Domaine Menand 2007 Tasting Notes

Mercurey Premier Cru Les Byots 2005
Mercurey Premier Cru Clos des Combins 2005

In 2005, the vintage from which our wines come this year, the weather was the dream of any winemaker.  More than average sunshine and lots of sustained, rather than excessive, warmth coupled with significantly less rain than average, meant that, by the time they were harvested, the grapes had an excellent balance of natural sugar and acidity.  It is already being hailed as a magnificent vintage.

Our Premier Cru Les Byots comes from Philippe’s third share of this tiny vineyard.  Because of the small quantities, the other owners of Les Byots vines blend their grapes, but Philippe vinifies his grapes separately to make a small quantity of our exclusive cuvée – which makes it doubly exclusive as our vineyard Partners are the only people in the world to enjoy an award-winning Mercurey Premier Cru Les Byots.  Eight months in oak barrels (25% new) gives just the right amount of structure to balance the depth of delicious blackberry and strawberry flavours.  Beef and hard, dry cheeses, are, of course, obvious mates for this wine but, being slightly softer and fruitier than previous years, it will also be delicious with veal and chicken.  

In a village renowned for its excellent plots, our Premier Cru Clos des Combins is one of the best and its terroir is quite different from Les Byots.  Here the flavours are of darker fruits: black cherry, damson and blackcurrant.  If forced to make a decision we would probably opt to drink the Les Byots before the Clos des Combins but both wines will continue to develop fruity complexity in the bottle over the next 3 to 5 years – the question is, can we resist them?