Visit Domaine des Croix – tasting of the 2015s

It’s always a great pleasure to taste the wines made by David Croix – both at Camille Giroud and at his own estate Domaine des Croix. The wines are juicy and very balanced offering tremendous pleasure at a relatively fair price … 

Let me just say .. the 2015s is no exception the wines are tremendously good offering all the great sides of the vintage – and none of the slightly problematic issues found in some of the wines from this slightly hot vintage.

A bit about David Croix and Domaine des Croix

This was my second visit at Domaine des Croix, the personal estate of David Croix – the very talented winemaker from Camille Giroud (until the end of 2016). David is still at Camille Giroud but will be joining Jean-Marc Roulot at Domaine Roulot in early 2017. 

The Domaine des Croix estate was founded 10 years ago by David and a group of investors. The first vintage was 2005 and the domaine mainly focus on reds from Cote de Beaune and Corton. David will continue with his own projects at Domaine des Croix alongside his new work at Domaine Roulot.

Photo: David Croix

I have been a big fan of David Croix since the 2010 vintage, where he made some gorgeous red Cortons at Camille Giroud … they are tremendous. and really drink well … sadly they seem to have been overlooked at least by the collectors in Denmark.

Tasting the wines of Domaine des Croix

I tasted the wines in the middle of June … June 17th to be precise, and all the wines were through the malolactic fermentation in December and January and were showing very well indeed aside from a bit of reduction in some of the wines.

All the wines are very balanced, fresh and juicy offering predominantly red fruits .. quite floral with a nice transparent view to the terroirs. Some Cote de Beaune wines from 2015 are on the hot and heavy side .. this is not the case here.. where both the Beaune 1er crus and the mighty Cortons are showing just beautifully … GORGEOUS juice.

The 2015 vintage – discovering Beaune and the Corton area

A lot can be said about the 2015 vintage .. and at least for the reds it’s mostly very postive. The smile of David Croix when tasting his own 2015s does however say more than a thousand words – he seemed very thrilled about tasting the wines himself .. and rightfully delighted and proud of the result. 

All wines showed very well, but the final assembly of the casks will eventually form the bottled wines.

Starting out with the Beaune village – two cuvées that normally are blended before bottling. They are from very different terroirs – but quality wise almost at the same level – with the “northern cuvee” being the better and fresher in 2015 – in my view. The 2015 cuvées both offer juicy and energetic fruit – quite forward and elegant for the vintage – although the cuvée from the Pommard side perhaps is a bit on the weigthy side. It’s a bit difficult to predict the predominant style of the final cuvée but it will no doubt be very good – a fine place to start a Beaune quest in 2015.

The Aloxe Corton appellation – outside Corton and Corton Charlemagne – is sadly somewhat overlooked, and this is really a shame, as some of the lesser wines really has a lot to offer. The Aloxe Corton Les Boutières (village terroir located in the southern end of the appellation) is producing an openly knit and generous wine – it’s broad and quite concentrated for this level – openly knit – and quite delightful. This will no doubt provide a lot of pleasure – a very good wine in the making.

The Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Peuillets is a lovely glass. The fruit is silky and expressive .. very sexy for the appellation with a lovely floral side (35% whole cluster). It’s very harmonious and delicate – for the vintage, offering all one could wish for in a delightful Savigny-les-Beaune – also very good.

Moving on to Beaune Bressandes – The nose is brimming with ripe fruit offered with a floral expression of the terroir – 25% whole cluster in this wine. It’s very elegant and balanced, offering a beautiful expression of this fine Beaune terroir. A quite magnificent Beaune 1er cru in the making – a fine effort.

The Beaune Greves, a great terroir, is even better – with the bouquet offering juicy layered fruit – quite floral and extrovert. On the palate rich, velvet and generous fruit – deep and long – with a lovely intensity generated by the mighty Beaune Greves terroir. Love the depth and intensity in this wine .. a beautiful Beaune Greves in the making. The potential here is tremendous as the Greves terroir is the closest the Beaune appellation comes to a Grand Cru – fine to very fine.

While I was both delighted and impressed by the Beaune Bressandes and the Beaune Greves – the Beaune Pertuisots take the honors in 2015. This wine has – in my view – a different level of energy than the others Beaune cuvées in the 2015 vintage. The bouquet show layers of fresh and juicy red fruit – vibrant and forward. On the palate layers of delicate fruit – very energetic – offering a generous and effortless presentation of the exuberant mid-palate. fruit. This is a magnificent glass of Beaune – very fine – a hedonistic treassure. 

The favorite is however the Corton La Vigne au Saint, a very expressive and outgoing Corton with 45% whole cluster grapes. The nose is bursting with energetic red fruit … almost an explosion of juicy red berries – brought forward by the deep minerality of this slightly forgotten part of the Corton hill .. La Vigne au Saint is located at the foot of the Corton hill on the southern side. On the palate very energetic red fruit – layered and very vibrant – with tremendous generosity and verve. One of the best and most delightful young Cortons I have tasted – an outstanding wine by my standards. 

Finally the Corton Greves offer a darker and more substantial and concentrated expression of Corton, but nevertheless also very charming and expressive. This is a bigger wine than the Corton La Vigne au Saint – it’s deeper with a very generous and intense layered mid-palate fruit. It’s very long, weighty but still effortless and refiend –  a classic Corton for the longer run .. very fine indeed and perhaps even outstanding.

The two Cortons are very different and while I recognize that the Corton Greves is the bigger wine, I do feel that the La Vigne au Saint have this special 2015 energy and magic found in some wines. I will have both thanks … but when the au Saint go marching in .. I will be truly enchanted and seduced.

All in all a magnificent set of 2015s … they come highly recommend … and please save a bottle or two for me.

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