2016 Taupenot-Merme Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Combe d’Orveau

Taupenot Merme

France / Burgundy / Taupenot Merme

Taupenot-Merme owns 0.45Ha of vines over two parcels of this top premier cru, with plantings dating back to 1942 and an average vine age of 70 years.

December, 2017

Neal Martin

Wine Advocate

89-91 points

The 2016 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Combe d’Orveau was reduced from eight or nine barrels to just a couple this year due to frost. The bouquet tends toward black rather than red fruit, touches of orange blossom developing with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, quite linear and strict with a grainy textured, even tobacco-tinged finish that lingers nicely in the mouth. Though I have a preference for last year's 2015, this is still a decent wine in a difficult, traumatic vintage.

January, 2018

Stephen Tanzer

Vinous Media

90-93 points

(Taupenot made just over a barrel of wine from 0.5 hectare, which equates to about five hectoliters per hectare): Dark red with ruby highlights. The high-pitched nose communicates a tight kernel of black cherry stomp, spices and stony minerality accented by licorice and black pepper. Densely packed and distinctly powerful but neither unwieldy nor hot; really saturates the palate with medicinal black cherry and licorice. Finishes with broad, serious, fine-grained tannins and noteworthy verve. This very dark, tactile Combe d'Orveau is hard to scrape off your palate.

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About Taupenot Merme

Brother-and-sister team Virginie and Romain are at the helm at this domaine. It has 13 hectares on the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits, with grands crus including Clos des Lambrays, Charmes-Chambertin, Corton-Rognet and Mazoyères-Chambertin. These seventh generation winegrowers are typical of the new crop of young Burgundian vignerons who are realising the full potential of priceless family vineyard parcels through sensitive viticulture and thoughtful winemaking. All grapes are de-stemmed, with 25% new oak used for the village wines and 40% for grand and premier cru. Virginie looks after sales while Romain works the cellar, producing structured, self-assured Burgundy that expresses the vineyards well. The wines are getting better and better.

About

Seventh-generation Romain Taupenot is in charge of winemaking at Domaine Taupenot-Merme, aided by his sister Virginie. It's widely and correctly acknowledged that the estate, which has been working along organic principles since 2001, is on the up and up in terms of quality. Its results from the 2006 and 2007 vintages are drinking beautifully, and Romain has triumphed against all odds in the difficult vintages of 2012 and 2013.