Drinking Advice for '12 Red Burg

WINE TALK
1

I have limited experience with Red Burgundy. Most that I have drank have been 10+ years old. I recently bought some L’arlot Clos de Fortets St. Georges 1er '12 to cellar and usually like to try one bottle before the rest are tucked away. Would you pop 'n pour, slow-ox, decant- if so how long? Or would you just laugh for trying this now? Thanks.

2

Pop ‘n’ pour with the 12’s and enjoy the upfront luscious fruit.

3

Yup this.

Had a '12 Faiveley Ech. last night, and Jeremy said before, a delicious young burg.

I doubt many of my '12’s will make it to 10 years…maybe not even 5!

4

Hmmm. I don’t have any experience with '12s, but I think one would gain a better overall picture of the wine if one consumed it leisurely over the course of maybe 3 hours. Even very young wines develop and/or change and show other aspects of their pedigree. This might mean taking a small initial taste, slow-O-ing before dinner for another hour or two, and then consuming as leisurely as possible…

5

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll post back here with a note and my impressions.

6

It is no crime to taste a wine - Burgundy or something else - right after arrival … many are quite open for months up to a year or longer after bottling.
Only after a certain time many vintages will close up more or less for a shorter or longer time.

I do a tasting of the recent vintage usually in late winter/early spring, so in 2015 the 2012s … and I prefer to slow ox the bottles for 5 hours (only pulling cork … taste a tiny bit for cork taint, then fill back) … and 5-10 min. before serving I decant …
It is also possible to pop and pour with such young wines, but I think slow ox is better still.

Your problem, not that of the wines! neener

Despite the upfront charming nature of many ´12 Burgs I think there is quite a lot of structure hidden behind - and the wines will close in 2-4 years for at least another 5y … (my estimate) …
and they can be kept for at least 15-20 years (the 1er and GCs) … one should not underestimate the ageability … this is a strong vintage - I love it very much.

Will be in Burgundy in 2 weeks and retaste a lot of the wines … and the new 2013s …

7

Gerhard is correct. I was just in Burgundy and every winemaker I spoke to, said that 2012s are tight and structured and needs 5 years or more. Of course you can certainly drink them now and enjoy it. But it’s vintage to age.

8

Right - last year when tasting from barrel the wines first seemed to be so unbelievable fruity, charming and accessable, only when you let it lingering on the palate you detected the ripe but strong tannins behind, so I never thought it to be an easy early vintage. Only the quantities were frightfully low (a reason for the concentration) that I´ve been cut on several of my allocations due to the few barrels made.

Hopefully the 2014 will have higher quantities again … the harvest seems to be quite early (2nd week of Sept. - sometimes even 1st week) … so I expect nice qualities …
I have no idea of the weather during the summer there, but there was certainly hail in some locations - here in Austria July and first half of August were cool and wet … [head-bang.gif]

9

Agree the wines will live for sure, it’s just that I’m not buying that many '12’s, and if they open like this in the next year or so, I will probably just drink them and enjoy most of them now…

I have plenty of mature or near mature Burgundy, but in a vintage like this, there is just something so nice and special about wines like this possess (the purity of up front fruit, the energy etc…) at this early age that they lose a bit of as they get older and change…

10

I have to agree with you, Paul.

I will open a 12’ Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin VV tomorrow.

11

Some of the Côte de Beaune (Beaune, Pommard, Volnay) are the most concentrated and structured I ever tasted - though as Paul notes, with simply brillaint energy too. I also will try some bottles young - I like young - but in the knowledge that those people who wrote this to be an early drinking vintage are/were, er… having a bad day…

12

Hmm in Quebec, Canada the 2012 red so far available now is Bouchard - Macon [swearing.gif]

13

Ha - maybe not the best place to start Peter :wink:

14

Every year I normally start from Mercurey… [cheers.gif]

15

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

16

soon you will come down to Earth… neener

17

It’s on CT.

Pretty wine but not as floral as 10’ and 11’. Maybe better than both 10’ and 11’ due to its structure and higher acidity. Price is another matter. I had to pay 25% more than 11’ vintage.