Initial Impressions – Domaine Marc Roy 2015

Domaine Marc Roy is in my view one of the best producers in Gevrey-Chambertin – with a very fine selection of village wines.

Alexandrine Roy is the dynamic winemaker at Domaine Marc Roy and she has produced some lovely 2014s – wines I tasted in March 2015. The 2014s are now bottled and the 2015s are in cask.

To taste or not to taste the 2015s

Normally I first sample a vintage in March i.e. almost 6 month after the vintage. I have tried pre-malo wines many times but rarely write about these tastings.

Going to the Hospices de Beaune auction this year ment tasting the 2015s at a very early stage … much earlier than I would normally taste a vintage.

I tasted 23 of the Hospices de Beaune wines – both reds and whites – and they were quite difficult to taste and sadly not that impressive at this stage.

To be honest I left the Hospices de Beaune somewhat discuraged about the otherwise fabled 2015 vintage …

So when I was offered a sneak peak of the 2015s at Domaine Marc Roy I thought … why not? .. promising myself not to publish tasting notes.

The 2015s from Domaine Marc Roy

To my surprise the 2015s from Alexandrine Roy were quite easy to taste and not dramaticly blurred by the beginning malo. Still one need to be caucious to draw any conclusions at this early stage … so this is only my initial impressions.

Firstly I found the 2015s from Domaine Marc Ror very balanced – yes they are quite rich wines – but the fruit here is juicy, pure and vibrant at this stage, and the acidity seems to be adequet at this stage.

The individual wines … the Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes, the Gevrey La Justice, the Gevrey Clos Prieur and the Cuvee Alexandrine seemed to fit the expected aromatic profile – assuring that the wines were in fact quite palateble.

In my view the balance between ripeness and freshness seems to be the key issue in 2015, and the balance here seems quite perfect in all the wines …

Again – but one need to respect the wines and not draw any firm conclusions before the malo is done.

While this is a very early sample … the 2015s from Marc Roy rebuild my confidence in the 2015 vintage … they show very fine potential and I very much looking forward to taste these wines again at a later stage.

Initial remarks on the 2015s

My initial samples of the 2015 vintage shows why one should not taste a vintage at this early stage … the impression now create a quite mixed picture … this could well be true to some degree … but it could also reflect the fact that the wines are tasted very early … too early perhaps in some cases.

But given the weather conditions and the sample tasted I think there are some things to note:

Firstly the balance between ripeness and freshness is the key thing in 2015 … to keep sufficient acidity could be a problem for those who picked late or if you will too late. Alexandrine Roy certainly found this balance in her 2015s whereas the Hospices wines showed more mixed results.

A classic or hot vintage is the next question … the hot summer have in some cases yielded a very ripe fruit … in some case with what I call overripe notes … this combined with a lack of acidity could in my view be a problem … again Alexandrine Roy seem to have havested at the right time – and while the wines are quite rich – they show no signs of overripeness.

The “final” balance and freshness can however in my view only be evaluated when the malo is done, so one need to respect the wines and the vintage until this is over and done.

In the meantime I think it’s safe to say … quality of the 2015s will be mixed even if the potential is very fine – not really saying much .. as this statement apply for most vintages.

I am however very optimistic about the Domaine Marc Roy 2015s … they will no doubt offer a lot of Burgundian pleasure over the next decade or two – I adore these wines.