Because I own little white Burgundy, I have dodged the premox problem there. But I’ve had two bottles of Baumard Savennieres - Clos du Papillon recently, a 2001 in August and a 1996 last night, that were shot. Both were oxidized with a faintly rancid note. The 01 had been purchased out of a new shipment that Crush received recently, while the 96 had been stored in friend’s cave since he purchased it on release, so there’s no reason to think storage was an issue.
I opened a second bottle of the 01 after the bad bottle and it was lovely. And my friend brought the 96 because another bottle he had opened recently was stellar.
This all sounds a bit too much like the randomness of the white Burgundy problem. Add in the Fourrier cork issue in 2001 that has spoiled some bottles and necessitates drinking up the others (News from Burgundy - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and it’s all kind of depressing – first-class wines that have been spoiled by mistakes at the winery.
I’m curious if anyone else has had problems with Baumard.
No. Never had an oxidised Baumard and have drunk the Savennieres up to 20 yrs old. Not saying they don’t exist though.
I do think the dry wines age in an unusual manner though - with all sorts of fluctuations. Eventually they sort themselves out and reach a wonderful harmony, which is where the 2000 St Yves and 89 Papillon seem to be at the moment.
I’ve had several '96 and '97 Clos du Papillon and they’ve all been oxidized (and I know the difference); all bought early and stored well, etc., etc. I don’t have my list at hand, but I’ve had other prematurely oxidized Loire Valley Chenin Blancs from the mid-Nineties, but of course also quite a number of wonderful bottles, as they should have been.
I will throw out this question again: Has anybody seen noticeable premox on whites outside of France? Loire and Burgundy are clearly affected. I believe their are instances with Bordeaux also. Alsace, I don’t know, as I rarely drink them.
In my experince this is a French phenomenon and if others have noticed it in other non French regions I would be interested in hearing where else it is occuring and how frequently.
There are examples from Italy, too. The Carjcanti white from the Sicilian producer Gulfi, which tried to minimize sulfur usage, was plagued by premox. Like the French wines with the problem, there was a lot of bottle variation. The good bottles (Astor had truckloads of the 2003) were terrific, so it was sad that so many were spoiled.
I drank a lot of Baumard when I was in Boston, young and old. It was still cheap and Fred Ek was right there. I specifically remember some issues with the wines mentioned, and I have had a couple of my own 96 QDC’s oxidized. However, I had a bottle in May at BF from the same batch that was stunning. I have also seen some older ones oxidized, but with those sometimes there is a debate as to whether they are ‘over the hill’ or taste the way they’re supposed to. I don’t have much experience past the 2003 vintage.
I’ve had a fair amount of German and Austrian white wines over the past dozen years or so and can’t recall any oxidized bottles beyond a few older German Rieslings that clearly had had retailer storage issues; I don’t drink very many whites from other regions.
Most of my '95 and '96 Clos Papillon bottlings have shown premox the last five years or so. There have been a couple of very good showings, but they’re the exception, not the rule. I didn’t buy any '97 Savennieres from them, but I’ve seen more bad reports than good. There have been discussions about this as well on Wine Disorder and Wine Therapy before that.
Strangely, I haven’t encountered any problems with the Quarts de Chaume from that period and I’ve opened more of them than the Savennieres.
Maybe it’s vintage related? I’ve had lots of problems with that particular wine (see summary note below).
2001 Domaine des Baumard Savennières Clos du Papillon- France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières (6/21/2010)
Multiple bottles tasted. I’m about 50-50 on decent bottles versus oxidized bottles. This is extremely disappointing as the good bottles are pretty darn good. I’m drinking through these as fast as I can.
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I don’t have much experience past the 2003 vintage.