Has anyone opened some well stored examples latley? Have these budged any or are they still totally closed? I feel a bit silly asking since the price of admission is low enough so I should check for myself but all these are burried deep at an offsite storage.
I’ve had a few Marsannay from 05 in the last year and they drank perfectly well, after a little air, though I think they had some room to improve a bit.
I had a 2005 Bachey-Legros Pinot Noir Bourgogne Vieilles Vignes last week and it was drinking stunningly well. Held up on counter for few days as well.
Thanks Chris and Tom. Were the wines still primary in character?
Had a C and C Marechal Chorey les Beaune about 4 months ago that was impressive and charming at the same time. Still fairly primary. Never would have guessed Chorey les Beaune–more like an upper level Beuane in a great vintage.
Drouhin’s 05 Chorey Les Beaune was really really good. Stupidly I only bought a little and have none aging.
One that I remember having tried was 2005 Huguenot Père & Fils Marsannay, probably last fall or so. It wasn’t overly primary, after a short decant, and it had nice florals and spice. It was quite an overachiever at $19 or so, as I recall.
Maybe not exactly what you are looking but I had Jadot Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Caradeux Clos de la Croix de Pierre last week. It is becoming more approachable and rounding off some of the earlier rough edges with the fruit becoming more defined. This wine as a steal in the high $20’s and I can’t remember a more mineral burgundy for the price. Great juice!
I think the non-linearity of burgundy aging is extremely worth bearing in mind here. Most wines that have become approachable so far after not having been so will simply have recovered from bottling and not yet have shut down. Make no mistake, nearly all of those that haven’t yet shut down most certainly will in the future, even quite minor wines. Some will take ten years to close, though.
Only wines I’ve had lately were:
05 B Clair Marsannay Vaudenelles and Grasses Tetes are showing well with several years of upside and several years more drinking beyond that.
05 Bachelet Bourgogne was a bit stern (as was the 06) but in a crunchy / mineral sort of way. Probably better to hold, not as much fruit / weight as the B Clair Marsannays to buffer the structure.
05 Potel Beaune Bressandes was open and showy but bretty.
Fiddled with a few Bourgognes, Givry and a Mercurey. Most were too tight and would’ve benefited from another year or three. Been purposefully holding off on the Jadot cheapies (i.e. Santenay, Marsannay) as they have a lot more upside.
RT
I wouldn’t assume that just because a wine isn’t from a heralded commune like Vosne or Gevrey it will be ready that much sooner. Well stored 1993 Savigny 1er crus are mature now… but were primary 7 years in. Certainly drink up some Bourgogne, Cote du Nuits Village, etc, but at 6 years most quality village wines and 1er crus will need more time to show development. My rule of thumb is not to check until 12-15 years in for any 1er cru.
Tom - I’m not sure i buy the idea that they’re recovering from bottling at 6 years post vintage and, what, 3 or 4 post bottling?
A bottle of Lafarge bourgogne recently was completely shut down. Lafarge is known for making wines that way though, so I don’t know how representative that will be.
As a data point for you, Corey, recent bottles of the Lafarge Clos du Chenes from 98 are open and lovely, 96 are tight still.
Berry,
I’m barely touching any '05 red burgs yet, as a result of these I’ve sampled in the past year:
Rossignol-Trapet Gevrey-Chambertin - somewhat accessible, though probably needs a lot of air
Truchot Bourgogne - still very tight and primary but slightly evolved from a bottle opened in 2009
Drouhin Chorey-Les-Beaune - drank fairly well, albeit with upside potential
Maume Gevrey-Chambertin “Aux Etelois” - hardly budging, very primary
I’ve had a couple of relatively humble 2005s recently. Fourrier’s Morey St Denis Clos Solon 2005 still youthful and primary but open for business and drinking very nicely.
Also Michel Gros Hautes Cotes de Nuits 2005 which is a stunningly good wine for what it is. This is very open and appealing - hard to resist now in fact. Still lots of primary fruit but developing some savoury character too. It might get a bit better yet, but I’ll find it hard to keep my hands off them.
Just picked up a case of the '07 from Envoyer for $17…looking forward to trying this!
I’m not one to age village wines and regional wines a long time, although I do admit many of them would be better if I did wait 12-15 years for villages and 9-10+ for Bourgogne (from a year such as 2005). Having said that, most all of the 2005 villages and lower I have had in the last year have begged for more time. They tend to be open and OK for assessing the future favorable outlook, but too young for really enjoyable drinking, IMO.
Thanks everyone for the interesting input.
I got some from that deal as well. Hard to resist the price.