A bit of an impulse purchase last night, as I have been trying to find some good PC’s from various Burg communes that doesn’t completely jeopardize my kids college tuition fund. I came across this last night at Grand Vins - and for $109 and a solid Tanner 94 I pulled the trigger for three. Aside from his glowing note on this and all the Dominique Laurent wines, there are almost no notes on cellar tracker for this producer, nor are they any reviews from other wine pubs, such as BurgHound or John Gilman, TWA, etc which i find odd. Furthermore, while not cheap, $110 for this real estate seems well below what one would expect to pay at the PC Level.
So, I assume this was a good purchase? Any harm pulling the cork soon? I’ve tried to look at past threads on Dominique Laurent and I gather that it used to be a pretty heavy oak regimen - at least for the GC’s. I now know where Cayuse producer Christophe Baron ‘magic barrels came from’ though I think he stopped using them around 2010. Is this generally seen as a high end producer by folks here and is it worth seeing out other bottles? I mention the CT notes or lack there of as I found it odd that a wine(s) that are well priced and critiqually lauded (Tanzer) wouldn’t have a lot more people drinking them and posting notes.
Anyway, I’m still very new to this whole red burg gig, and appreciate learning more about this producer.
Dale,
I’d suggest that you find a reason to pull a cork on one of these wines to see if you like the style. 2015 is drinking well early…from the few I’ve opened. I liked his wines early on in my wine drinking career as I tasted more Burgundy I found more and more producers that I liked…I would expect your evolution could be similar. Hopefully buying a variety of producers will help you find the ones that call to you the most.
A little advice (I found useful when someone shared with me). Early on in Burgundy buy a couple bottles of Bourgogne and taste those to see which you prefer and then buy a couple 1ers from that producer. Other, out of the way bottles can have real value. It’s the journey that’s so exciting with Burgundy.
Always fun to see Laurent (and Perrot Minot and others) described as using too much oak, wines being too oaky. Jayer generally used 18 months in new oak. Why ok (more than ok) for Jayer but not for others?
Peter, I’ve never had a Jayer…I have had a couple of other producers that I thought had too much oak…and I’ve had some that seemed quite simple from my expectations of the vineyard and producer as well. I guess this is the mine-field of Burgundy?
A delicious mine-field. Just interesting how to Burg guys, Jayer is perfection (and the very few I’ve had have been fantastic and delicious). But Jayer used lots of new oak, destemmed, and according to Fourrier, used “Roundup” in the vineyards (at least early on).
Peter, thank you for sharing the article. It was interesting to read. I wonder if there are some regions where new oak is needed and others where it takes away (La Tache vs Musigny or others). It sounds that working the land really gave him some insight and it’s sad that these are now stored like collectable art instead of something special to share with friends & loved ones.
Starting at AOC or Village Levels levels has been been repeated many times (also buying small quantities but a large producer data set) and in general I have done my best to stick to this plan. I have found some real gems in Mercury and of coarse, Savigny Les Beaune which seems to be littered with great quality producers.
2015 Dominique Laurent Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaumonts Vieilles Vignes- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (11/3/2018)
Decanted 8hrs. One of the better noses off a Pinot that I can remember for quite some time - strong notes of XMAS tree / wild raspberry framed by some great floral scents. While painfully young, there is enough material to justify pulling the cork, I cannot detect any oak, or at least any obvious signs. Impressive mouth coverage and a satin like texture. Somewhat forward fruit with plenty of muscle in reserve. Could be spectacular with time.
I had my fair share of D.Laurent bottles, from Village to GC (but not this 2015).
With the exception of very early vintages (1989, early 90ies, most probably have been purchased in bottles, not elevated by himself) and a less than stunning 1999 VR Rouges all other bottles were excellent to very fine. New oak only to be detected when young, but it usually integrates very well, hardly noticable when (close to) mature. The wines are intense but excellently balanced, elegant and true to the vineyards. Moreover some are to be found quite well priced.
I would never call them “traditional” (but Jayer wasn´t that either) … but I wouldn´t hesitate to buy any bottles when available in the market at fair prices. You could do much worse.
Some 2 months ago a Ch-M Fuées 2011, bought for around 42 Euro, was really excellent, red fruited, fragrant and complex, with a nice core and long sweet finish, sadly my only bottle.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that to “burg guys” Jayer is perfection. Certainly, his wines offer exclusivity, but that’s different. Sure, quality is part of the joy in drinking Jayer, but the scarcity is the real thrill, don’t you think?
Burg producers make tons of choices, including destemming and use of new oak. And growers of the past made decisions that some of today’s growers learned from and reacted against, like Roundup. All these decisions lead to tons of choices for burg lovers.
Unlike other regions, the quest isn’t for perfection, but rather understanding.
With regards to recently deceased growers, for every person who thinks Jayer is best, you will find another who’s taste in burgundy is diametrically opposed, and prefers the wines of Truchot, and another who loves Engel.
The trick for today’s burg lovers is to find the wines in the style they prefer. You want to the Jayer style? Try Meo Camuzet. They get huge scores from critics who like that style.