Richebourg 2013 75cl

The 2013 Richebourg Grand Cru has a very expressive bouquet, perhaps more so than the Cros Parantoux at this primordial stage: a mixture of red and black fruit, bay and Earl Grey, later accompanied by rose-petal aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe red berry fruit intermingling with mint and sage, gradually building to a suave, minerally finish. This is an excellent Richebourg for the vintage, although I would be hedging my bets on the Cros Parantoux this year.<br/>Jean-Nicolas was away in Korea when I visited his domaine, a sign of how the popularity of Burgundy is now global (I did not inquire whether it was North or South.) So his assistant winemaker kindly escorted me through their portfolio (négoçiant and domaine) and the same leitmotifs of the 2013s were discussed: the high levels of malic acid and the need to chaptalize. The harvest here commenced on October 2 and finished around ten days later. Unlike others such as Cécile Tremblay, they did not eschew pigeage completely, and conducted around four or five to extract color and tannins. As usual, the malolactics were very late and in fact, one or two of them were still continuing, which explains a couple of omissions in my notes. Apparently, they showed plenty of reduction since the wines was unable to be racked and therefore work in the cellar during the second winter is important. This address consistently produces excellent wines, though I found the 2013s a little more difficult to get a handle on vis-à-vis other growers. Of the two “jewels," I just have a preference for their Cros Parantoux over their Richebourg, the former displaying exceptional delineation, razor-sharp tannins and an unfathomable depth that riveted you to the spot, whereas the latter was broad-shouldered, regal but less opaque. Elsewhere, the wines felt just a little disjointed at this early stage and need to knit together their constituent parts by the time of bottling next year<br/>