2005 Burgundy Advice

I’ve never consumed a Burgundy. I purchased a 2005 Domaine Pierre Amiot Et Fils, Gevrey Chambertin, 1er Cru Les Combottes. The bottle has been stored in a wine cooler since purchase at the old Wine Exchange, Orange, Ca.
I’m very interested to see what Burgundy is all about. Do you think it’s in a proper window and if so how long of a decant?
Thanks for any help.

While I’ve heard reports of some 2005s starting to drink well I have all of mine well buried and don’t intend to touch them for quite a while yet.

+1
2005 is not a drink yet vintage for the most part. Yes, you will fine some very drinkable wines now in 2005 but for the most part you are probably 5 years early on this one.

If you never had a Burgundy, ANY Burgundy is in a good window to try :wink:

I would give it 30-60min decant and go!

Tim:

Agree with Jay and Tony, would hold. I think this vintage has so much material to work with and through, such that waiting makes sense. It sounds like this is your only bottle.

Cheers,
Doug

I agree that 2005 is taking longer than any other vintage I have had to come around and taste mature. That said, I still think the wines are going to be great.

As to the wine you have, I was not drinking Amiot’s wines at that time. I visited there in 2018 and tasted through their range of wines. I was very pleased with what I tasted, all much younger than your wine. Visit to Burgundy and Champagne - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers GC Combottes is an excellent premier cru vineyard located right between two grand cru vineyards - Latricieres Chambertin and Clos de la Roche. So, I think it is likely that you have an excellent bottle of Burgundy there and that you probably made a very good purchase as Amiot’s wines tend to be well priced. But, sorry, I cannot tell you when to drink it.

True Andy

you can always buy more
I find 2005’s readily available
some have lost patience and some feel the vintage was over hyped and may never come round to expectations
I am in the wait and be rewarded camp at this point

When I taste 2005s, they are painfully young because of higher acidity, but they still have a lot of fruit. My guess is that the vintage will still be great but that they need another five years or so.

Considering this is someone who’s never tried a burgundy, seems pointless to wait on it. I’d give a good decant, a few hours at least. Probably will still be better on night 2.

Here is something close to peak if you want to save that:
https://cellaraiders.com/products/1999bocquenetnsgauxstjulien750ml

Cellartracker looks good:

If his goal is to find out what Burgundy tastes like then I’d say it’s pointless to drink a bottle that’s in a shut down phase. He won’t learn much from that.

Of course he might get lucky and this is one of the ones drinking well. I have no experience with this particular bottle.

If you dont mind buying another bottle of something ready now, I would do that.

How many burgundy ever show better on night 2?? In my experience that is a mighty short list.

As has been said, there are other more approachable vintages you could try at the moment: 00,01,03,04*, 06,07,10,12,14,15
*a lot of folks hate 04, but I think there are a number that are quite nice.

I like Josh’s idea

why don’t you start tasting some burgundies, any and all, and start reading about Burgundy? It would be a crime to wait 5 more years and then base your decisions on one sole bottle of 2005 premier cru burgundy.

I would just open it and see how you like it. You can’t judge a like or dislike of any regiong of wine, especially Burgundy, on one bottle. At least it will give you a starting point and let you see what a 15 year old red Burg tastes like. Then you can start looking at different vintages, villages, price points, etc to get a broader experience.

Agreed.

I cannot remember ever having had a Burgundy taste better on the second night. I would skip 2004s, way too risky unless someone really knows what they are doing. I have really liked some 2003s, but again these are kind of hit or miss, like 2003s all over Europe. 2000 and 2001 are great choices, but probably harder to find right now. I absolutely adore 2010s, but am still holding most of mine. But, in this case, my guess is for most wines while they will get better I am sure they taste good right now - my Burg group typically does tastings of vintages 10 years out. Hopefully, we get to taste 2010s THIS year. 2007, 2012 and 2014 are great choices IMHO.

I have never had a red Burgundy that tastes better on the second night. Come to think of it, I may have never had one that made it to the second night!

White Burgundy can be better on day two or three, but you need to drink red Burgundy within the day of opening or the detail gets planed off.

I am with those who say crack a bottle of Burgundy here soon, whether the Amiot or another.

When I first started out I certainly drank fine bottles too young but they could certainly still spill some magic, enough to fuel the pull to keep going down the path.

Ideally yes this particular wine could improve but this specific bottle seems to be setting itself up nicely for you to enjoy.

It may be one of your “Top Ten Most Influential Wines” some day.