Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes--Vintage 1988

Offered duty paid, but available in bond. VAT at 1… Read more

THE GREATEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF WINES FROM DOMAINE ROUMIER EVER TO APPEAR AT AUCTION Domaine Georges Roumier & Fils It is exceptionally rare for a major collection of the greatest bottles from Domaine Roumier to come onto the market. This is not a large estate - under 15 hectares, or about 36 acres - with the production always very limited. Today, Domaine Georges Roumier has a massive reputation. The estate dates back to 1924, when Georges Roumier started to run his wife's family's vineyards in Chambolle-Musigny. Initially the wines were sold in barrel to the local trade, but from 1945 Domaine bottling was developed. Domaine Georges Roumier has now been a top Côte de Nuits source for over 50 years, becoming recognised, over the last two decades, as one of Burgundy's true super-stars. This is thanks to the brilliance of Christophe Roumier (just turned 50, he joined the Domaine in 1981), who is one of the most talented, inspiring wine-makers of his generation. The wines come from vineyards cultivated with respect for the environment, without fertilisers or weed-killers. The fruit is brought to ripeness thanks to careful, low yields, and many tiny attentions to detail. Hand-picking is followed by careful sorting, then by partial de-stemming of the bunches. Fermentations often start slowly, to allow cool, gentle extraction, then last up to 3 weeks, bringing structure, fruit intensity, supple, fleshy tannins and complex length. Aging partially in new oak allows gentle oxygenation, developing bouquet. The proportion of new barrels varies according to the strength of the wines - typically First Growths will age 25-40 in new oak, Grands Crus up to 50 These are sturdy wines of character, with great potential for silkiness when mature. Bottling takes place without filtration, and often without fining, accounting for the exceptional, creamy textures, great length of flavour and complexities. Musigny is one of the Domaine's original vineyard holdings. The family cultivated these rows as tenant farmers from the 1920s, then bought the land in 1978. Production is always tiny - a barrel, or a barrel and a half - yielding just 300-450 bottles per year. The wines from the 1990s were made by the father and son team of Jean-Marie Roumier and Christophe, with the latter's influence increasingly evident. His red wines have brilliant, limpid, purple-garnet colour, but are never inky-black. Musigny's aromas show violets, cedar-wood, smokeyness, ripe black fruits with a touch of undergrowth, mingling together. The nose of Roumier's Musigny can be head-spinningly beautiful and complex, to be followed on the palate by the poised silkiness of perfectly harmonious elements of fruit, structure, fine tannins, refreshing aftertaste and great length. Ruchottes-Chambertin carries Christophe Roumier's own name, as he share-crops these vineyards, which belong to a passionate wine enthusiast, Michel Bonnefond. The vines are very old - half planted in 1953, the balance in 1979 and 1982. The wine is exceptionally silky, perfumed and delicate, with aniseed and licorice often being evident. Its gentle tannins are amongst the first in the cellar to soften. The pre-eminent Grand Cru in the Georges Roumier cellar is arguably Bonnes Mares, of which more than 20 barrels (480 cases) are made each year. The vines are planted on both soil types found in this Grand Cru : red-brown, marl-rich soils near Morey Saint Denis, and whiter, more limey soils towards Chambolle-Musigny. Blended together - dense fruitiness with powerful structure, allied to perfume, finesse and minerality - this constitutes a bench-mark Bonnes-Mares, against which all others may be judged. The wine typically ages in 40 per cent new barrels, and the oak becomes perfectly melded with the wine's concentrated fruitiness, dense mid-palate and powerful, fleshy tannins. This is always a richly structured wine with magnificent, creamily-textured length. Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses is the greatest of the Domaine's First Growths. The vineyard lies just downhill and northwards of Musigny. In common with the Roumier style, this Amoureuses often has richer structure than is found at other growers, but also exhibits a delicacy of aroma, with strikingly luscious, supple fruitiness, and seductive texture. Securing allocations of this beautiful wine is almost impossible, for demand greatly exceeds the tiny supply. Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras is solidly constructed for a Chambolle wine (which tend to be delicate). The vines grow on a vineyard which extends southwards from Bonnes Mares, on a slope which receives full-on sunshine. It is a mini-Bonnes-Mares, one might say, often giving very ripe grapes. The wine shows mineral freshness, elegant tannins and great length, after 5-6 years bottle-age. Clos de la Bussire lies on the border of Morey Saint Denis with Chambolle-Musigny. The vineyard is a "Monopole" - i.e. solely owned by Domaine Roumier, and for many years Christophe's late father used to live in the house over-looking it. The aromas often show black fruit, leather and earthy characters, the palate being powerfully structured and burly, when young. As the vines got older during the 1990s, the wine gained in fruit concentration and complexity. Christophe Roumier is one of Burgundy's greatest modern master wine-makers, surely now at a peak in his career. This sale represents an ultra-rare opportunity to acquire many of his Domaine's greatest bottles. Anthony Hanson MW, 12 Oct. 2009

4 bottles per lot

Details

This fabulous collection has been assembled with great care and attention every wine was purchased directly from the domaine and has impeccable provenence. They are one-owner wines having never been traded until being offered today at auction. Since purchase the wines have been stored in professional, temperature and humidity controlled conditions. Recently shipped to the UK and now lying in Weybridge, Surrey (EHD)

Offered duty-paid, but available in bond

Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes--Vintage 1988
Côte de Nuits. Domaine-bottled: Georges Roumier
One nicked label
4 bottles per lot

Special notice

Offered duty paid, but available in bond. VAT at 17.5% will be charged on the hammer price on removal of the lot from bond.

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Carolyn Holmes

cholmes@christies.com +44 (0)20 7752 3360

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