16 Burgs

Our annual Burg lunch with some of Adelaide’s top medicos was held yesterday at Mantra restaurant. It was an all Burgundy affair from start to finish…no Champagne…no dessert wine…just the delights of Chablis and the Cote d’Or all afternoon.

2007 Christian Moreau Chablis ‘Valmur’: Just a bit blunt and muted. Some aniseed and mineral, definite Valmur line but without the definition.

2007 Christian Moreau Chablis ‘Les Clos’: Beautiful, expressive Clos with a gorgeous perfume of iodine, dried flowers and mint. A sheath of glycerol protects the gums from the razor sharp geological matter and it has real volume and presence. Length of flavour is admirable.

2000 William Fevre Chablis ‘Les Preuses’: The nose is some river stones drizzled with honey. It if full, round and textured in the mouth. There is just a hint of fruit rind and Manzanilla oxidation showing through but it doesn’t detract too much from a wine drinking close to the top of its game.

1993 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne: Plenty of honey on the nose along with preserved lemons and toast. Drinking very well but I have had fresher bottles over the past couple of years. It has a steely backbone and good length.

1994 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne: Like the 93 next to it, I have had fresher bottles and the nose is certainly in tertiary territory but in the mouth it is still quite bright and energetic with good underlying minerality. It is full and rich with some notes of butter, honey and mushroom.

1994 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet ‘Les Combettes’: Rich, plump and sweet with ripe orchard fruits but also possessing some finesse and detail. There’s white mushroom development as well as some pretty notes of white flowers and honeysuckle. Probably a few years past prime time drinking but quite delicious none the less.

2006 Blain-Gagnard Batard-Montrachet: A big whiff of smoky minerals greets the nose. It has pure white peach aromas and flavours that literally drench the palate with orchard fruit goodness. It is broad shoulder and muscular but not heavy and is a delicious 06 drinking marvellously well.

2007 La Belle Voisine Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (screwcap): Very ripe, sweet fruits (think liqueur cherry, prune and dried fig). It has some meat and earth and the finish is relatively long carried by some sweet tannins.

2007 La Belle Voisine Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru (screwcap): Very much red fruited with some notes of mineral, cedar and iron. The bright cherry fruits are sweet in the mouth and the finish is chewy but quite precise and minerally.

1994 Domaine Dujac Clos St.-Denis: Expressive aromatics of simmering beef stock, smoke, dried flowers and game. It is sweet, ethereal and lacy, not a blockbuster but quite titillating and thoroughly enjoyable.

1997 Bouchard Pere et Fils Bonnes-Mares: A little funky and quite savoury on the nose with notes of smoked meats and mushroom. There’s a hint of curry leaf to the aroma also. In the mouth it is relatively silky with flavours that are bold and direct and a finish that’s laden with crunchy, tart fruits.

2001 Domaine Dujac Bonnes-Mares: A vinous ball of latent power. Black cherry and blood plum fruits are laced with an intoxicating thread of flora. It is plush and like liquid velvet in the mouth although there is plenty of sinewy muscle below the flesh. It has fabulous cut to the finish and leaves a wonderful minerally calling card once swallowed.

2004 Domaine Leroy Nuits-St-Georges: Got the most votes for wine of the day and was drinking very nicely. There’s big floral/sappy lift to the nose with notes of meat, iron and sweet earth as well. It is lacy and quite detailed in the mouth but just lacks a little depth for mine if one were to be picky.

2006 Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin: There was quite a strong scent of coffee to this wine at first. Once it opened up the glass out came some sweet, plush red and black fruits that were tinged with earth. It is a wine of good volume and power that is supremely youthful.

2001 Bouchard Pere et Fils Corton-Le Corton: Very bright and fresh with its jube like, sweet red fruits and lively minerality. It is relatively tight, compact and linear with nice earthy precision and a long, savoury finish.

2005 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons: One of the surgeons at the table suggested that this was the colour of an alveolar bud. It is light-years from being ready, emitting a faint whiff of vitamins, iron, coffee, mineral, and dark cherry. It is powerful and minerally, well balanced and backwards.

Cheers
Jeremy

Jeremy,

Thanks for the post, that was quite a lunchtime lineup. It doesn’t appear that you found any greeney meanies on the 2004 Leroy NSG, which is surprising. Are you sensitive to the green notes prevalent in the 2004 vintage? Was the wine cloudy and murky, showing pre-mature aging? I’m trying to get a read on this wine, and have not been encouraged (until now) based on the CT notes.

Larry

I just had the 2004 Leroy Bourgogne last weekend and there was no green in it. Turbid, meaty, meal in a glass, varietally correct and wonderfully funky in the nose, very big and broad and very rich but as Jeremy found with the NSG not all that deep on the finish. There are zillions of reports on bottle variation on this bottling but I am two for two. One more bottle will rest for five years.

The 04 Leroy NSG from what I have read does not behave like the 2004 Bourgogne, Vosne, or Gevrey, and it behaves like a NSG, so my one bottle sleeps for ten years. The Vosne is apparently the best of the lot.

But the worst Burgundy I have ever had that was not flawed (eg cooked, corked, brett, mercaptans, too old) that cost more than $20 was a Gros (Anne, or A G, or A-G, one of those) Richebourg 2004. I did not know the vintage’s reputation for greenness and it was all green and no wine. It’s possible time will bring out fruit to overcome the green, and it’s also possible the green will fade or morph, and that these two changes will give you a very good wine; but at the time, and again without knowing the vintage’s reputation, and I was the only non-winemaker in the room, I loudly announced it was awful. I guess I was pleased with myself for having any opinion at all.

From what I’ve read, the only 2004’s I’ve ever been intrigued by are the Leroys (what a sad and dramatic story, and great reviews) and Lucie et Auguste Lignier wines, because they are actually Hubert Lignier juice in 2004 and 2005 but a year ago were selling for far, far less than Hubert. Now they’ve caught up in price in both vintages. Changing the subject, why are recent (2007-2010) Lucie et Auguste Clos de la Roche prices so low? I know it’s now different vines from Hubert but still…

Edited to add: the cloudiness and murkiness in 2004 Leroys, IMO (and it’s in every bottle I’ve seen, but apparently wasn’t there when first bottled), has nothing to do with aging or undesirable oxygen, and to me merely adds to the meal-in-a-glass experience. Like the turbidity of a Marcassin chardonnay.

Yes Larry, the wine was quite cloudy but very good and as George says very Nuits. I can spot the mean greenies and when it dominates the wine I dislike it. In this Leroy is was perhaps lightly herbal but more smoked meats, sweet earth and iron notes were in play than green.
Best Regards
Jeremy

All the '04 Leroys I’ve had have been terrible.

John,
We had 12 people at lunch John and to a man the 04 NSG was enjoyed with nearly all placing the wine in their top two of the day. Admittedly a couple of the attendees are not that experienced with Burgundy, some would never have drunk a Leroy but all 12 enjoyed drinking this 04 Leroy.
Best Regards
Jeremy

Jeremy, I have found that, in general, '04 Burgs divide opinions, but thus far, at least with the folks I’ve drunk with, the '04 Leroys have not been divisive at all, rather just all around disappointing. The rest of your lineup sounds great though.

Thanks Jeremy.

The '04 Leroys are funny wines, sometimes they show well, other times, badly. Not sure what it going on with them…seems to almost be significant variation…

We tasted all the 2004 Leroy with the Australian importer when they were released and they were all cloudy.

I maintain that different folks got different assemblages which when you think of the volume involved is understandable.

gee, I figured there were four of you there!
alan