A tale of Fx3 (Four Failed Fevres)

WINE TALK
1

Oh man, this is the sort of night that you dread.

I’ve been lucky with the Fevre chablis we’d had from the cellar. Never a problem.

So tonight I opened up an '02 Bougros. The cork slid downwards in the bottle as I tried to take it out, and it crumbled a bit and seemed very slightly moist when I removed it. Uh-oh. It looked OK, but smelled faintly of God knows what, and tasted like very very diluted sherry, hardly any taste at all, and some alcohol at the end to let me know it wasn’t water. OK, a lousy wine. Was it poxed or heat damage? Actually, I guess I’m not sure, but was awful.

So I poured it down the drain and opened another one.

Same thing: slightly moist cork, nothing-yuck taste.

So I poured that one down the drain and opened another one.

Uhhh…

…yeah, that’s right. Same thing.

So I opened our second to last bottle. It was sort of OK, a bit of some chardonnay character in there, although clearly weakened. Good enough at this point, we just drank it and said what the hell. 72 points.

We have one more bottle which we’ll drink within the week.

O Lordy Lordy Lordy.

Premox? Heat damage? Don’t know. All bottles from Premier Cru, stored impeccably since delivery, no obvious external signs of problems.

[bleh.gif]

2

Always a brutal experience…(any time) but especially when you get to bottle #3

3

Serge, that makes sense. I have had only one poxed white burg, and it was mildly so… the color was just a touch golden and the sherry quality was minimal, but it was there. These four bottles were something else, I think. Also, the cork problem wouldn’t necessarily be seen in pox, would it?

4

Sorry to hear that. This could totally be part of the premox phenomenon.

5

sounds like premox if they were maderized. what was the color of the wines?

6

Here is a wiki you can check out that is tracking premox white burgs:
http://oxidised-burgs.wikispaces.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

7

This is why after two consecutive bottles of corked Barolo at my place, we switched to Pisoni Pinot Noir for the third…

8

I’ve bought 02’/04’ Fevre’s from several different retailers.
The wines were delicious on release and then were either premoxed or advanced when I have opened them in the past year… I sold all of my Fevre’s since I believe this is becoming one of the more problematic houses when it comes to premox…

I don’t buy any White Burgundy for long term consumption period, if I buy a bottle I consume within 3 months…

9

Barnet - sorry to hear about this…I bought a case of the Bougros on futures from Winex in Orange Cty. One of the best purchases I have made wine wise…out of about 8 bottles consumed only 1 bad bottle

10

Now, that’s the spirit! [welldone.gif]

11

Now I know I can always grab a bottle of '06 Usseglio as well, if needed!

12

The sherry in one of the wines suggests pre-mox. Otherwise, oxidation is pretty easy to identify, and normally not be described with the descriptor “nothing–yuck taste”, which sounds more like a corked wine, or perhaps a roasted wine.

Anyway, the fact that all of your bottles were like this suggests a problem with shipping. I would contact Premier Cru.

I just had two bottles of 2002 Fevre Bougros. The first was excellent, fresh, sappy, almost viscous, with a petrol note that seems to be characteristic of some of the better examples from the vintage. Second bottle last night was somewhat similar, with citrus notes, but clearly muted relative to the first bottle. I thought there was distinct notes of TCA on it, but another experienced taster was not so convinced.

13

Yikes. The worst kind of night in the wine sense.

14

You mean, except the corks being moist and crumbling. I think you need to look no further.

15

Wow, the horror. A real embarrassment. Spending any real money on white Burgundy should only be done with plenty of research.

16

In the last week I’ve had 6 btls of 2002 Fevre grand crus. 2 were premoxed (Clos & Preuses), and 4 were good/drinkable (Bougros, Clos and 2 btls of Preuses). None of the 4 were exceptional but they were drinkable. No where close to the level of Dauvissat or Raveneau. Have 6 more Clos in the cellar that are going to be opened by the end of the year.

17

Yes, sounds like what is happening. Contact Premier Cru and ask for a refund…