Jayer or not Jayer. That is the question.

A long time in the making. We had planned a dinner around a sound bottle of known provenance Henri Jayer. The goal was to do a single blind tasting of wines associated with Henri Jayer to see how similar or dissimilar the wines truly were.

The wines luckily all showed well except for the 96 Echezeaux which had a bit of funk to it that I could not get past. I think it was an issue with the bottle not the wine since I don’t recall having that problem the last time we tried this.

The D’auvenay threatened to steal the show but the quality of the 88 Beaumonts was undeniable.

The 88 and 97 were very similar on the nose and it was only the palate that gave away the 97. Perhaps a function of the vintage.

Many people thought that the 88, 97, and 85 shared a similar profile. I thought perhaps the 88, 97 and 93 were more similar on the palate. The 93 was closed initially and needed time to pick up.

The 96 seemed like the outlier only because of the nose. The underlying profile might have been pretty similar to the other Rougets but it was hard for me to assess because the nose was so distracting.

A very lucky evening in terms of the wines and the company.

• 1988 Henri Jayer Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (3/22/2018)
  Purchased on release for $80 and stored in impeccable conditions since. Served single blind. Although most of us had never had real Henri Jayer the spice, elegance, and purity made it the unanimous favorite red of the night. Almost all of us pegged this as the Jayer. Simply outstanding.
• 1997 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (3/22/2018)
  Served single blind. The spice on the nose and fruit profile was very similar to the 1988 Jayer Beaumonts. So much so half of us thought it might have been the 93 Rouget Beaumonts. The finish was a bit soft and short which lead is to suspect this could have been the 97. The clear second favorite wine of the night. Maybe there is truth to the legend that 97 Rouget CrosP was made by Jayer after all.
• 1996 Emmanuel Rouget Echezeaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru (3/22/2018)
  A bit of funk on the nose that never blew off and was more distracting to me than others. The underlying fruit and quality was undeniable. However it was a clear step different from the first 2 wines. Received 1 first place vote for the night and placed a respectable 3rd.
• 1993 Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (3/22/2018)
  Also very clean red fruit in profile. The tannins and acid were so prominent that I figured this to be the 96 Rouget Echezeaux. Showing quite young tonight and only at the end of 3 hours did this start to show it’s full potential and similarly to the first wine.
• 1985 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (3/22/2018)
  Redolent with vosne spice. The color was considerably more bricked and dusty than the other 4. Unanimously pegged as the 85 Meo. Although more developed, there was a certain quality to the palate that reminded some of the 88 Jayer Beaumonts and the 97 Rouget CrosP.
• 1999 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d’Or - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru (3/22/2018)
  So good we had this to begin and to finish. This is an absolutely stunning wine. The richness and the extraction of fruit was mind boggling. There was a bit of reduction and oak that needed time to blow off but once it did it was probably the best white burgundy I’ve had second only to the 05 Coche Corton Charlemagne. A definite and persistent long lemon curd finish. Rivaled the 88 Jayer Beaumonts for WOTN.

Posted from CellarTracker

Nice notes and flight. Sounds like a great time was had. Thought it was going to be about the upcoming auction. To bid or not to bid? Anyway, nice read!

That’s a really terrific lineup and great notes, Fred.
Some really special wines here.
Two Greatest white wines I’ve ever tasted were the '99 and '00 D’Auvenay Puligny en la Richardes several years ago. Can still taste them in my mind. Frustratingly brilliant. Special stuff.

THAT’S the way I want to drink the next time we’re at Disneyland! D’Auvenay is another on my bucket list! Aren’t those bottles sealed in yellow wax? Looks like foil in the pic?
90 Jayer Ech a backup?

pre 01 foil.

90 giayay get opened? or were you just stuntin’?

either way, nicely done gents. great set of wines.

FWIW, in my view, Beaumonts/Beaux Monts is the best 1er cru vineyard in Burgundy. Almost every wine I’ve ever had , by whatever producer, has been impressive.

Pretty sure I didn’t mention anything about a 90 in my notes.

Maybe you got me mixed up with someone else?

Not all Asians look alike Edson.

Pulling a BS

hah - yes another asian

sorry to miss. I am in Florida learning about shock wave therapy for ED. How was the food?

Lamb was good. Lots of dry food otherwise.

The extra pours made your absence a little more bearable.

Pro tip for Miami: The Dutch at W South Beach is pouring Krug 164 by the glass $29 for happy hour 630-730. The pours are generous.

Some thread hijacking questions:

Stu, what is your no. 2 1er Cru Burgundy vyd?

Alan, shock therapy to which particular body part?

sat at the bar at Bourbon Steak, a Mina place, and drank a 2009 Raveneau MdT with the shellfish tower for 2. It was great. Cheaper than retail—$225.

Penile shock wave therapy for ED. Revolutionary.

That sounds very kinky, Alan. Do you have to wear a studded leather outfit to administer the treatment?

That sounds very kinky, Alan. Do you have to wear a studded leather outfit to administer the treatment?

Just call him The Gimp…

Volnay “Les Taillepieds”…many top wines made by various producers in that vineyard.

I exclude vineyards where there is a monopoly or too few producers to answer whether it is the vineyard or the producer that creates the quality. That eliminates Cros P…and particularly Clos St. Jacques which Rousseau overvalues as grand-cru level, imo, but…treats as a grand cru,too…so…might make it better than the vineyard would otherwise make. So…can’t really evaluate some vineyards.