and the first to bring this truly rich 2015 element to a Bouchard pinot noir. The finest silk coats the palate and through black composure the mineral (limestone) in here will never relent and let the dark fruit take charge. This is a wine of impeccable balance and gentle, ethereal preciseness. It impresses as much as any Bourgogne will. Drink 2019-2030.  Tasted April 2017

Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Le Corton Grand Cru 2015, AOC Bourgogne (Agent, $180.00, WineAlign)

Le Corton the Grand Cru is a senior, most adult red of the Côte d’Or crowd, an inwardly impressing Bourgogne with more mineral limestone impression than you can bother trying to imagine settling into one bottle. This is a factor of the very top of the vineyard and can’t be denied. Eighty years ago this Grand Cru received its AOC status but you can feel the roots go so much deeper. East-facing below the Charlemagne holding, Le Corton is often one of the last wines to be picked and it is this necessity that speaks to the severity and royal power wielded by this king of the appellation. In a word, wow and provided by so much wisdom. Drink 2020-2035.  Tasted April 2017

Good to go!

Godello

Twitter: @mgodello

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