Is white burgundy made in a riper/lusher style now than 20+ years ago?
0 voters
For those who drank white burgundy 20+ years ago, do you think white burgundy is made in a riper, lusher style now compared to than back then?
absolutely more lush and approachable now, albeit more sulfured recently.
+1 on all counts…
TTT
You bet, although how much is an intentional style change and how much is warmer growing conditions is hard to decide.
The answer to that question seems easy to me. Even according to those who are pushing the global warming concept, the claim is that global temperatures have been rising at a rate of 0.08 degrees C per decade. I’m pretty sure 0.16 degrees Celsius in the last 20 years hasn’t accounted for the change in how young white Burgs taste.
Plus, the stylistic change carries through just as much in recent cool vintages like 2007, which presumably saw cooler weather than a warmer vintage 20 years ago.
But I do agree that there are probably multiple factors at play – technology, methods and so forth, beyond just a conscious desire to make riper, earlier-drinking wines, that contribute to the stylistic change in white Burgs.
Chris, double check your math, keeping a closer eye on the decimal.
20 years ago I was working for an importer who had a fantastic range of white Burgundy including Domaine Leflaive, Coche, Ramonet, Sauzet, Bonneau du Martray, Roulot and Lafon. We used to regularly open bottles on arrival and saw quite a few 88’s, 89’s, 90’s and 91’s on release. I recall for example looking at the line-up of Sauzet when the 1990’s and 1991’s arrived. They were just so tight and unyielding and quite unpleasant to drink. I think about how delicious the Sauzet wines are now from cask and early on from bottle and this accessibility and early balance, coupled with a seal that cannot cope with the way the wines are made today means we have higher instances of oxidation in young wine.
The Tyranny of Scwhores.
As I’ve stated before I’ve had very little problem with premox. That being said I’ve thought a lot about this recently. I’m to sure things aren’t as they should be. Wine, especially whites are meant to be consumed. Producers are obligated to make the wines for their customer. If most people are drinking these soon after release then isn’t that who they should be making the wine for ?
I’ll get into my fallout shelter now. 
Funny,
But I have seen some WB’s that looked similar on relese to the older style (I’m thinking here of 2002 BDM C/C in particular), but they haven’t developed anything like their older counterparts have…
Most (if not all) current release wines though look nothing like they would have back then.
Meaning they were austere when young but premixed anyway?
Yeah,
The '02 BDM generally went downhill quite fast, although I had a few magnums which held up better…
It really matters what “now” means. After moving to much more forward wine styles in the '90s, I think many (maybe even most) producers have been picking earlier and earlier over the last 10 years. When you add the recent anti-premox measures such as harder pressing and high SO2, we have entered a new era of White Burgs that is not very similar to the '90s and is probably more like earlier eras (though still different).