This bottle was a disappointment. I’m not sure if I should blame the vintage not being ready or bottle variation but there was very little to work with here. May have been somewhat corked (if so, I’ve had the worst run of TCA-tainted bottles in my life).
I’m seeing other recent posts with 2012s showing well, so I’m a bit conflicted on how the vintage should be showing right now.
No fruit on it, or shut down? I did find some 12s to be extremely tight and need a lot of time.
Well, the obvious answer to that, which I’m guessing you won’t like, is that vintages don’t show XX, wines do. All the questions trying to generalize about where wines from a specific vintage might be in their development, based on the fact that they are from that vintage - and these questions have proliferated lately - will get you only a blurry background to the picture for any given wine, which gets even blurrier the further you get from release. Even for a specific wine, what others experience only brings it slightly more into focus.
I’m not saying don’t read the notes, or even don’t ask the questions. I do both myself. Just to understand that there is no substitute for personal experience with a wine over time to get you as close as possible to choosing a good time to open it. And even that won’t get you a guarantee, as has been illustrated by many people experiencing variation of development even in a given case of the same wine. But it’s still the best way. Sadly, it takes a lot of time, and patience, and a willingness to invest both time and money in getting to the answer.
Unfortunately this is all correct and, imho, one of the most annoying, but strangely gratifying parts of this obsession
This one had no fruit, acid out of balance, and the nose was a little more on the wet side than the earthy side. I’d normally default to corked but the odds of me opening so many corked bottles in just a few days make me hesitant (even thought that’s a totally irrational approach). I’ve got 11 more bottles to try, will give the next one a lot more time to open up.
I hear you, and you’re right. There’s so much variation between wines and producers within a vintage that you can’t generalize that easily. But I do find the discussions helpful, even only as a sort of general guide. One of the drawbacks of being on the younger side for the wine community is I don’t have years/decades of personal experience with a particular wine or vintage to draw on, so I’ve got to take my signals where I can get them.
Not picking on you here, but by quoting only part of what I said, you leave out the part where I say that the discussion DOES help, to some extent. 
I’m not at all unaware that it is tough early on.
I think the problem is that people are not doing the other part at all in addition to reading the discussion. There’s a lot of solely buying ones and twos and not committing to the kind of long term exploration I’m advocating. And there is a lot of advice from others here to do exactly that - “don’t buy a 6 pack! Your palate might change!” Yes, it might, and that’s a risk. But if you exclusively follow that advice, you will definitely never get the upside of following a wine over time. I’m a broken record on this, and kind of a voice crying in the wilderness, urging people to do even a little buying in 4 or 6 or 12, funds and space permitting.
So, while I totally get that early on there’s not much more than the discussion, I’m really trying to get poeple to do even a little of the time consuming work to get the input that I think is most helpful. That’s the only way to eventually not be the newbie who has only the discussion to lean on.
I don’t know anything about what you do specifically, mind you, this is a general impression.
I think people should be buying six packs of wines on release to follow them, but that’s too much delayed gratification for a lot of people on here.
I have been generally designing events to compare and contrast specific vineyards and vintage, which I think helps build better understanding.
“A lifetime of effort in pursuit of understanding is not for everyone.”
– Jonathan Read
Honest question: How about people like myself who are in your camp and would love to order 6+ of wines to follow over time but are also just starting to build out the cellar and in the early stages of figuring out preferred regions, producers, and stylistic preferences?
Sorry for the somewhat thread drift.
Go to events, especially La Paulee, and try a lot of wines, then figure out ones you like and can afford and put away a 6 pack.
Sure - fair question. Try a lot of wine, which you are probably already doing. When you find a wine you love, and you can afford it, buy a 6 pack. Choose a wine that is age worthy (i.e. not your everyday rose) but isn’t known for needing 50 years before it’s even ready to drink, of course. Drink the next one in a year (or whatever); if it’s drinking well, have another in 6 months. If it hasn’t changed much, maybe save the next one for another year or two. Take notes, base your next opening on what you experienced with the first two. Drink the 6 pack over 3-5 years. If your palate seems to be phasing away, drink them quiker, or share them. Palates change, but usually slowly. Do this a few times, across a variety of styles, all of which you enjoy. What you buy will shift naturally as your palate develops. I am willing to bet that more often than not you will continue to enjoy the win. The risk is just not that high over a few years with a wine you know you liked. And if you experience a drastic shift, well you have other wines and you will have learned a great deal about how wines develop, how to judge your version of readiness, and at what point you enjoy specific wines.
It’s not rocket science. It just takes time, effort and commitment. Just do it! A few missteps along the way are more than worth it to get to a place where you are drinking based on solid experience and building knowledge that is both broad and deep. And if it doesn’t please you, you can always stop.
Thanks. Yeah, figured as much. Kind a roundabout way of asking: “If you were to start over again, what, if anything, would you do differently” : )
Now, back to Burgundy…
Not much, save the obvious wish that I’d taken out a second mortgage to buy more Rousseau and DRC. 
But really, I am pretty happy. I have a cellar I love, full of wines of all maturity levels across a broad spectrum of varieties and regions. And I’ve had a rollicking good time getting here. Even the mistakes were generally fun, save maybe a brief flirtation with Aussie ooze monsters. One of the funniest experiences of my wine life was the repeated regifting of a bottle of 2001 Integrity that no one wanted. 
Haven’t had many ‘15s but this was excellent.
Posted from CellarTracker
I think with the excitement over 19 and 22 it’s been lost that 09 and 15 are tremedous vintages that will be incredible with bottle age.
I’m not going to say don’t go to events, but I do think palate fatigue is real and probably inhibits appreciation of a large number of wines even more when you have less experience than when you have a ton of experience to draw on.
My advice would be to accept that it might take a couple of years (plus) to get to a place where you feel comfortable with your experience and palate. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’d make buying decisions anticipating that you’ll know a lot more after a few years than now.
over a single event this might be true… but over enough sample size, the fatigue factor lessens and the overall impression of producers / vintages / bottlings persists.
You have to drink a lot of burgs if you want to start to understand them; events are an easier and more cost effective way than buying all the bottles yourself. I also think palate fatigue is much more of a thing with Cabernet based wines; I routinely taste through almost every wine at La Paulee’s grand tasting and have pretty good notes on everything.
Many wines from this vintage have become ravishing, in a quiet way, and the vintage today probably offers more satisfactory general drinking than the subsequent one; which even I am astonished by.
Yeah, this is sort of my point - you can’t go to a few events and think that you’re dialed in. I agree with Michael that events are a great way to gain experience, but ultimately it’s still going to take time. There’s no short cut and I’d make buying decisions at the beginning with the understanding that you’ll be much better informed in a couple years than at the very beginning. Palate fatigue may be a more serious problem with more tannic wines, but I’m still skeptical that someone starting out isn’t going to be overwhelmed tasting tens of wines in that setting.
