I was recently drinking a 2015 St. Innocent Freedom Hill Dijon Clone Chardonnay, and thought the wine had been affected by boytritis. I didn’t realize that it was Dijon Clone, and that was what was actually causing me to think that, but it still got me thinking- will there ever be another white Burgundy vintage like 1992 ever again? I feel like farming practices have moved in such a way that we won’t see another vintage like it again.
Based on how the wines taste, I always assumed botrytis was quite widespread in 1992, but a number of producers have corrected me on that. Leflaive, for example, insist that there was essentially no botrytis in their 1992 Chevalier, though it smells very exotic. Given how the 2017 whites are showing, often with very perfumed aromas of citrus oil, I wonder if they will evolve in a similar way. I didn’t witness the 1992 harvest, but I was there in 2017 and there really wasn’t much botrytis. 2013 was the last white Burgundy vintage with an appreciable impact from botrytis I would say.
Reminded me a bit of the '94 Leflaive Batard being poured at La Paulee last year. Any botryitis there? Was an interesting and exotic wine, though finally I think I preferred the tension that I found in '01.
In any case, thanks in advance, and like so many, very much appreciate your posts here.
Josh
Like Alan stated, they tightened up (heading into the late 90s), but the reputation from release still persisted. In reality, acidity levels were healthy in many wines, but they came across as relatively fat when young. Grand Crus weren’t as big a price difference back then, and I remember a few great ones that I haven’t had in a very long time. CC was very fine in 1992.
That’s so bizarre. That’s EXACTLY the wine I was thinking of. I had the 86, 89 and 92 side by side by side, and the 92 really stood out for it’s exotic richness and power.
The 92s were very early in my white burgundy experience, and they certainly aged very well. I’m finding some similar characters in 2008 personally, so surprised that hasn’t come up. Roulots have some exoticism / sweetness (quite different from their surrounding vintages) and quite a few other wines I’ve tried have a good balance of acidity / structure but with those honeyed characters.
Ian - I can highly recommend Sauzet, Carillon, Roulot and Ramonet. The “92-character” is possibly most obvious on the Roulots (cf other vintages) but also there (respectively) in the Combettes & Chevalier; Perrieres & Village (of course the BBM is ALWAYS honeyed, and possibly not a much superior wine to the Referts and Perrieres in '08); Ruchottes and Montrachet (good luck finding the latter!).
I had a Carillon 08 Perrieres in February, would co-sign this. For a second was worried about oxidation (very rare for a Carillon), but was instead these notes.