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88-90 NM.
"Matured in 20% new wood, the 2013 Bourgogne Rouge Croix Blanche has a crisp black cherry and cassis-tinged bouquet that is neatly entwined with the oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. This is a “laid back," almost nonchalant Bourgogne Rouge with perhaps more mineral notes than fruit compared to its peers and boasting a lovely spicy note lingering on the aftertaste. Cécile Tremblay: new hairdo, new baby (six months – cute) and a new vintage. Together with her gargantuan hound slumped by the window, Cécile showed me her small portfolio of highly sought-after wines from carafe apart from one that she served from an Aladdin-like Perspex teapot . . . . 'I would have liked to have started the harvest on 5 October, but instead we started on 2 October because of the forecast, stopping on 4 or 5 October and finishing around 10 October.' It is interesting to note the crucial picking date decision, because on my next visit Christophe Roumier remarked that in hindsight, he wished he had done exactly what Cécile opted to do in 2013 i.e. unsheathed the secateurs earlier. 'It was a long harvest that needed several tries through the vineyard. The yield was around 30hl/ha and we harvested at minimum sugar levels, between 11.5 and 12.0 degrees natural alcohol so we needed a small amount of chaptalization. This year I did zero pigeage and just one remontage per day. The 2013s were vinified in a similar fashion 2008. There was a lot of malic acid and the wines are very linear.'" Wine Advocate #216, Dec 2014 |