2010 Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts 1er Cru

The top 2010 Red Burgundies are now virtually impossible to find, so it was a real treat to taste these nine gorgeous, reference-point wines together. The goal of this seminar, which I curated at Pebble Beach Food & Wine, was to highlight a number of Burgundy’s finest terroirs ands most representative producers. I was joined on the panel by Master Sommeliers Larry Stone and Alan Murray, and winemaker Rajat Parr. All of the wines showed exceptionally well in what turned out to be a fabulous morning filled with great Burgundy and equally stimulating conversation. For more background on the wines, readers might enjoy this short video I shot just before the tasting. As Burgundy fans know, the 2010 growing season did not get off to a great start. A devastating winter frost killed a number of vines, especially in the low, flat-lying sectors close to the Route Nationale. Poor weather during flowering caused significant issues with coulure and millerandage. Conditions improved markedly during the last few weeks of the season, always the most critical time of the year. The 2010s combine excellent maturity levels from naturally occurring low yields with lively acidity that is the result of a long, cool growing season. Most importantly of all, the wines are highly site-specific. At their best, the 2010s are stunning wines that capture the essence of what makes Burgundy so thrilling. For more on 2010, readers might enjoy taking a look back at my initial thoughts on the vintage and wines.

Dujac fans will be thrilled with these 2010s. They are off the charts. The most difficult thing will no doubt be finding them. Jeremy Seysses reported yields down by 30-50% across the board, although his Morey blanc was down a whopping 90%. The poor flowering and wet summer resulted in loose bunches with a high amount of shot berries. The wines came in at 12 to 12.5% potential alcohol and were lightly chaptalized. Seysses used 80-90% stems for most of the wines, a little less for some, such as the Charmes and Combettes (around 70%) and more for the Chambertin and RSV (both 100%). Unfortunately, the 2010 Morey 1er Cru was too reduced to evaluate, so I will have to wait for another opportunity to taste the wine. I also tasted the entire range of 2009s. I will report on those wines in my April article.

Jeremy Seysses told me that his family eliminated about 25% of the fruit in 2010, "for rot, not for underripeness," and that that percentage was comparable to 2008. He finds that the young 2010s shows similar "thickness and energy" to the 2008s. Potential alcohols were generally a shade over 12%, and following moderate chaptalization the village wines are now around 12.5%, the premier crus 12.8% to 13%, and the grand crus 13% to 13.5%. Due to the high percentage of millerandage, the estate vinified with a substantial percentage of whole clusters in 2010: 90% or more for numerous cuvees. Most of the 2010s were racked for the first time after the 2011 harvest, and some of the wines were quite reduced in November. Interestingly, pHs here are often a tad higher in 2010 than they were in 2009--3.55 to 3.65 vs. 3.5 to 3.6, according to Seysses. "Accusations of overripeness in 2009 are highly simplistic," he pointed out. "The wines are not porty like the 1990s. They have the acid structure to age, and to go the distance."