Impressions from Domaine Roulot and Domaine Marc Roy

Day 2 of my Burgundy trip included visits at Domaine Roulot in Meursault and Domaine Marc Roy in Gevrey Chambertin.

Photo: Alexandrine Roy of Domaine Marc Roy

One could say .. from one end of Burgundy to the other .. bad logistic planning from my side … but there is however a link.

These two producers .. Jean-Marc Roulot and Alexandrine Roy .. are in my view both masters of the village wines.

They both put a lot of effort into making village wines that express the character of the terroir and the appellation. And they both seem to value and make pure, fresh, focused and energetic wines, rather than big, rich oak dominated cuvees.

Domaine Roulot 2013

It’s always a great experience to taste the Roulot wines … the 1er crus are indeed magnificent but I’m also equally facinated by the different village wines.

The 2013s from Roulot are magnificent .. combining a quite powerful focusing, energetic acidity and pure chardonney fruit without disturbing elements like hints of botrytis.

They are pure, focused and vibrant offering a perfect view to the individual climate and terroir … so crystal clear and energetic – tasting notes will follow.

The 2013 Roulots are somehow my kind of white Burgundies, as I prefer the vintages and wines with a quite powerful focusing acidity.

Interestingly we also tasted two blind wines .. same wine different vintages .. to test our preferences, and this really put a spotlight on at least my preferences and the ranking of these.

The wines were Meursault Les Tessons “Clos de Mon Plaisir” 2011 and 2010, two quite different wines … the 2011 is pure focused harmony, while the 2010 is more expressive with a more defined acidity and a more powerful aromatic profile slightly influenced by a hint of botrytis – (quite many 2010s have this!). The wines were in my view quite evenly matched quality wise, I was nevertheless quite sure what I preferred.

Normally I don’t like the effect of botrytis in white Burgundies, but in this case I nevertheless prefered the 2010 wine .. why? .. the acidity structure of the 2010 vintage seems to be more important to me than the balanced aromatic purity of the 2011.

What can I say .. I love a well defined acidity in my white Burgundies … and in the 2013 Roulots I find this together with a delightful aromatic purity reflecting the chardonney grape and not “influenced” by hints of botrytis.

Preferences are indeed personal and individual ..

Domaine Marc Roy 2014s

Alexandrine Roy of Domaine Marc Roy is a girl with the heart and preferences in the right place … and based on this she makes some of very the best village wines in the Gevrey appellation and in my view some of the very best red village wines in Burgundy.

Alexandrine made her debut as winemaker with the 2003 vintage, and have over the years refined her wines to be some of the most vibrant, refined and transparent terroir driven Gevrey wines made today.

I was blown away the first time I tasted her wines, and my tasting of the 2014 vintage from cask just confirmed my passion for these wines.

Alexandrine makes 4 village reds and all are truly magnificent in their own way and style. They are all pure, airy and intense but still quite lightfooted and filigree. The 2014 here offer a fine balance between rich fruit and juicy freshness .. the are very balanced and will no doubt provide gorgeous drinking in the years to come.

I love the transparency of the wines, the depth and juicyness of the fruit and last but not least the gorgeous drinkability.

The highlight is the Cuvee Alexandrine made only from millerandage grapes … so vibrant, pure and juicy with it’s pomegranate notes … why get a lesser Grand Cru when you can enjoy this. Notes will follow.