1985 Domaine Christophe Roumier Vosne-Romanée
Les Beaumonts 1er Cru

BY NEAL MARTIN | MAY 04, 2020Our Cellar Favorite column is meant to bring readers’ attention
towards either mature bottles currently drinking well or recent vintages worthy
of laying down. This entry fits neither of those criteria. The reason that I
cleaved it away from an eclectic tranche of mature Burgundy notes is because of
its rarity and uniqueness, to the extent that I previously received two or
three enquiries asking whether this cuvée existed. So this Cellar Favorite
answers that question: Yes, Christophe Roumier did make a one-off Les Beaumonts in 1985. It is not a figment of
your imagination. It is not a fake.

Before broaching the wine, consider its context. Roumier was
a young winemaker who took over from his father in 1983, so I suspect that
despite his domaine boasting some of the choicest vineyards in the Côte de
Nuits, he could not resist branching out and deploying his skill in another
appellation. That does not imply that the resulting wine will be a success. I am
not someone who is going to rhapsodize about a wine just because it is from a
famous grower, a renowned growing season and what is an extremely rare wine
limited to a single barrel. That is the second motive for this particular
Cellar Favorite: to give an objective opinion. And the truth is this... Alas Christophe
Roumier did not make a great Les Beaumonts.
I do not know the exact reason why, though being limited to a single barrel
means that the winemaker has no option but to bottle whatever that barrel gives
him, good or otherwise. Perhaps that was one reason that it took him until 2016
to re-enter Vosne-Romanée with his métayage
in Echézeaux!<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1588600614507-vr+beaumonts+-+roumier.jpg"> 

The 1985 Vosne-Romanée Les Beaumonts 1er Cru shows
moderate bricking on the rim, commensurate with other 1985’s from the appellation.
The nose is quite pungent, with earthenware dominating over the remnants of red
fruit. Over time a potent capsicum scent takes charge, intimating that maybe
the fruit was not fully ripe. The palate is rather leafy verging on vegetal,
which is perplexing in a 1985, rustic and ferrous, tapering towards a slightly
bitter finish that is fraying at the seams. No, this is not a great Les
Beaumonts and pales against the astounding Les Amoureuses, Bonnes-Mares and
Musigny that Roumier produced in that same growing season. If you find any
bottles of this rara avis then you
can either enjoy possessing one of the most enigmatic wines of the Eighties or
drink it soon. 86/Drink 2020-2023.

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