I personally sat and tasted with both Martine Saunier and Christophe Perrot-Minot this time last year at Saunier’s annual extravaganza in Southern California. The report I filed for my eager Burgundy clients resulted in an exciting time for all. I have in our cellar and back-room collection a very limited supply of various 1er and Grand Gru selections acquired as a result of that meeting, so I thought this a great time to revisit that momentous event:
The story of Domaine Perrot-Minot is best told through the tasting glass. Tasting these wines, Burgundies that rival the greatest names of the Cote D’Or – with scores to match – is indescribable. As I sat, with my mind attempting to gather the words eloquent enough, passionate enough, to portray these liquid samples of perfection, I wished that each of you was beside me. It simply escapes me how to express in words the sheer depth of grace and utterly incomprehensible layers of flavor I witnessed as I sampled with Christophe these wines without peer.
These are some of the world’s very finest wines. That moniker, a moniker I am not alone in bestowing on these precious items, has arrived for Perrot-Minot only after several years of flawless consistency. From the very first visit to these cellars, it was obvious to Mr. Parker, for one, that we as Burgundy drinkers were in for a set of exquisite wines:
“Speaking of potential future superstars…Christophe Perrot-Minot (Henri’s son) is a name that may become as famous as Lignier, Dugat, Lafon, Roumier, and the like. I was as excited when I left this domaine as I was when I walked out of Arnauld Ente’s in Meursault. There is nothing more gratifying and invigorating than tasting a young person’s wines for the first time and finding them to be superb.”
– Robert Parker, Wine Advocate, Wine Buyer’s Guide, 1995
Over the past more than a dozen vintages, Christophe has worked to further perfect his art. Perfect vintages do not satisfy him. The difficult years, the years where Mother Nature comes at this man of perfection and diligence with all her might, those are the years that give this man his excitement.
I could see this in his eyes, hear this in his voice as I met with him in January. His face was aglow, much like his truly inspiring wines, as he told of his work in the vineyard. “Two thousand five was so easy, this is my masterpiece…”, he stated as he told of the work, meticulous and time consuming, that he and his teams put in for these 2006s. The results speak, through tasting notes from Tanzer, Burghound and, very humbly, yours truly, for themselves. Along with the Domaine de la Romanee Conti, these are the greatest wines of the Cote D’Or, once again!
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All the best!
Christopher Massie
Diplome D’Honneur de Sommeliere
