It is a bijou operation, just half a dozen or so crus in small but fortunately not microscopic quantities. Tardy is always welcoming and affable. He creates relatively fruit-driven, concentrated wines that lean towards the black side of the fruit spectrum rather than red.
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate
You might categorize Tardy’s wines as leaning to the more modern, intense side of Vosne-Romanée winemaking… There is always density and grip to these wines, which benefit from bottle age.
It would be an exaggeration to call it plain sailing, but Guillaume Tardy found the harvest of 2017 pretty easy to handle following a far trickier ’16. Aside from an April frost scare, things progressed smoothly – so much so that Guillaume found himself dropping fruit across all sites, and still ending up with healthy yields between 40 and 45 hl/ha.
Always one to pick earlier and fresher than his peers, he pulled the trigger on 7th September. The fruit he brought in was beautifully ripe and clean. “The style of the wines is really one of pleasure rather than one for long aging,” he told Allen Meadows of Burghound.
So then, why wait?
THE WINES
2018 Jean Tardy Bourgogne Passetoutgrain $55
50% Pinot Noir and 50% Gamay from Flagey-Echézeaux, the first vineyard Jean bought in 1982. Plush, silky, pleasurable purple fruit with genuine tannin structure.
2017 Jean Tardy Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits ‘Cuvée Maëlie’ $91
There is enough reduction to mask the underlying fruit at present though the flavors are bright and fresh while offering good vibrancy and detail that carries over to the mildly austere finale. This saline-inflected effort is refreshing and delicious and should drink well early.
86-88 points. Allen Meadows, Burghound January 2019
2017 Jean Tardy Fixin ‘La Place’ $141
The 2017 Fixin La Place has a pretty bouquet of blueberry and black cherry aromas, quite floral in style, with commendable purity. The medium-bodied palate offers sappy black fruit, a slightly chalky texture and a brisk, nicely focused finish that is just very “Fixin” in terms of that tail of blue fruit.
88-90 points. Neal Martin, Vinous Media January 2019
A discreet application of oak easily allows the earthy and brooding nose of various dark berries and humus nuances to be assessed. There is good volume to the velvet-textured medium weight flavors that also culminate in a mildly austere finale though there is almost no rusticity. This is a quality Fixin villages that should drink well early but should also be capable of rewarding 4 to 7 years of keeping.
87-89 points. Allen Meadows, Burghound January 2019
2017 Jean Tardy Chambolle-Musigny ‘les Athets’ $207
The 2017 Chambolle-Musigny Les Athets has quite a precise bouquet, Morey-like in style, displaying notes of blackberry, boysenberry, sous-bois and a light graphite aroma. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, smooth texture and fine acidity. There is impressive density here, though I hope it develops a little more rondeur on the finish.
88-90 points. Neal Martin, Vinous Media January 2019
Restrained and appealingly fresh aromas combine both red and dark currant, violet and a whiff of spice. There is a bit more volume and mid-palate density to the medium-bodied flavors that possess a caressing mouthfeel while delivering fine length on the bitter cherry pit-inflected finish. Lovely and understated in style.
87-90 points. Allen Meadows, Burghound January 2019
2017 Jean Tardy Vosne-Romanée ‘Vigneux’ $223
The 2017 Vosne-Romanée Vigneux, which Guillaume Tardy remarked performs best in less ripe vintages, has a fragrant bouquet of black cherry and blueberry fruit infused with pressed violet, all quite pure and seductive. The taut, crisp palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin and an almost citrus-fresh finish. This is a delight, albeit a delight to drink over the next five or six years.
88-90 points. Neal Martin, Vinous MediaJanuary 2019
More prominent though still integrated wood suffuses the very ripe aromas of spiced plum, earth, mocha and violet. There is reasonably good concentration to the attractively textured and rich flavors that possess a lovely inner mouth perfume while exhibiting good persistence on the firm but still pliant finish.
87-90 points. Allen Meadows, Burghound January 2019
2017 Jean Tardy Nuits-St-Georges Vieille Vigne ‘Bas De Combe’ $190
The 2017 Nuits Saint-Georges Au Bas de Combe Vieilles Vignes comes from vines up to 80 years old. It has a well-defined bouquet of vibrant black cherries, black currant, and touches of graphite, and is quite dense at the moment. The medium-bodied palate displays quite firm tannin that lends backbone, and shows good weight toward the back palate and a slightly muscular finish. It does not quite have the panache of the Aux Argillats, though it ought to give a decade’s worth of drinking pleasure.
88-90 points. Neal Martin, Vinous Media January 2019
Hints of earth and herbal tea add breadth to the aromas of red currant, plum, dark cherry and a whiff of humus. There is an appealing sense of energy to the well-detailed and attractively textured medium-bodied flavors that delivering fine length on the slightly firmer finish. This needs to add depth but the underlying material is present for that to occur.
88-91 points. Allen Meadows, Burghound January 2019
2017 Jean Tardy Gevrey-Chambertin Vieille Vigne ‘Champerrier’ $190
The 2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Champs Perrières Vieilles Vignes comes from 65-year-old vines. It has one of the best aromatics from the domaine this year, featuring billowing, seductive black cherry, fig and raspberry confit aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, good balance and a keen thread of acidity that drives through the concentrated black fruit on the finish. Maybe one for the long haul?
90-92 points. Neal Martin, Vinous Media January 2019
A pungent nose of wood and reduction mask the underlying fruit today. Otherwise there once again good punch and intensity to the more mineral-inflected barely medium weight flavors that are delicious if not particularly dense, all wrapped in a bitter cherry pit-inflected finish. This is pretty if a bit light.
87-89 points. Allen Meadows, BurghoundJanuary 2019
2017 Jean Tardy Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru ‘Aux Argillas’ $306
The 2017 Nuits Saint-Georges Aux Argillats 1er Cru needs some coaxing from the glass, only reluctantly revealing sultry blackberry, iodine and hints of blue fruit lending some “light” with time. This is certainly tightly coiled at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with a smooth, velvety, corpulent texture, a mixture of red and black fruit and a touch of gaminess toward the finely tuned finish. Good potential.
90-92 points. Neal Martin, Vinous Media January 2019
A background application of wood does not impede the appreciation of the airy and fresh aromas of red currant, cherry, violet and a wisp of the sauvage. There is better volume and concentration to the middle weight flavors that offer better depth and persistence though the wood shows up again on the finish and it’s prominent enough that it seems clear that this will need a few years to better integrate it.
88-91 points. Allen Meadows, Burghound January 2019
2017 Jean Tardy Echézeaux Grand Cru Vieille Vigne ‘Les Treux’ $743
The 2017 Echézeaux Les Treux Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru comes from a parcel of 80-year-old vines. It has a perfumed bouquet with scents of cassis, blueberry, violets and just a hint of honey. The palate is medium-bodied but dense and quite weighty in the mouth. This feels quite rigid at the moment, simply because it has not been racked. It will loosen up by the time of bottling and there is undoubtedly good fruit intensity and plenty of freshness here.
90-92 points. Neal Martin, Vinous Media January 2019
Once again reduction and wood are all that can be gleaned from the nose at present. More interesting are the sleek, intense and well-detailed flavors that possess a relatively refined mouthfeel thanks primarily to the relatively fine-grained tannins that also shape the nicely complex and sneaky long finish. This should be approachable on the younger side but easily repay a decade or more of cellaring.
90-92 points. Allen Meadows, Burghound January 2019