Visit Maison Camille Giroud, tasting of the 2015 vintage from cask

Maison Camille Giroud is one of the best adresses for affordable wines of high quality. This is mainly due to the talented winemaker and manager David Croix, who has taken Camille Giroud from traditional old school Burgundies to classic contemporary Burgundies within his 15 years as head of the wine making.

The David Croix era is however coming to an end – as David has resigned his position at Maison Camille Giroud – to pursue new challenges with his own estate and at Domaine Roulot in Meursault.

So last tasting with David at Camille Giroud – and what is better than to leave with a big bang of a vintage … the 2015s here are at times quite spectacular.

Photo: David Croix

Tasting the wines of Maison Camille Giroud

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

This is a very fine address for great Beaune wines and Cortons …. but somehow overlooked by many collectors … this is really a mistake … a lot of hedonistic Burgundian pleasures to find here.

The 2015 vintage – discovering Beaune & Corton

A lot can be said about the 2015 vintage .. and at least for the reds .. its mostly very positive.

The wines at Camille Giroud showed very well indeed.

Starting out with the Bourgogne Rouge it offers a lovely cool red fruit – expressive bouquet and a fine mid-palate concentration. 2015 is a fine year for the lesser appellations .. and this is a good entry level Burgundy.

The Gevrey-Chambertin Les Crais is a delightful village – from a terroir below the D974 (RN74). The nose is very floral offering fresh variations of red fruit. On the palate juicy and vibrant red fruit – lovely energy – pure balanced with a fine complexity for this level – very good indeed.

The Volnay village is weighty and intense for this level – made from the village part of Les Lurets in the southern part of Volnay. It’s a generous Volnay offering plenty of fruit on the mid-palate – it’s vinous – but well balanced and very enjoyable.

The Vosne-Romanee village – made from the terroir Les Chaladin located below Basses Maizieres in the northern end of the Vosne appellation. The nose is offering fresh and quite floral fruit – some Vosne spices and openly knit minerality. On the palate generous and energetic fruit – fine acidity and freshness … a very good Vosne village in the making.

The Volnay Lurets 1er cru is a step up in tension and energy. The nose is brimming with red fruit spiced by a nice earthy minerality. On the palate generous but focused with a lovely juicy fruit. A lovely energetic Volnay in the making – a Fine effort.

Camille Giroud makes two Beaune 1er crus – that are in some vintages blended into one cuvée – the Beaune 1er cru.

The Beaune Aux Cras is in my view the best cuvee in 2015 .. as it offers a tremendous energy and nerve. The nose is floral and expressive with a wide range of red and dark berries – brought forward by a refined and detailed minerality. On the palate very vibrant and with a generous mid-palate fruit. I love the energy in this wine .. magnificent juice – a very fine effort. I do hope this will be bottled separately.

The Beaune Les Avaux is a slightly more dense and dark wine – but still withe fine energy. The nose offer layers of red and dark berry fruit – supported by a earthy minerality. On the palate juicy and generous fruit – it’s vinous – with a considerable depth. A fine effort but lacking the ultimate energy found in Aux Cras.

The Gevrey-Chambertin appellation has done well in 2015 – and it seems like Laveaux St. Jacques is one of the best performing terroirs in this vintage. The Laveaux from Camille Giroud is a magnificent wine offering the best sides of the 2015 vintage. The nose is bursting with vibrant red fruit – delicate, floral og energetic. On the palate generous vibrant and juicy fruit – tremendous energy and nerve. This is a true beauty .. very fine .. and highly recommended.

The Charmes-Chambertin is a very sexy and generous wine offring seductive layers of red fruit. The nose offer sweet red fruit supported by a deep earthy minerality. On the palate very generous and seductive fruit – silky and perfectly ripe. It’s well balance and pure – but lacking some nerve and energy compared to the Laveaux St. Jacques. Indeed a fine+ wine .. but not my top pick.

My favorite here is the Corton Clos du Roi, a very expressive and generous Corton. The nose is exploding with ripe and juicy red berry fruit – it’s floral with a outstanding expression of the minerality. On the palate rich and generous with plenty of fruit – focused and detailed by the powerful mineralic backbone of Clos du Roi. This is a magnificently energetic Corton .. a outstanding wine .. and one of the top cuvées from Corton in 2015. I love and admire this wine … this shows why Corton is Grand Cru.