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Domaine Vincent Girardin Saint-aubin Les Murgers De Dents De Chien 1er Cru(2004)
- Winery:
- Domaine Vincent Girardin
- Varietal:
- Region:
- France > Burgundy
- Type:
- White Wine
- User Tags:
- fruit, woody, oak - heavy, noteworthy, transparent, burgundy, forward, mediterranean and subtropical fruits, admirable, floral
- Burghound
- Issue 23, Jul 01, 2006
- 88/100
-
May 2008
- For several years now Vincent Girardin has been telling me that he wants to increase the purity of his wines, to make them more age worthy but most of all, to make real burgundies that are terroir-driven and truly reflect their sense of place. Quite frankly, I have found the results to be mixed at best in this regard until the 2004 vintage. Here, finally, are some really lovely wines and wines genuinely worthy of a serious look even by those who have been skeptical of what Girardin has produced in the past. The acquisition of Domaine Henri Clerc and the superb vineyards that it gave him was an important read more...first step but more importantly, it appeared to have given Girardin a much clearer idea of how great wines are made, e.g. in the vineyard. The various quality steps he has incorporated over the past few years are beginning to reveal themselves in much better, more transparent and much more interesting wines. In particular, he has begun to extend the élevage periods and he told me that he will lengthen it again for the 2005 vintage, intending to bottle the top wines in late February; indeed, you will note that several of the '04s were not in bottle during my mid-February visit. As readers know from previous reports, Girardin has been reducing the new oak percentages in his wines and he did it again in 2004 and is now using one-third for the 1ers and 40% for the big boys though it is fair to say that the wines nevertheless display ample wood influence. Girardin has not stopped buying vineyards either as he added parcels in Chassagne, St. Aubin and Corton-Charlemagne to augment the 20 ha that he presently exploits. To fund these purchases, he sold quite a bit of Santenay and Maranges though he said that he kept the Santenay 1ers. He went on to explain that his overall goal is to ultimately become a domaine with wines that emanate exclusively from the vineyards he works. In addition, I was surprised to hear that he apparently will halt the négociant operation altogether at some future point. Lastly, he explained that he has completely dropped the Baron de la Charrière label that was once sold through European Cellars. With respect to the 2004 vintage, Girardin told me that we waited to begin picking until September 25th and continued until October 5th. It was worth waiting because we obtained excellent sugars, ranging between 13.5 and 14.2%. Overall, I tried to do very little except get the ripest and cleanest fruit that we could and then let the wines make themselves. Based on the admirable quality of the wines, I believe we can begin to watch the Girardin operation with much more interest than before and hope that we see similar results going forward. Specifically for those readers who have objected to the amount of wood in the Girardin wines in the past, while they certainly are still carrying noticeable oak influence, I believe you will find it to be more moderate in this regard than in the past, particularly at the upper levels. To be clear however, purists will likely still find the wines to be generously if no longer excessively wooded. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; Bibendums, Adnams, Berkmann Wine Cellars and Tanners, all UK). Noticeable but not intrusive wood frames citrus-infused floral aromas and leads to delicious, fruity and nicely detailed though forward flavors that possess an attractive mineral streak and a punchy, palate staining finish. Lovely if not truly distinguished. (hide)
