Wine Advisor
Meo Camuzet, Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Aux Brulees 2017
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2017 Vosne-Romanée Aux Brûlées 1er Cru has quite a complex, cerebral bouquet of mineral-laden dark berry fruit, hints of undergrowth and a subtle wet limestone aroma. The medium-bodied palate offers crisp, slightly chalky tannin, well-judged acidity, moderate depth and a tensile, very focused finish. There is a little strictness at the moment, but I feel it will gain more flesh by the time of bottling. This is extremely promising.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
Tasted from bottle, Méo's 2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brûlées lives up to its fine performance from barrel last year, bursting with expressive aromas of sweet red berries and plums that mingle with nuances of orange rind, exotic spices, raw cocoa and rose hip. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, supple and velvety, with a deep core, powdery tannins and lively animating acidity, concluding with a long and perfumed finish.
About the Producer
Founded in the early 20th Century by Etie, Méo-Camuzet is one of the figureheads of Vosne-Romanée as well as an old family of the village. Back in 1920, founder Etienne Camuzet acquired 3 hectares of the house's flagship Clos Vougeot as well as the Château itself before donating it to the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. After WWII, the estate came to the management of Jean Méo who had agreements with vintners managing the vineyards and making the wines, the most famous of which was Henri Jayer. In 1983, the estate started to bottle some of its fruits under its own label and the sharecropping agreements eventually came to an end in 1988 when Jean-Nicolas Méo took over the management of the 17.2-hectare property. The meticulous work in the vineyard involves bud pruning in spring, careful trellising to ensure an optimal leaf exposure to sunlight as well as aeration of the bunches and green harvest may be performed if necessary. After harvest bunches are de-stemmed before a 3-5 days cold maceration prior to fermentation. The wines are then matured in oak barrels for 15 to 18 months before bottling. The winemaking aims at preserving the fruit purity to craft smoothly grained, profound wines with complex aromatics and silky textures. In order to ensure the quality acquired in the vineyard and revealed in the cellar is bottled unspoilt, the wines are not filtered. Jean-Nicolas Méo is also involved in a négociant activity which sources and vinifies grapes from vineyards managed by the estate before bottling them under the "Frère & Soeur" label. The attention to detail in the vineyards and the winery is the same as for the estate and allows the family to produce a wider range of appellation in lesser-known Côte de Nuits villages such as Marsannay or Fixin offering a great entry point to the wines of the domaine. Since 2011, this superb portfolio now comprises the first ever Grand Cru white produced by Méo-Camuzet: a Corton-Charlemagne.
