The only thing about this bottle that matched my expectations was that it did not taste particularly like a Nuits. (Boudots is on the border of Vosne, next to Malconsorts.) It is a fairly big wine, but was more feminine that your typical Nuits.
Nothing else fit the stereotype of appellation, producer or vintage.
For starters, the color was brickish – like a traditional Barolo with 15 years of age. (I bought this from Zachy’s in 04 and it’s been at 55 degrees since. The cork was sound and there was no sign of leakage up the sides.)
It was also surprisingly rich and ripe – almost grapy – though with a lot of secondary notes. There was an ever so slight trace of oxidation at first, though that blew off and it gained a more typical Burgundian earthiness.
I can’t say I’d have pegged this as a pinot noir. If I’d tasted this blindly, I think I might have mistaken it for a Cote Rotie of a similar age, both because it was so ripe and fruity and because of the fruit profile.
This doesn’t measure up to Grivot’s 01 Vosne-Beaux-Monts, but was still a pleasure. I’m not sure what to score it. I guess ~90+. But no points for typicity!
Very interesting. It would be useful if anyone else with recent experience of this wine would chip in, especially if it’s from a different source.
I looked at this wine a little while ago when a case was being offered quite cheap in the UK. Didn’t bite in the end. I’ve had a few very good, older bottles of Grivot, but for some reason I can never bring myself to buy despite the big reputation. They come across as terribly hard and ashy at the en-primeur tastings.
Odd. Enjoyed the 1998, 1999 and 2000 in a vertical a few months ago (merci beaucoup Jim Anderson!). The '98 was exceptional. Feminine for Nuits but firing on all cylinders. The '99 and '00 showed young and brash but seemed in need of time, not at all like your '01. The '98 Vosne Beaux Monts was jaw dropping. Sounds like some premature oxidative aging for whatever reason. Bottling related?
It’s definitely possible that this was a poor bottle. It definitely seemed surprisingly mature. But it sounds like that squares with others’ experiences.
It was a Chateau & Estates import via Zachy’s and I put it straight into storage, so provenance isn’t the issue.
I will admit to my post-Accad Grivot fetish. Love the wines. '98-'00 is just replete with terrific wines. I have not had the '01 Boudots (to my recollection anyway) but have recently had the Roncieres and Echezeaux in the last few months and found neither lacking for anything. The Roncieres was especially good and quite hefitly endowed if I recall correctly. This, of course, speaks nothing really to what the Boudots may or may not be doing. There Boudots is usually a pretty gutsy and suave wine so it would seem odd for it to be petering out at this juncture.
It wasn’t that it was petering out: There was lots of fruit – indeed, it was surprisingly rich and ripe – but there was a trace of oxidation and there was something vaguely autumnal about the flavor profile. I would have expected something brighter, younger, more red-fruitish and less ripe.
Ive had a number of 01s over the last year with surprisingly advanced of teriary development. Oxidized doesn’t sound right though. Could very well be a cork problem or perhaps even a winemaking mistake.
It’s funny but I stumbled on some notes this evening from a tasting two weeks ago where I had the 99 Grivot Nuits - Roncieres. It was a tasting of 99s from different regions, so I hadn’t made the connection to the lone bottle I had last night until I looked at my notes:
“Trace of oxidation [when first poured] … brickish hue.” This was double blind and I wondered if this might be a nebbiolo – the same thought that crossed my mind with the 01 Boudots because of the color and aroma profile.
Yet another reason why I now regard these tastings as pretty much a waste of time.
There are doubts being raised about the state of some 01s at the moment, just at the same stage and in the same way that 96 started to look a little odd at age 9. In this case things are generally looking ok again.