My first 2007,and a disappointment. This should be a pretty fair indicator of the vintage in the CdB, since this is a decent village wine from a decent producer, but I hope that’s not the case. It’s amazingly light, both in color (a pale, transparent red), alcohol (12.5%, which would normally be a good thing) and in “texture”. In many ways, it comes off more like a Marsannay Rose- it’s watermelon and strawberry with a hint of venison blood, and its structured more by acidity than by tannin. Very drinkable, but at $20 for a half-bottle I hope for more than a quaffer. Fingers crossed for other 2007s.
Thanks for the thoughts. I haven’t tasted a single 07 yet but might venture out this week. I have some Pavelot SLBs … maybe I’ll try one to compare to your note.
Jason
Hmm, that’s not very encouraging. This is one of my favorite producers and I would expect a little bit more, even from a village wine. Hopefully the wines will flesh out a bit with some time in the bottle. I’ve certainly got my fingers crossed, since I own the Fournaux and Vergelesses. Haven’t tasted them yet though.
Thanks for the note on the Bourgeots seems a bit disappointing since the 06’ is really good for village Savigny and is still young…
The 07’ Bize Aux Guettes is very tasty and open right now… Been drinking Bize’s wines since 05’ and I can tell you his 07’ are good and ready for drinking but they definitely don’t have the structure of the 05’/06’…
Exactly why I bought them, so I’d have something nice and friendly to drink while the bigger vintages come around.
I tasted a few 2007 Simon Bize wines back in September and I loved them!!!
Thanks for the note. After trying a few, I am very cautious about '07 Reds. They seem to have a tendency to be shallow, short and sort of dilute.
Your description of the wine sounds like a Burgundy that has just been shipped, and has not yet settled in again after its trans-oceanic voyage. When I had the wine in February in the cellars, its was a lovely village wine and nothing like what you described. But the washed out color, the lack of texture on the palate and the elevated impression of acidity are all classic symptoms of a Burgundy that has not yet settled in from travel and is completely out of whack. When I was a wine merchant, I used to have a rule of a minimum of one month of settling after the container of Burgundies landed, because the wines really need that long to come back together from a the trip. It is odd, as Bordeaux often tastes better right out of the container, as the ocean voyage seems to help the wines open up a bit, but red Burgundy never handles the trip well and usually shows just as you described for at least the first thirty days after the voyage. Would be curious to hear how long the wine had been in to the store.
Best,
John
Mr. Gilman,
That’s a fair point- I know it was on the shelf for less than a week. Half bottles of non-negociant red burgundy aren’t easy to come by, so I’ll surely be trying this again in the future. And as I noted, it wasn’t “bad”, just simple.
I really think that the next one you try you will like quite well- at least based on the sample I tasted in Savigny. Patrick Bize is very much a straight shooter and a very talented winemaker, and I really doubt that I would have seen something superior to what the general cuvee of the Bourgeots was going to be. I really like this bottling in general, as it ages well, and I have still close to a case of the 1999 that I am trying hard to give more time in the cellar, as it is really starting to get interesting at age ten.
Best,
John
That actually sounds tasty to me.
Kevin, I’m curious. Which ones?
When I was in Burgundy last June, I liked several (Clavelier, Arnoux) while others (such as Bouchard) seemed too soft and dilute with strawberry and bubble gum notes. Tasted recently the same Clavelier did not show well at all (this may be to John’s point about shipping) and could not hold up to food. Also an '07 Dujac Clos St Denis was extremely disappointing (dilute, shallow).
Thanks Kevin. I’m surprised at the Dujac.
Well, having finished the bottle over 3 days, I can report that John Gilman and Kevin Harvey were both right. As John (implicitly) predicted, the wine did put on weight by day 3, darkening up a bit and definitely seeming much more substantial in taste and texture. It was much, much, improved.
But, I found that the wine was still somewhat marred by the strawberry/watermelon note- Kevin called it “bubblegum”, and I think that’s spot-on. It’s almost a distant relative of the confected raspberry note I get in some Grenache.
I’m much more positive about it now than I was yesterday, but I’m curious to see if the bubblegum is widespread, as Kevin suggests.
I’m not at all surprised that the wine put on weight after a couple of days. But your remarks on your dissatisfaction with the flavor profile bring up an interesting point.
To what extent is flavor profile an important factor for you (not just directed at D.) when judging a young wine (particularly red burgundy) you expect to cellar for at least, let’ say, 4-5 years before drinking? If you want to drink the bottles young, obviously you should be concerned about the flavors/aromas. Likewise if there seems to be a really pronounced unpleasant note (a la '04 reds). But if you’re evaluating a wine with the explicit purpose of cellaring it so that the flavors and aromas transform, how important to you is its profile in youth? I guess I tend to look mostly at the balance and structure, then I try to make a judgment about whether the wine is made in a style that appeals to me and that suggests positive development over time. I don’t particularly care for what I describe as “plummy” aromas in young burgundy. But I also don’t expect that the plummy fruit I detect at age 2-3 will still be there when I open it at age 10. What say you?
