I recently had brunch with a friend after we found out we both had recently acquired a bottle each of '17 Henri Germain. We decided to use this happy coincidence as an excuse to get together, catch up, and open some fun bottles of a producer neither of us had much experience with.
2017 Henri Germain et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Les Fairendes: Opened up with notes of apple and pear on the nose. The palate is white fruit, lean, mineral-forward, with a hint of well-integrated oak on the palate (a touch of glossiness, a little bit of vanilla). Very polished, precise, and seamless on the palate. Rather generous and open at this moment; drinking quite nicely (and the finish is long and impressive).
2017 Henri Germain et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières: Upon opening, this is impressively stuffed, concentrated, and intense with tons of minerality (notes of wet rocks), the oak already well-integrated, adding just a touch of gloss texturally. But, the wine starts shutting down soon after opening, giving nothing on the nose but bruised apple with the palate being very shy and closed up. This probably needs a couple more years in bottle to unclench and open up. It's impressive though, but drinking this now felt like infanticide.
Day 2 of Les Perrières: The nose opens up quite a bit. I'm getting grapefruit zest, mint, fresh herbs on the nose. The palate is still primarily wet rocks with a noticeable veneer of vanillin, but the oak is still well-integrated and I get much more citrus and herbs on the palate. Like the complexity of an aged Riesling without the raciness of the acidity; instead you get a polished, rounder, very elegant texture (though the acidity is still mouth-watering and ample).
I have very little experience with white Burgundy, though I suspected there was a good chance we were going to catch these wines in an awkward phase. Thankfully, the Les Fairendes was still in a good place (my friend said it reminded him of an '07 Roulot Les Tessons he had a long while ago), but it was fascinating to witness the clenching of the Les Perrieres in real time after we were afforded a quick glimpse into its potential. It took about 15-20 minutes after opening to zero out into a black hole of almost complete nothingness on the nose and the palate.
The bruised apple note in the Les Perrieres made us initially think this may be very early-stage premox, but I was reminded of the posts about "premoxed Huet" perhaps just being nothing more than shutdown. Considering how the Les Perrieres opened up a bit in the next day, I'm more convinced of that, though that is not to say that the Les Perrieres will never premox in the future. Not sure what Germain's history with premox is to really say one way or other.
This was educational for sure and a fun treat to indulge in (once in a while).
2017 Henri Germain et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Les Fairendes: Opened up with notes of apple and pear on the nose. The palate is white fruit, lean, mineral-forward, with a hint of well-integrated oak on the palate (a touch of glossiness, a little bit of vanilla). Very polished, precise, and seamless on the palate. Rather generous and open at this moment; drinking quite nicely (and the finish is long and impressive).
2017 Henri Germain et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières: Upon opening, this is impressively stuffed, concentrated, and intense with tons of minerality (notes of wet rocks), the oak already well-integrated, adding just a touch of gloss texturally. But, the wine starts shutting down soon after opening, giving nothing on the nose but bruised apple with the palate being very shy and closed up. This probably needs a couple more years in bottle to unclench and open up. It's impressive though, but drinking this now felt like infanticide.
Day 2 of Les Perrières: The nose opens up quite a bit. I'm getting grapefruit zest, mint, fresh herbs on the nose. The palate is still primarily wet rocks with a noticeable veneer of vanillin, but the oak is still well-integrated and I get much more citrus and herbs on the palate. Like the complexity of an aged Riesling without the raciness of the acidity; instead you get a polished, rounder, very elegant texture (though the acidity is still mouth-watering and ample).
I have very little experience with white Burgundy, though I suspected there was a good chance we were going to catch these wines in an awkward phase. Thankfully, the Les Fairendes was still in a good place (my friend said it reminded him of an '07 Roulot Les Tessons he had a long while ago), but it was fascinating to witness the clenching of the Les Perrieres in real time after we were afforded a quick glimpse into its potential. It took about 15-20 minutes after opening to zero out into a black hole of almost complete nothingness on the nose and the palate.
The bruised apple note in the Les Perrieres made us initially think this may be very early-stage premox, but I was reminded of the posts about "premoxed Huet" perhaps just being nothing more than shutdown. Considering how the Les Perrieres opened up a bit in the next day, I'm more convinced of that, though that is not to say that the Les Perrieres will never premox in the future. Not sure what Germain's history with premox is to really say one way or other.
This was educational for sure and a fun treat to indulge in (once in a while).