not a big Gaunoux fan for these older wines but this Pommard was surprisingly elegant and even refined, not at all rustic or backward. Ruby red and throwing no sediment, it’s pretty in the glass. It’s more red fruited than dark, nicely balanced, and a good wine. Tannins are resolved, good acidity that focuses the wine. I wouldn’t rush out to get more but it’s a nice Friday quaff. Nothing special.
Lol, I drank this exact bottle last month on a Friday when I needed a little stress reliever from COVID-19 and wanted something with age. Your TN is spot on. I went deep on Gaunoux from Envoyer back in 2011 and I regretted it…until I opened this exact bottle last month. Maybe it was low expectations, but it surprised me with how tasty it was. Looked back how much I paid and it was totally worth the $80 I paid Greg back then.
Hope everything is going well with you and all the other docs out there. It’s been a surreal for me and can’t wait for things to get back to “normal” whenever that is. I don’t contribute much in the COVID doc thread but read it regularly.
I have never opened so much special occasion wine at home until this craziness started and it’s been a revelation. What’s the use of cellaring all our good stuff if you can’t open it with just the family on a random Tuesday night.
Ha–thanks for the note, Alan. Up here a number of us went for the Envoyer offer, and the high Gilman scores. Since, we have mostly been pretty underwhelmed, to the point where “Gaunoux” has become a bit of an in joke. I think we all still have some, and I’m hopeful that one of these days they may blossom (much like my hope with the older deMontilles, which never, ever seem to come around. We all bought a bunch of deMontille in 93 and it has been a long wait.). It sounds from your note and Mr Kim’s that there may be hope.
I had a bottle last summer. Pretty much as you both described, solid wine and better than I expected based on other experiences. But, not a producer I look to purchase.
-Al
I got off the Envoyer list a few years ago. Even though Greg was a friend, I got tired of the frequent misses even when quickly responding to offers. I’d rather not even know. There’s enough wine elsewhere. And I’ve never met an older Gaunoux I like. Hopefully I only have a few bottles left. Hope yours are better and stay healthy.
I’ve never joined the Envoyer list, lot of nice Champagnes, but don’t need daily temptations and can find plenty to buy at decent prices. I have exactly one more older Gaunoux, for which I have lower expectations.
-Al
I’ve no experience with the Pommard, but I was lucky enough to taste a few ounces of a 2009 Michel Gaunoux Mersault Perrieres last fall at a restaurant in Beaune. The table next to me was toasting something, and I jokingly clinked my empty glass with them. A moment later they motioned for my glass and filled it up. It was spectacular!
Two days later I ordered a bottle of the 2012 and it was just OK. (sad trombone). For me, that is Burgundy in a nutshell.
J-M Gaunoux Perrieres is probably the most backward white burgundy I’ve ever had. Even the 2004 is nowhere near ready.
Regarding the OP’s wine, they age forever and are more giving compared to the Rugiens. Wish I could give every bottle 30 years, but I dunno for certain how much time I have left, lol
Just curious…but are you folks differentiating between Domaine Michel Gaunoux & Domaine Jean-Michel Gaunoux. They’re different…right?
Different domaine - cousins I believe. The split was a couple generations ago but I’d have to look it up. Maybe Michel and Francois were brothers. Maybe J-M is Francois’ son or grandson.
Alan - I’ve never met an older Gaunoux I like.
Even the '61 Gaunoux Rugiens I opened? Those wines from '59, '61, and '62 are incredible.
your bottle is the only one. Others have been middling.
A friend has reminded me that these Gaunoux Pommards got scores in the 94-95 range from both Gilman and from Meadows, both fairly conservative scorers, and not just barrel sample tastings (so can’t blame this on getting stripped in the bottling or filtering process–if there is any filtering). We haven’t ever seen that in the wines we’ve tried. My only hope was that they are just taking forever to come around, but ultimately would get there. (one of the reason I buy extremely few Pommards is that they seem to take forever to come around, or at least to get out of the their blocky/chunky, simple stage, and turn into some thing more complex and interesting.)
Not sure about this wine - I opened it tonight after these good reviews. Brown at the rim, not much nose, tannic, dirty and not much to like here. Food helped but only because the dinner was so good. I have 3 left but I can’t imagine this will get any better.
I don’t think my review was so good. Wine was middling.
I am as big a fan as John and Allen, and drinking these bottles in France and the UK is pretty thrilling. We had a 1990 Rugiens a few months ago that made a big impression on everyone present. So I am surprised to see uniformly negative experiences reported here. Is everyone tasting bottles from the same shipment? I think that if these wines were simply tight / youthful, the palates contributing to this thread would have no problem identifying that as the issue at hand.
I think many are getting from from Envoyer. I had an 05 beaune villages last year (only gaunoux I owned) which was thoroughly pedestrian.
Not to rehash what has already been said in this thread, but this was me, circa 2010-2011. I, like most, have never been moved and sold most off. And according to CT, my one standout Gaunoux was a '99 Francois Gaunoux Les Epenots. Not sure the relation. The Michel Gaunoux wines never did anything for me. Maybe I opened 'em too early.
The wines of Michel Gaunoux can be really superb but they need time IMO. The 93’s are drinking fine now for example, 96 are still on the young side. Alexandre makes the wines in the traditional way (in the best sense) so they also require the patience as was the case with many wines 30 years ago. I opened a beaune 2015 shortly after I got them at the domaine and this was the only bottle I captured from them before the wine closed down. You could see the beauty of the elegant layers of fruit. But after they close down you need to let them sleep for a long time.
Also, to clarify, François Gaunoux (in Meursault), Jean-Michel Gaunoux (also in Meursault), and Michel Gaunoux (Pommard) are all separate domaines with very distinct styles. They’re cousins.