Hi. This is my first post, I am ITB, but not in production or the supply side (I’m a somm). Burgundy is a little passion of mine, and this series is great. I seem to prefer village Gevreys that come from up near Brochon. And probably it has been pointed out, but there is quite a swath of vineyards east of D974, which is unusual. I sometimes think there is more quality variation in Gevrey than anywhere else in the CDN, but then again there exists Vougeot.
I have been able to smell (and sometimes taste) over 3 cases worth of the Jean-Marie Fourrier GC VV 2007 as I have it currently on my list, and it never fails to aromatically astound; with focused pie cherries, roses and a intoxicating vortex of dirt-laden cepe mushrooms. Domaine de la Vougeraie also has/leases (not sure) a nice parcel up there, and I have only had their 2009 (not my favorite vintage in the world), but a much simpler wine than Fourrier’s. I do not know so much about them but have a visit planned in the next few weeks. Our clients respond very positively to the wine, it has a delicacy and elegance. On the village level I am always happy to drink Domaine Serafin, whose wines I have had for many vintages now and currently love the 2006- a little kirsch-y, definitely soil-y, pleasurable. Lastly, I had purchased 2 bottles of the Domaine Ponsot GC Cuvee De L’Abeille 2006 specifically for this forum (one of our distributors had a mysterious 2 bottles in inventory) but both were completely cooked. They may have been sample bottles rolling around in someone’s trunk in the middle of August and returned into inventory- who knows, but I am sending them back.-Yuck!
Lastly, the biggest hurdle for getting clients to understand Burgundy is getting them to shift their emphasis on textural power onto the endless aromatic complexities offered by great climats. It’s a terrible old cliche, slowing down to smell the roses, but apt here.
Sheb, I like your final comments about aromatic complexities and slowing down to smell the roses. It reminds me of when I took a village Chambolle-Musigny to an Open That Bottle Night (no corkage) at a French restaurant in Raleigh. It was a village C-M that drank like a premier cru. I urged the restaurant owner (a Frenchman) to try it and he exclaimed “Such a beautiful stink! This is why Americans don’t get Burgundies!” (Exception for most Americans on this board.)
Welcome to Wineberserkers, Sheb. Nice post. I hope you stick around. I also hope you update your profile to comply with the “full name” policy, as it adds so much to our discourse here. Thanks.
Dear Lew,
Thank you so much for your nice comments. I am unable to change my name in profile (it is not letting me), but if it helps my last name is Ince, often mispronounced (rhymes with ninja). Although I normally take pride in my non-compliance, I was not trying to be covert. I noticed that plenty of people here used initials, so I did not feel it was that out of the ordinary. I apologize if it was inappropriate.
Sheb
Sheb, a lot of people have initials in their user name, and then indicate the full name in their signature line. That is perfectly OK. BTW, I’m not a moderator or anything, but do like to talk Burgs and like to know who I’m talking to…
As it happens, I had a Nicky Potel 2009 Gevrey Chambertin tonight from a hotel restaurant list in Dubai, of all places. I’d like to think I could have picked it blind as a Gevrey as it had, to me, a classic palate profile of red/black, sappy, animale/herby fruit. Nose didn’t offer much but palate did hit exactly what you would expect an 09 gevrey from Potel to do. Ripe, a tiny bit glossy (as opposed to rustic) but quite precise and balanced.
As to Ray’s earlier question about favourite wines in gevrey, for me I’ve always been a latricieres and Combes aux Moines kind of guy. The latter, in particular, in Fourrier’s hands is probably my favourite burgundy 1er cru, period. Of course, my other favourite is Ray’s own Hauts Charmes Chambertin!
Not many tasting notes this week. I guess interest in the tasting series is dwindling…
Tonight, we opened a 1983 Chambertin Grand Cru, from Domaine Louis Trapet:
I bought a bunch of these at a cheap price as the labels are all in bad shape and a few are missing labels entirely. It is in a lovely spot now, showing loads of perfume up front, focused on bright red fruits with some wild character as well which speaks of the wines of Gevrey. The color is a bit more towards red-ish, turning amber at the rim. The fruit is still generous and balanced. Deep black and red fruits, some spice notes and good length for a wine of this age. What I have found to be Chambertin in this bottling after 7 tries now is the roundness of the qualities on display. Not much pokes out, everything seems to just be spherical, balanced and giving at the same time, with no one part being flashy or shouty. While showing confidence at present, this is a wine that should be drank and enjoyed now. It doesn’t matter what will come of it in 15 more years when they are this developed at this stage. This is a proper Chambertin from an unheralded vintage, and it drinks far better than the suggested price would hint at. In short, this is a mature-Burgundy lover’s treasure.The last bits had an unGodly amount of sediment but I gave it not a second thought in tossing it back just the same as the other glasses before it. It is Chambertin, but the biggest compliment to a great wine is to be reckless in your enthusiasm of its consumption. A wine like this makes it all too easy to do so.
Of note, each of the bottles has ‘AOC Bourgogne’ embossed around the shoulder around the entirety of the bottle.
Went to the liquor store today for a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle and ended up with a couple of bottles of wine that I really didn’t need but thought might be interesting to try. Needed a bottle of something for the hotel room last weekend while on a trip to Houston. Found a bottle of 2008 Faiveley Bourgogne at a market downtown at a decent price. Took it back to the room for my wife and I to enjoy poolside and found it to be an enjoyable drink. So I happened to see at the store today a 2009 Faiveley Nuits St. George and a:
2009 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin
Opened and poured a glass that I let sit for about 90 minutes. Nose of sappy dark red and blue fruit, some herbs and minerals. Pretty much the same on the palate that you get on the nose. Nice acidity and a good tannic backbone. Just a short to medium finish except for the tannins. This just hints at what is to come and I don’t doubt that it will be very enjoyable given some time, but how much time will it take?
I didn’t go too long on 2009’s because I think many of them will be tough love for quite a while like the 05’s, but I’m sure if you have the time and patience, this will reward you some day. Just the pits that I get interested in Burgs at this stage of my life! Wish I had started buying in my 30’s or 40’s (would have been much cheaper too). Oh well, it is still enjoyable and educational.
2001 Vincent Girardin Charmes-Chambertin- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru (4/12/2012)
Surprisingly modern for the vintage style, this has tons of stuffing and will improve for another decade. Tasted blind I would have sworn Nuits-St.-Georges, there is a distinct licorice note here. Also, I just barely find enough complexity here to merit GC origin. And this sort of sums up my problems with Girardin. They don’t reflect terroir or vintage character all that well, and I always end up wishing I’d instead bought a wine one appellation lower from a more faithful producer for the same price. (90 pts.)
Ray,your answer to Jimmy’s question is fascinating but your ‘start’ times don’t chime with my experience except with one or two growers. If one waits until that long after the vintage one will miss the initial window of enjoyment and start when there’s still a good likelihood of the wine not giving much at all. I wouldn’t differentiate much from village up to GC except that the GC will initially be drinkable both for longer and more enjoyably because of the extra depth of fruit(unless it’s been oaked to hell in which case you have to wait 17-25 years or so), but as an extreme generalisation in an average vintage(no such thing, of course) it’s best to drink immediately upon arrival for up to two years, leave anther 10-15-20 then start again. It is here that there’s not too much substitute for personal experience of individual growers, and indeed there are important exceptions-Fourrier, Dujac and Rousseau come immediately to mind which at least partially explains their popularity. Do you know what will happen to the wines of Maison Ilan?
I’m just trying to think of recent Gevreys I’ve opened. I entirely agree with your ‘spherical’ description of Chambertin(and Beze), there is no other GC(in all of Burgundy) that has this to this extent but the Clos St Jacques shows a great deal of that quality. I’m not sure for myself that it’s a quality I like all that much, I’m really happier with the more jagged edges of Lavaux, Combe Aux Moines, Cazetiers etc. not to mention some of the more exciting village wines. Recently a Drouhin Clos De Beze 78 had this rounded evolution in spades, a gloriously harmonious wine, a Jadot 96 Lavaux was of superb GC quality, Sylvie Esmonin’s 2003 VV is a magnificent wine for the long haul, Fourrier’s Griotte 2001 had superb minerality emerging to cut the opulence, sensationally good,I’ve had a truly great Laurent CSJ 2000 followed by a faulty bottle, a great and aristocratic Faiveley Cazetiers 01 which I suspect will now be closing for the long haul(how I wish it were easier to buy mature bottles of the great and sadly underestimated Faiveley 1ers), a Bachelet Corbeaux 99 was farmyardy to an extent I’m sure was not intended,Rousseau Chambertin 91 was nice but dull in a way that previous bottles hadn’t been and the 92 CSJ was so friendly as to be oleaginous. The 95 Chambertin is a glorious bottle, the extra crunch of the vintage bringing real vigour to the wine. But thinking about it my drinking has drifted away from Gevrey in the last couple of years not from any disaffection but because other things have come along. I increasingly prefer to buy mature wines which given that I neither have the means nor desire to spend an amount on wine which makes it too important means that my choice is pretty much predetermined by the market-obviously the Rousseau Chambertins etc. have not been my bottles!
I meant to open something this week but haven’t been feeling well, so I passed. Instead I’ll ask a question.
A while back I posted some notes from a tasting of Frederic Esmonin’s 2010 Gevreys. There was a bit of good discussion on that thread, but I’m interested to hear any opinions on this producer. The wines are relatively inexpensive and I found the 2010s very attractive.
Craig, I don’t know much about Frederic Esmonin. I have something of a love/hate relationship with cousin Sylvie, but that is a different deal altogether. But, it seems to me… you have tasted the wines and liked them. What more do you need to know? There are fans here, so you certainly would not be alone. I seem to recall Mike During is a fan, for example.
Opened up a Jadot for this week. Was great with some rice and menchi.
2007 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (4/12/2012)
This was opened for Wineberserkers week of Gevrey. Popped and let it sit for an hour. Took a small pour to get some more air into the bottle. Drinking great right from the start. Medium light in color, nose of vibrant red berries. Lighter bodied in style, palate of nice pinot fruit with strong acidity, tannins present but not overpowing, good texture. This is not super complex, but a delicious drink nonetheless. Great bottle for the $40 I paid for it. Alas, my last bottle.
Had a Faiveley 2006 les Cazetiers in a top restaurant and was very surprised to drink a very rewarding wine clearly open for business after reading all these posts stating a wine must be drunk before age 3 or after age 15.
Hello Tom
thank you for your thoughtful reply. I can agree with your thoughts on trying some young. I do much the same. However, this is done to satisfy my interest in tasting the ‘baby fat’ in my post above. Your point on Chambertin and CS-J are appreciated and agreed with as well. I do find them quite similar, with Chambertin being more composed and with an increased tone of depth, while the CS-J can seem almost as the younger brother, the extrovert. Wines of this type are of interest but they deliver a more subtle display and really pull in my fine level of interest more than the increasingly flamboyant crus such as Aux Echezeaux; Charmes-Chambertin; Cazetiers; or Combe Au Moines, etc.
Regarding our wines, at Maison Ilan, I can’t say for sure. I don’t know another producer that I can look to in search of a comparison to make a sound estimate on how their live’s will flow. It isn’t from thinking we are doing better or worse than others. We simply are doing things differently than our neighbors. To be specific, while the vineyards I source from ad the actions I choose to take or not take are my preferences, I cannot say that I buy wines from anyone doing (or not doing) things in the specific manner (in this precise combination) that we are. The wines I buy, cellar and taste are wines that I love and/or have a strong interest in. Yet, there isn’t a modern example that I can use as a guide to hint at how our wines will progress. For me, not knowing, while being completely confident in my own inputs, is terribly exciting.
What I do believe is that each of the years that I have been here, we have had generous vintages which should provide sound early consumption of baby fat. I do my best to not describe my wines, only the terroir from which they come. If pressed, I would hope that they are long lived wines, hopefully given the chance to do so if placed in patient hands. I understand that they will be consumed early as well, for multiple reasons. But, I wish for them to have a chance to show more than flash and more of place, and this is best with time.
Hello A.
I’m not sure who said a wine must be drank in that window of time. But, having tried this wine and having stock of it in my cave, I can agree that it is showing well at present. That said, this goes back to what I said about baby fat (this will of course be repeated). The wine tastes wonderful but it isn’t delivering a strong percentage of the full potential. A premier cru Cazetiers at 5.5 years after harvest isn’t showing its whole hand at this point. It may very well be in the ‘perfect’ spot for one taster and not for another, this is clear. Waiting is not the preference for all tasters in all situations. For some, the ideal spot is early indeed. My point was that there is an increasing (to a point, of course) evolution which sharpens the point of what makes a particular cru or climat unique. Having had this wine in countless vintages, in my experience, the 06 is going to give loads more in time. To be clear, there is no one frame of time for a wine, no specific hard rule of how long to wait either. Though, if you do wait, you may find something truly special.
Ray, thanks for all your insights on this thread! I have had a lot of fun drinking 2008s in their adolescence and this one was no exception.
2008 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (4/12/2012)
Opened an hour or so in advance and consumed over 3-4 hours. This started off just like most 2008s at this stage - full of energy and transparency. Red fruit dominated the palate along with signature gripping acidity of the vintage. Primary but with depth and precision. Loved the vibrant color of the wine and the nose is surprisingly developed, albeit subtle, with purple flowers and dried leaves. After a couple of hours of air, the wine turned slightly darker and gained heft. A lot of pomegranate and beet juice came forth on the palate. The finish is long and somewhat meety with an iron kick to it and a trace of red meat. Towards the end subtle but persistant tannins grip the tongue.This is delightful today, but will likely only get better with time and should be very long lived. (92 pts.)
Hello Dan
well , it isn’t a Les Amoureuses, is it? But, it does show itself quite well and quite early. This is not to say that it is loud or abrasive, it is just not as reserved as other crus of Gevrey. To be precise, it is less flamboyant than it is ‘less tucked in’, if that means much at all.
Burgundy is a little passion of mine, and this series is great. I seem to prefer village Gevreys that come from up near Brochon. And probably it has been pointed out, but there is quite a swath of vineyards east of D974, which is unusual. I sometimes think there is more quality variation in Gevrey than anywhere else in the CDN, but then again there exists Vougeot.