I’ve heard from two sources that there are problems with domed capsules and seepage from Hudelot-Noellat’s 2010s imported to the US, across cuvées. One source ships directly from the Domaine; one posted this note (excerpted) on the web:
“[…] Numerous bottles (from different importers and retailers) showed up with seepage issues – at a minimum puffy capsules and in some cases there had been actual seepage and some early oxidation. I’ve been in touch with another H-N enthusiast who had the same issues and has discussed the prospect of the wines being “over-gassed” with various retailers. […]”
I’ve also read a glowing note on one of these wines.
Anyway, I’m waiting for delivery of a small order of Murgers, and wonder if anyone on WB has run into the kind of problem described here.
There was a mention of this in the Premier Cru thread. PC contacted me in advance of shipping the wines with their analysis of the situation, and that it appears other importers are similarly impacted, and are letting customers chose to get a refund, or take delivery (in which case they’ll still refund unopened bottles that are redelivered to them). Murgers, Chambolle, and Petit Vougeot…I’m interested in hearing others opinions, but decided to take delivery for now.
Opened a Murgers recently and thought I had a bad bottle upon opening, there was wine stained pretty much all the way through the cork. Anyway, the wine turned out to show well but maybe not quite as well as the glowing notes before mine.
My bottles are the same though it’s not clear to me that heat exposure is the issue. I’ve not popped a Murgers but the 5 or 6 Chambolle I’ve opened have tasted fine. My Suchots are resting in the cellar too. I’m just burying my head in the sand for these to turn out well in 20 yrs. PC did offer me a refund, by the way, without any pushback.
I got some of the Chambolle Musigny village and the Murgers from PC. Some of my bottles where much more affected than yours were Rick…PC let me take the bottles I was comfortable with and get a refund on the others, which was reasonable/nice of them. I got my bottles during the sale as well, so I don’t have an issue with keeping most of them given the great price. Apparently, bottles up and down the line, including Grand Crus are (can be) affected.
The ullage on the worst bottles (that I saw) is ~3/4’’ below the relatively unaffected bottles. On the worst bottles, the corks were stained/soaked all the way up, and the tops and outside neck of the bottle were wet with wine…similar to the pictures above.
As for cause, excess heat is the only cause that I see possible.
Trapped CO2 from prior ML fermentation wouldn’t cause this. An active fermentation in the bottle could cause this, but that’s not the case here. So the only remaining culprit, I believe, is excess heat. Appears that this happened somewhere close to the Domain in the supply chain, or at the domain (wines via multiple importers affected, etc).
I agree the bottles that Rick Dalia opened a couple of months ago (and since, but I wasn’t there) didn’t seem affected. But young structured wines with a good amount of SO2 in them can handle heat much better than older wines (or less structured, low SO2 wines). I’d expect bottles that were more affected to show more palate impact. I kept one bottle of badly affected Murgers (I wanted to pull the foil off of a badly affected bottle to see what’s what…so had to buy that, of course) so I’ll open that bottle up sometime soonish and will report back. If you’d like to join me Rick, let me know!
I hope only a small portion of their wines are affected…would be a shame if it was more widespread given how good HNs wines are. Oh, looking at CT notes, that must be the case.
Eric, definitely let me know when you plan to open that low ullage Murgers. Perhaps I can join you with one of my better looking bottles and we can do the side by side comparison.
Sigh…
I think the excerpt in Ian’s OP is from a posting I made on Bill Nanson’s site a while back. I’ve had nothing but problems with '10 H-N 1ers, unfortunately (the few villages that I’ve opened have been fine, naturally…). The Malconsorts have been particularly problematic, and its an across-the-board issue, regardless of retailer and importer on both US coasts…
Ok check in on 10 H-N NSG Murgers. Popped the worst looking cork of my 4 affected. Nose is classic vosne spice married with Nuits iron. Everything I love about the NSG climats near Vosne border. No sign of anything amiss. Palate is wonderful as well. Some tannin but very approachable and delicious.
Whatever the cause (heat or other issue) this is a great wine at this stage. I once had a winemaker in Napa tell me heat damage generally makes little difference in the short term and this case would support this opinion. He said to drink them up though and I gladly will.
Thanks for the info and popping a bottle, John. I bought 3 bottles (the only three available in stock) from PC in July at $59.99. I was unaware of the seepage issue until reading this thread. No comments pre or post purchase from PC. It’s entirely possible they had extras that did not sell on pre-arrival basis. Also possible that someone cancelled an order and the bottles then listed for sale.
