I was celebrating a late Thanksgiving with Mom and a friend, and since I detest turkey (I’ve said it previously and it still holds true), I decided to roast a whole duck. I did this last Thanksgiving and it was a smashing success. Last night was no different, I am happy to report.
We began the night with a bottle of NV Veuve Fourny Brut Premier Cru. If you’re looking for fruity, sweet bubbly, this ain’t it. There is a hint of guava and lemony notes, but just a hint. This is more like drinking liquid steel in a mesh of fine bubbles. It makes your mouth pucker. This is masochistic Champage. I love it.
Next, as we sat down to dinner, I poured a bottle of 1998 Domaine Dujac Clos St Denis. One whiff of this and I almost burst into tears. This is the smell that proves the existence of God. Beautiful, muddy cherries wrapped in sous-bois, a real musk that envelops the senses and refuses to disappear. The wine in the mouth is the same, flowing over the palate and gripping you, refusing to let go, not wanting to be forgotten, a presence, a weightless weight that just seems to dance effortlessly on the tongue. Wow. I think I just fell in love with Burgundy again.
Finally, a bottle open the previous night with some seafood pasta, a 2004 William Fevre Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume. That night it was a slightly honeyed, lemony and minerally wine that was quite delicious but nothing special. What a difference 24 hours in the fridge made… The moment I opened this, I was almost bowled over by the thickness of the aroma. It was like a velvet glove to the nose, full of cheesy scallops and almonds and citrus notes. Wow. At this point, I may have had actual tears streaming down my face.
Yeah, these are the moments we live for. These are wines that make me giddy. Giddy wines.
Cheers!
Absolutely. I have had some stellar (and not-so-stellar) 1998 red Burgs, as you say it all depends on the producer. Frankly, that is a rule that should be followed year in, year out.
Oh, this really takes me back! I’ve never had this wine, hell, I’ve never even had a Clos St Denis, but it still strikes the chord of one of my earliest Burgundy experiences, a '95 Arlaud Morey Ruchots. Hardly an exalted bottle, but I was so seduced by its aromas at the time, and I can still remember them well. “Muddy cherries wrapped in sous-bois” captures it just perfectly. There’s something delightfully forthright about the cherry scents of Morey wines, I love it! Anyway, thanks so much for the notes. Your enthusiasm is palpable and contagious.
I’ve had better 1998s (and lots of worse ones too), but for some reason this night this bottle just shone. As they say, there are no great wines, just great bottles.
I have consistently loved the '98 Dujac wines across the board, though it has been a year or two since I had my last bottle of Clos St. Denis. I was drinking both the '98 Combottes and Bonnes-Mares in half bottle at a restaurant in Nuits St. Georges for the last couple of years when I was in Burgundy, and neither of these failed to delight as well. Most recently both the Chambolle “Gruenchers” and Clos de la Roche were drinking beautifully as well. It is a vintage that is just now really beginning to come into its own, and over the next decade or so it will be one of the most delightful vintages to reach for in the cellar.
I have always liked this vintage in general, ever since tasting it out of barrel, and have always wondered why its reputation as a vintage is not uniformly higher. I remember being in Burgundy to taste them the first time in the fall of 1999, with Pierre Rovani there at the same time, and at several cellars I was a day or two behind him. The vignerons had been quite surprised with his dislike of the vintage, as most of them were quite positive about its potential. It is not a powerful vintage, but it has displayed stellar terroir since its infancy, and all that has been needed was for the tannins to fall away a bit and let the wines start to blossom. Perhaps it is stronger in the premier crus and grand crus than in the village wines, as I have had some village examples that were just a tad underripe, but this has not been the case with the village wines that I bought in depth from this vintage: Mugneret Vosne, Mugnier Chambolle, Dujac Chambolle, Chevillon Nuits and Coche-Dury Auxey-Duresses and Monthelie. And higher up the food chain I have had only positive experiences from the growers I buy every year.
I do think that it was a vintage that required vignerons to understand its characteristics and make wines in the style that the vintage dictated (though this is probably true of almost all vintages with the excpetion of ones like 1999 or 2005), and those that sought to impose their winemaking style on the vintage (rather than vice versa) missed the opportunity to make excellent wines. But I would never characterized the vintage as Serge has, as a “tough year”, as the potential to make excellent, soil-driven and classic wines was certainly there and a great, great many vignerons have done so. When talking about the general character of a vintage in Burgundy, what I think is the most meaningful measurement of quality should be built solely upon what the best producers did with the raw materials presented to them by Mother Nature in this year, rather than whether or not those of a different skill set were also able to make good wine. If Jacques and Jeremy Seysses can turn out a wine such as the 1998 Clos St. Denis, then 1998 is a top quality vintage, regardless of whether or not those who worship at the alter of heavy extraction and lots of cellar make-up made a mess of the vintage.
John, thank you for that well-thought out reply. I agree with you, 1998 is a very good vintage, but it is one where you have to seek out producers who know what they’re doing with what they’re given. Dujac, Mugnier, Roumier, Fourrier have all provided lots of pleasure, and even some that I usually don’t go for, such as Mongeard Mugneret, have proven to be delicious. This is a vintage that does demand patience, though many are coming around quite nicely, and with some air-time they really shine (as this Dujac CSD did after 3 hours standing up).
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