Whereas previous tastings were vintage specific, this time a specific premier cru was showcased through a wide range of producer and vintages. The choice for Les Combettes appellation is based on my personal opinion that it is the finest premier cru in the village of Puligny Montrachet. Not everyone would agree as there seems to be this notion that Les Pucelles sits on top of the hierarchy. I would argue that plot's fame leans quite heavily on Domaine Leflaive who owns 40% of this nearly 7 hectare appellation. I won't argue with the splendour of old Leflaive Pucelles with the 1979 and 1989 leaving many grand crus behind. However, since the early 2000s Leflaive seems to have lost its magic which then leaves only a small number of Pucelles producers of which Domaine Henri Boillot is simply the best.
What I particularly like about Combettes is its consistency among producers and vintages, a character of great terroir. As far as the wines concerned, they seem to marry the best of the Puligny and Meursault villages balancing between angularity, roundness, fruitiness and minerality. In terms of texture they have a softness to them which make them approachable at any age. These are wines aimed to please which are never harsh or too intellectual yet do have deeper layers.
For this Combettes tasting, I was able to source eleven different producers with vintages ranging from 1990 to 2011.
Venue and menu were once again impeccably organized by our friend Melisa (who also deserves to be credited for all tasting pictures on this website). The razorclam dish was a new addition that deserved a standing ovation for its unprecedented tenderness and lightness of touch. The salted egg yolk lobster dish is a staple that is nowadays demanded by some participants. The butternut squash soup was creamy yet lithe and the roast chicken barley has also become a recurring classic. All in all: a job very well done by the American Club team, including the wine service that involved a respectable 140 glasses for ten people.
From top left to bottom right: razor clam ceviche, salted eggyolk lobster, butternut squash soup with wonton, roast chicken with barley and herb crusted veal loin
Flight 1: 2011 horizontal
As I didn't drink many 2011s yet I wanted to feature a flight to get a feel for this vintage: Domaine Henri Boillot, Louis Jadot, Jacques Prieur and Maroslavac-Leger. I was specifically keen to try the Boillot as this was their first vintage of the domaine since they acquired the land. Louis Jadot you would expect do a decent job whereas for Jacques Prieur I always feel you need to up the ante to Chevalier Montrachet for being impressed. Maroslavac-Leger concluded the line-up, a producer I was not familiar with before this tasting.
Flight 1: Voting Results
Who said it takes a few vintages to make a decent wine from a recently acquired plot? Henri Boillot's proves the opposite with this remarkable inaugural vintage, reconfirming this estate's high standards. They might not have the fame and the steep pricing of the more premium producers yet have quietly overtaken most others in terms of quality level. Boillot was voted by a margin as the wine of the flight with 7 out of 10 votes. Whereas the other wines in this flight were somewhat simple and displaying the early drinking character of the vintage, Boillot produced wine with a depth on nose, palate and finish. Jadot delivered in line with expectations a decent round wine with nice ripeness for a leaner vintage. Outsider Maroslavac Leger left a decent first impression and I would certainly be keen to try them again as it comes at a very fair price. Jacques Prieur disappointed as it was simply too curvy with too little acidity to keep it interesting for much more than a sip.
As part of my survey routine in these tastings (using the great Surveymonkey app), I also asked people to guess whether this flight featured wines from either 2007, 2009, 2011 or 2013. Votes were all over the place with most guesses for 2009 and 2011. I understand the confusion as in terms of drinking window 2009 and 2011 would be quite comparable. However, for 2009 I would expect a higher quality level and a bit more ripeness. I keep repeating myself but 2009 is a fine white burgundy vintage in my book and is not that low-acid vintage that ought to be drunk young. Try more of it and you will see...
Flight 2: Of Carillons and Girardin...
No grand theme behind this flight other than a comparison between the last vintage of Louis Carillon (2009) and the first vintage of Francois Carillon (2010). In 2010 the Louis Carillon estate was divided between the two brothers (Jacques and Francois) with the latter getting the Combettes. Vincent Girardin completed the line up, a producer often known for its good value for money. Mind you, they can produce stunning wines and a 2007 Chevalier Montrachet is still up there with the finest wines of this vintage I have tasted.
Flight 2: Voting Results
Ow wow - Girardin's brilliant 2007 Chevalier was not a fluke as they seem to have produced a very strong vintage across the board. Overwhelmingly voted as favourite with a whopping 8 out of 10 votes. It was in a beautiful drinking window with the acidity starting to soften and it just had that little touch of extra ripeness that differentiates itself from some 2007s that can border on leanness. The citrus character was more of a lime and pomelo character instead of lemon. Francois Carillon's 2010 was a clear second favourite and I could very well imagine this to surpass the Girardin with more age. Louis Carillon's last vintage reconfirmed not be the the estate's strongest one although their rare Bienvenues Batard Montrachet 2009 is worth seeking out.
Participants were asked to guess which of the three wines was the 2010. Four people guess it correctly whereas five thought it was 2007 Girardin, myself included. In retrospect I think the hint might have been that the Girardin showed just a touch more resolved than the Carillon. But As Billy Wilder rightly said: hindsight is always 20/20.
Flight 3: Back to the 90s
Apart from consistency another dimension to assess a plot is its ageworthiness. For that reason I assembled a flight ranging from 1990 to 1996 with all the strongest producers included. I tasted a few tired bottles of Sauzet 1990 Combettes before but those bottles didn't feel right so I sourced some pristine looking examples. Roche de Bellène's Collection Bellenum comes from Nicolas Potel's negotiant business. These are effectively late releases of purchased barrels, of which some claim they originate from Ampeau. The backlabel shows that this bottle only left its original cellar in 2013 so provenance is undisputed. Finally, Jean-Marc Boillot completed the line-up. As his 1996 Puligny Clos de la Mouchère still gives a ton of drinking pleasure I was curious how the Combettes was holding up.
A relatively close call but in the end the Roche de Bellène took the gold medal. Calculation method used is 1 point for #1 votes, 2 points for #2 votes and 3 points for #3 votes with the lowest summed score winning. Personally, I found this the most interesting flight and it did show the ageworthiness of these wines. Potel's Roche de Bellène was by far the freshest, brightest and most youthful of all wines which is easily explained by its ex-domaine provenance as the bottle only left its original cellar in 2013. It reminded me of a great Meursault Perrieres with plenty or tangerine character. Sauzet's 1990 was much better than the two previous bottles I had of it with a creamy character yet with a nice calamansi lime acid spine and gentle secondary character. Jean-Marc Boillot's version was a bit of an outlier as this showed clear hints of oxidation with molasses and corny notes with some fino sherry complexity peeking through. Some people loved it but for me the bottle was past its peak and at 20 years of age one should not be allowed to talk about premox. Leflaive surprisingly ended up in the last place and having now tasted most of their 1993s, I can't quite get my head around it. They show classic and bright acidity yet the midpalate concentration keeps them away from reaching greatness.
Conclusions
Overall wine of the night was Roche de Bellène with 5 votes for #1 and 1 vote for #2. Sauzet followed with 2 votes for WOTN with 5 votes for #2. A great testament to the ageworthiness of white burgundy, a category that is often drunk before its peak. Domaine Henri Boillot also once again deserves to be highlighted and it's good news they own a piece of this plot and I would be curious to try more recent vintages. As far as value is concerned the top honors should go to Vincent Girardin who I feel has improved a lot since the mid/late 2000s as the older wines can sometimes be overoaked.
There is always a lively debate among winelovers whether certain plots should be upgraded to grand cru status. I asked this question and half of the group felt this was appropriate for Combettes. Personally, I don't quite agree although this plots yields ageworthy wines with a high level consistency across producers. Where it fall short compared to the Puligny grand crus is in terms of complexity, depth and length. However, I would warmly recommend everyone to drink more Combettes as these are classic yet generous chardonnays which are simply impossible to dislike.