I find myself enjoying Burgundy, old world stuff in general, more and more these days. I realize there are no superstars here, and the wines showed young obviously. Nonetheless, I’m getting closer to surrendering and I feel I still have a lot to learn.
2006 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Ursules- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru (9/20/2009)
This took a long time to come around. It was really tight initially. Took about 4 hours in the decanter to show signs of what is down the road. Medium-light red in the glass. Raspberry and red fruit nose. There is a little bit of spicy wood on the nose.
2004 Thibault Liger-Belair Nuits St. Georges La Charmotte- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges (9/19/2009)
Best showing yet. Nose is slightly dirty, some funk and truffle. Palate is irony, minerals and stock. Dark fruit pokes its head out with some air. Really fine with the food. Finishes with an earth and truffle notes. Solid.
2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (9/20/2009)
Nose is smoky and oaky. Dark red color. Palate features sweet, candied, almost gloppy red fruit. There is some residual heat, too. I’ve never really loved KB, never owned them, but have helped a friend drink through his stash. I think I am losing my taste for this style.
2005 Breggo Cellars Pinot Noir- USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (9/19/2009)
This is a well-made wine, but it’s really not my style anymore. Lots of upfront fruit, candied and slightly hot too. There is some oak peeking out, and notes of cocoa. Doesn’t say pinot to me, clearly Cali style. Really out of place after the Burg.
I was thinking a version of the same thing, Tyler – i.e., anyone posting about heading down the slippery slope while still posting TNs on KB has got a ways to go slope-wise.
That said, it’s inarguable that he does have great musical taste
I simply cannot afford to experiment on the dark side at this point with the next 7 years being spent sending 2 daughters to college. However, I’m thrilled to hear that you will be doing the dirty work for me. I look forward to your recommendations and following your journey to the dark side.
Even with paired down budgets, if you can afford Cali PNs, you can afford to dip your toes in the dark water. No doubt there are more Burgs (the ones getting the hype!) priced at $75+/btl, but there are a considerable number of worthwhile QPRs in the $25 - $50 range.
For whatever it is worth, I’d say at least 5 more years. I really like Jadot’s Clos des Urseles, they keep very well in good years. The '90 I last had early this year was superb. I first tried the '99 in mid-2006 and it needed around 1½ hours of decanting for aeration before it started coming around.
I haven’t had the wine so no first hand experience. Les St. Georges NSG is typically the finest 1er in the commune. I would buy/try it if it we’re readily available to me. Strong backing by the critics FWIW. I’m already a fan of the 06 vintage in NSG.
I don’t expect my wine budget to be as crimped as you and Dennis. There is a question of market timing and whether you want to wait for rumoured closeouts needed to flush the clogged supply chain. Also a question of drinking timing as it could be starting to shutdown.
FWIW, Rich applies grease to the already slippery slope whenever we imbibe together…I’m left to cling precariously to a few hand-holds.
I have really narrowed-down my Cali PN purchases to 4 producers: Inman, Peay, Rhys/Alesia, and Rivers-Marie. There are the occasional bottles from other producers…but I’m more apt to buy bigger quantities from these 4. Stylistically they seem to be more dialed-in to my wheelhouse. And I agree with the sentiments on “bargain” Burgs too. Bottom line, there is just too much good PN being made in Burgundy, New Zealand, Oregon, and California for me to justify to dropping the whole nest egg in one region any more.