Visit Domaine Jean-Marc et Thomas Bouley – tasting of the 2016s

On my October 2017 trip to Burgundy I had the chance to visit Thomas Bouley at Domaine Jean-Marc et Thomas Bouley to taste the 2016s from cask.

I have tasted a few wines from Thomas Bouley before – but never visited the estate before – another lack in my Burgundy education.

Domaine Jean-Marc et Thomas Bouley, October 2017

To be honest I have never talked to Thomas Bouley before – so did not know what to expect. Luckily Thomas is a both talkative and clearly a man strong of views and opinions – so both a very interesting and enjoyable visit. Too involving it seems – as I forgot to take a photo of Thomas while I was there – that explains the photo of the estate above.

Always a good sign when the vigneron is energetic and openminded – this often translates info some interesting wines too.

Starting with the sad part though – Thomas Bouley lost a lot of wine due to the April 2016 frost. Yields below 20hl seen in total – thats below half the normal harvest ..

With this negative info delivered – to the tasting of the fine 2016s.

The 2016s from Domaine Jean-Marc et Thomas Bouley

As mentioned my experience with the Thomas Boulet wines was quite limited when I arrived – although I have tasted some lovely 2014s from the estate in March 2016. My impressions then were very good – and this was the background for arranging the visit.

The style is relatively classic in my view – hence some whole cluster are used, but not a dogmatic use of a large percentage of whole clusters. From what I have tasted – the energy and verve in the juicy mid-palate fruit is the greatest quality in these wines – and this is truly an important quality. The wines are also pure, well structured with a fine expression of the terroir. The viticulture certainly seem to allow a fine exchange with the soil, no chemical fertilisers or weedkillers are used and the vineyards are ploughed.

The 2016s are quite intense and well balanced here – fruit is on the darker side, yet lively but not overtly expressive at the time – in October 2017. I would like to call the vintage quite classic here – and despite the low yields there don’t seem to be any negative effects from the stress from the frost – meaning no tense and nervous wines in areas hit by the frost. This could be due to the “all or nothing situation” after the frost. Some areas gave almost no yield whereas others gave a more normal yield – hence the wines harvested are not to a full extend harvested from areas with very limited yields – if this makes sense?

Tasting Notes for this producer

• Faiveley summer wines: a Chambolle surprise June 25, 2020
• Faiveley summer wines: a delightful La Framboisière June 19, 2020
• Faiveley summer wines: the fresh Montagny June 13, 2020
• Faiveley summer wines: the generous white Mercurey June 10, 2020
• Faiveley summer wines: the vivid Ladoix June 8, 2020
• Domaine Faiveley, Chambertin Clos de Bèze Les Ouvrées Rodin 2013 December 7, 2017
• Domaine Faiveley, Latricieres-Chambertin 2014 February 11, 2017

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