Red Burgundy - Village, ageability?

Ok, so I’ll admit that I have not had many Village level wines.
And the ones I’ve tried have been generally underwhelming…

Until now…
I know some folks have suggested we tend to overlook these (I forget who - was that Alan W?).

Anyway, I opened a 2015 Joseph Drouhin Cote De Nuit Village…and was just stunned how good this was.
Sip after sip, it just got more interesting.
So this is a first for me.
At $27, KL, I went online and ordered another six. (No affiliation)

Sooo…do wines at this level age well?
Do they develop like 1er and GC wines?

Lots of good things going on here…vintage/producer/value…(lower end) red burgs tend to drink well young and out perform in ripe years. It will age, the fruit will gear down over time and integrate, aromatics will develop more complexity, but the palate, for your preference may not get any better. Most that improve with aging are harder edged and austere when young.

The short answer is yes they develop, but I have never had a village that could equal a premier cru from the same maker and vintage , CDN is usually seen as a step up from Bourgogne and one step behind villages from Vosne, Chambertin etc. Ageing village wines is a really good idea because they taste great and give you the vintage profile and burgundy experience, without the Grand Cru price tag. 2014, 15, 16 and 17 are all good vintages to stock up the cellar with BR,CDN and village wines from your favourite makers, my rough guide is to start drinking Village 14 in 2026, 15 in 2031, 16 in 2028, but mileage may vary.
Village wines also shut down in bottle just like the big boys.

That is a great answer

I don’t have nearly enough experience drinking well aged village red burgs, but my limited experience is that many can age extremely well. Not as well as the 1ers/GCs, but still, yes. Which? It’s all about producer & vintage. Which producers are trying to make long agers?

Eg. I’ve had some 1990 & 1993 Meo-Camuzet Nuits St. Georges village that (at 23 years out) had developed into something wonderful. Winebid used to be a place where you could find this kind of stuff to experiment on.

My experience with Village (and particularly Drouhin, for some reason I’ve bought more of those than any other producer) is that they definitely smooth out and become even more drinkable, but they typically don’t develop into significantly better wines, as a lot of 1er and GC do.

I think it was a couple of years ago at La Paulee that Veronique Drouhin told me the 2005 Village wines should be drinking very well at that point. So I would expect this wine to be even better in 5+ years.

My 2 cents is that as indicated in a few comments above it depends on a variety of factors. A well-made village wine from an average vintage should be in its sweet spot about 10 or so years after vintage – it may age longer but will not improve. Stronger vintages will age longer. There are also exceptions where some premier cru wine is blended into a village wine (i.e. Mugnier and Roumier Chambolle Village). These wines age singificantly longer. Also, I find some producers need more time, see Denis Bachelet’s Gevrey villages. Old vines can also make a difference in the ageability of the wine.

Cory

In the 2015 vintage, my supposition is that this wine will hit its stride at around age 5-8 and enjoy fully 20 years of longevity, though of course your mileage may vary depending on the conditions in which you store it. I’ve had CdN villages from vintages such as 1959 and 1976 which are still full of fruit, but obviously one can only extrapolate so much.

Looking at the Drouhin website, the information about this particular cuvée is a little contradictory, as it specifies ‘the southern end of the Côte de Nuits’, and then goes on to list all the villages entitled to CdN villages, including Couchey and Brochon to the north. But although Comblanchien, Premeaux and Corgoloin do seem to produce wines that are noticeably different from Couchey and Brochon, that doesn’t really impact how the wine will age, as both should be pretty long lived.

In any case, some of the vineyards classified as CdN villages are really pretty high quality. For example, the vineyard that is the continuation of the 1er Cru Clos de la Marechale, abutting the clos to the south but technically over the boundary in Comblanchien (whereas the Clos is in Premeaux), is merely CdN villages. Jadot make a very good CdN villages from vines here which punches above its weight. Or consider the Que d’Hareng in Brochon which is effectively a continuation of the fine Gevrey lieu-dit Les Evocelles, and which is the source of Bachelet’s CdN village and I think Joseph Roty’s. There is no reason why sites like these should produce wines that don’t age for similar lifespans as their neighbors, unless they’re made differently—which, of course, ‘lesser’ appellations often are.

Indeed, one of the paradoxes of Burgundy is that the lower appellations, which need the most tender loving care, generally get the least. Yields are more restricted in the grands crus, where it’s easiest to ripen a large crop, and most generous in the village and generic sites, where it is often harder to ripen grapes. In turn, producers tend to privilege the higher appellations in viticultural effort, timeliness of harvest, attentiveness and technique in the cuverie, quality of new oak, and duration of maturation. The sum of all this is that the appellation hierarchy is something of a self-fulfilling prophesy—as well as, of course, a classification that generally maps quite accurately the gradations of suitableness for viticulture of the various climats.

Well, it depends of course on the producer (and vintage …) -
when a producer makes his Village in the same style as his 1er and GCs (ageworthy, structured),
they can go at least 20-25+ years in a good vintage …
(e.g. I had a chambolle-Musigny Village Jean (=Michel) Gros 1990, and the last bottle in 2016 was still very fine).
But some Villages are made in a more foreward style - early pleasers, but not built for more than 10/12, max. 15years …

Just spotted this thread and it’s as good a place as any to say that I’m just about to finish a bottle of 1977 Bouchard Pere et Fils Bourgogne Haute Cote de Nuits 1977 and it is absolutely fantastic!(!) Given the fact that it’s one of the weakest vintages of the last 50 years I can only imagine that this is declassified fruit from a pretty good vineyard. Always worth considering when looking at village (or even lower classification) wines…

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Not to mention the Jadot Puligny Montrachet 1983 which is to this day the best white Burgundy I have ever had (including Coche-Dury, DRC and others). Probably declassified fruit but impossible to know as I can’t find any records for it. Still, it’s a sensational wine.

A really good point, one that I’ve kept in the back of my mind as GC wines become unaffordable and unobtainable, forcing plebeian consumers like me to search out high quality wines from “lesser” vineyards and producers. While there is justification for most of the classifications, I’ve been convinced for some that there’s a feedback and amplification that comes from increased attentiveness and investment in the best vineyards. As prices for even village level wines have crept up, it seems that many growers are investing more time and money in those vineyards. A case for the rising tide lifting all boats - and maybe even lifts those lesser vineyards proportionally more, since they can benefit more from the increased attention.

I agree Alan,
and if you add in a little bit of global warming and Bio dynamic viticulture with increased care and attention at elevage you end up with some pretty smart wines. I love to drink mature or maturing village because I have no guilt or expectation when I open a bottle.

I can’t think of any village red burgs that are worth buying that don’t age well. I’ve had good luck with village wines from Lafarge, Roumier, Camus-Brochon, Mugneret-Gibourg, Bize, Dujac, Lamy, Bachelet, Fourrier, Ramonet, Chevillion, Bernard Moreau. Some now priced exhorbitantly, but mostly not. I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting.

They age just as long as 1er and GC’s, but you wont usually get the same depth or complexity. If the cork holds out you should get many decades of drinking pleasure from village wines.

The price point of this bottle is why I agree.
Day 2, this is still really nice.
I can see it won’t gain the same complexity as 1er/GC bottles, but still, for $27, what a nice drink.

That '21 Faiveley Village a few years ago was stunning!

Talk about an ability to age!

Not disputing the aging potential of village wines (to which I have already testified), but not so long ago “village” bottlings were often so-called cuvées ronds, with higher appellations blended in. Until quite recently only a few 1er crus had the esteem and name-recognition to get separate bottlings. Just looking at cellar tracker as a rough index of what is out there, in 1978 there is not a single bottling of Vosne Petit Monts, and with two exceptions Chambolle 1er Cru is confined to Amoureuses and Charmes (there is no Fuées, no Cras, etc). As consumer interest has risen, this practice has diminished, though of course many villages cuvées still have small parcels of 1er cru blended into them. So older village wines can make very smart purchases.

Very true.

Hard to know exactly what is in some of those old bottles (and not always pinot!)

This bottle had also been recorked at the domaine, and probably topped up…still, an amazing experience at 90+ years old.

I am finding thread confusing. Cotes du Nuits Villages is a regional wine, not a village wine. I have had a number of village wines that have aged very well. When my burg group does village level wine, we are always amazed at the quality from top producers.

But, with exceptions, I tend to drink regional wines on the younger side.