TN: Saturday Burgs - 2004 Vogue Musigny, Amoureuses, 99 Lamarche Grands-Echexeaux etc

WINE TALK
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DRINKS AT MOOD INDIGO - Mood Indigo, Jalan Kilang Barat, Singapore (27/12/2014)


WHITES

  • 2008 Maison Roche de Bellene Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
    I am not sure I like the style of the wine. It certainly has good raw material, and I suppose you could say at a stretch that it shows off the Folatières terroir somewhat. However, it was just a bit too in-your-face, a bit too modern and internationally styled for my liking - almost perched somewhere between Côte de Beaune and the new world. The nose was very expressive, with sweet fruit aromas of peaches and pineapple, almost with a candied edge to them, and then some flowers and chalk and just that bit of oak. Same profile on the palate too - round, fleshy, quite sweet, with sappy pineapples and stone fruit - all nicely balanced and with tons of solid minerality and extract underneath driving the wine into a long finish. It was just a touch too ripe and modern for my tastes, and I am not sure it will tone down all that much over the years. I can certainly see some people who will enjoy this though, and it may be a good bridge for those more used to say a Napa or Aussie Chard and wanting to dip their toes into Burgundy. It is surprisingly forward and seems okay to drink now, but I think it should still benefit from a few years in the cellar. (90 pts.)
  • 2002 Coche-Dury Bourgogne Blanc - France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc
    A one-of-a-kind Bourgogne, far transcending its classification in quality and (unfortunately) in price. This was even better now than when I last had it two years ago. There was a typically assertive Coche-Dury nose here, with tons of flinty, chalky minerality peeking out through ripe aromas of lemons, kumquats and a backdrop of white fruit, all drizzled with little drops of honey - a lovely, engaging nose. The palate drank more like a solid 1er Cru than a Bourgogne, with a creamy weight and lots of textured depth to its ripe, sweet flavours of peach and red apples, with matured mushroomy accents on the midpalate, and then honeyed kumquats lined with more of those compelling chalk and mineral notes in the long, powerful driving finish - all this carried with a wonderful clarity and energy. A brilliant wine, drinking beautifully now. This would not feel out of place amongst the company of top 1er Crus. (93 pts.)

REDS

  • 1998 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
    A completely different animal from the 1999 Lamarche Grands-Echezeaux that we had alongside - while that was about noble structure and sinewy strength, this was all light and air and perfume - a beautiful, if rather lightweight expression of Malconsorts. It had a lush, lovely nose, with layers of meat and mushrooms and earth packed in with fragrant drifts of dark cherries and wood spice and perfumed flowers - gorgeous, heady stuff. The palate was not quite a lush, but every bit as perfumed. While the nose perhaps raised the expectation of a nice deep mouthful, this was quite distinctly midweight, with a lovely clear purity and freshness showing in flavours of dark cherries and red berries swathed in a robe of sweet, orangey acidity and the fine tannins still providing a little grip on the finish. While the midpalate filled up and took on some weight and power with time and air in the decanter, I thought the finish was never fully convincing, ending in a rather short kiss of brambly herb and spice. In spite of its faults though, this was still a beautiful wine to drink. I am very partial to this style - elegant, pure, crystalline. It is drinking very nicely now as well. Yummy. (92 pts.)
  • 1999 Domaine Francois Lamarche Grands-Echezeaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru
    A solid wine, starting to show some signs of maturity, but still quite a few years away from being ready to drink. I liked the nose - it really spoke of Vosne, with shades of earth and meat and a nice waft of woody spice - cloves and cinnamon, a hint of cumin and a dash of pepper - alongside some subtle red fruited notes and a little dash of something floral. Very nice. The palate seemed rather tighter and less generous though. The attack seemed to be opening up, with some cherry fruit met with salty, savoury tones of earth and mushroom. I liked the clarity and balance on the wine, as well as the strong sense of structure lent to it by very fine but persistent tannins. There was certainly still something rather austere and reserved on the midpalate and beyond though, with a sinewy minerality and earthiness asserting itself beyond the fruit, and a slightly drying edge showing up as the wine strode into a long finish with some twiggy, brambly hints right at the very edges of tongue. This was a good, if rather tough expression of Grands-Echezeaux - lovely Grand Cru depth and weight, solid muscular structure, yet nicely balanced and blessed with that nice sense of clarity. It needs time yet, but should nicely reward those with patience to wait 6-7 years, or perhaps just a little more than that. (93 pts.)
  • 2004 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
    Like the 2004 Vogüé Musigny that came after it, this was so tainted with green that it was hard to get beyond that and into how good the wine was - and it was good. The nose just smacked of the 2004 character - not terrible in a weedy, unpleasant way, but very distinctive, with boiled herbs and nutty lentils, green beans and leafy notes all arrayed around more typically perfumed notes of flowers and red fruit and spice. Very distracting I thought. The palate was rather less green than the nose, but I felt it was rather light and floaty, even for a Les Amoureuses, where finesse is often preferred over power. It did put on some weight over time though, and it had beautiful proportions, with the finest of tannins along with a wonderful energy and verve to its fresh notes of dark cherries and blueberries touched with fowers and spice. All very elegant and classy as one would expect, and blessed with gobs of sweet, juicily citrus acidity that drove it into a graceful finish. Again though, that greenness came out stronger and stronger on the backpalate, this time with a Chinese herb character - Tang Kui I thought - very woody and tree-bark like. Again very distracting. A real pity, because the wine is just starting to drink well, and there is a lot to like about it. I am not sure where time will bring this, but it would be interesting to taste it again in 5 years to see where it is going. (92 pts.)
  • 2004 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
    A very good, even great wine, marred by overt 2004 greenness. When first popped and poured into a decanter, I thought the extra depth and substance of the terroir allowed this wine to more or less escape the disturbing herbaciousness that was so clear on the 2004 Les Amoureuses that we had alongside; but with time and air, those vegetal notes just grew and grew until they became an unavoidable distraction. The nose actually flattered to deceive - it showed lovely lush tones of sweet blueberries and dried berries, earth and spice and a nice floral perfume - like a bigger, deeper, more resonant version of the bouquet on the Les Amoureuses, just without the green, save for little herby accents here and there. The palate was a lot more herbal than the nose though. It was actually okay at first. I actually wrote on my notes that this was everything you would want in a Musigny - effortless power, seamless depth, elegant balance and lovely intensity, with mouthcoating flavours of blueberries and dark cherries showing a beautiful purity. Great structure too, with firm but oh so fine tannins and fresh, prickly acidity gripping the wine as it entered into a meatier, more bassy midpalate and then into a long seamless finish full of beautiful spice notes. In true Musigny fashion, it was deceptively light on approach, but the intensity and depth and the wonderful wholeness of it all became more and more apparent with each sip. Unfortunately though, the greenness also started making its presence felt more and more with time - like the nose, it started out with a hint of herb at the sides, then grew into a more vegetal overtone and, when I finally left the wine after 45 minutes, it was full blown Chinese medicine and ginseng chicken notes spreading over the mid and back-palate. It was almost impossible to get beyond that and back to that wonderful Musigny completeness that the wine was showing just awhile back. A real pity, because this would have been a great wine otherwise; and, unlike some other vintages, I thought it was actually quite advanced - with a few more years under its belt to integrate and take on an even greater harmony, it would have been drinking beautifully. I wonder whether the green will sort itself out given enough time though - I was half tempted to pull the trigger on a few bottles, but stayed my hand. (93 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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I certainly wonder how wines with so strong green components can get 92 and 93 points resp.
??? [scratch.gif]
Or am I missing something?

I tasted the Musigny VV 2004 in spring 2007 and again in 2010 … and both times it was simply a green mess!
[pwn.gif]

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Paul likes…Tang Kui and Ginseng -hence 92 and 93 points pileon.




*****I certainly wonder how wines with so strong green components can get 92 and 93 points resp.
??? [scratch.gif]
Or am I missing something? ***

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I don’t mind the green that much - I think they distract rather than destroy the wines. I know some people who actually like some green and others who cannot even take one smidgen of herbaciousness. I am somewhere on between. The wines do have great underlying quality.

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From my limited experience Vogue high-end reds since Miller took over vintage 1991(?) took long, long time to turn around ( or mature )… [cheers.gif]

I love Tang Kui and Ginsend to slowly-cooked with Chicken as soup…as long as they are balanced [basic-smile.gif] .

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Think Togni cabs. Some people think that they’re terrible, full of ‘green’. Others taste the green and sort of like it, as some additional complexity (and like the wines). Some can’t taste the green and think that the wines are amazing.

No right or wrong here, just what you like and what you can taste…

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Thanks for sharing the notes–a very nice line-up. My experience is that the '04 red burgs should not be decanted, even “big” wines. The wines give the best glimpse of what they have to offer right out of the bottle. The green note gets markedly more pronounced with air.

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This was quite an interesting experience for me - I have had quite a few 2004s recently with barely a trace of green. This was a real throwback. Time for a horizontal tasting perhaps.

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Well, this forum is about communication … thanks to Paul there are very detailed TN given for each wine, so no misunderstanding can occur when reading these really carefully.
On the other hand if one only remembers or notices - like it often happens with RMP scores - the 92 and 93 points … one can get misleaded easily.

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I don’t equate the two “green” experiences. Yes, some wines have a pronounced herbal element that doesn’t suit everyone’s taste. Loire CFs and some Bordeaux (PLL!) for example. Every vintage. I really enjoy them. But the 2004 trait (some might say taint) is different and highly vintage-specific. People’s sensitivities, not just preferences, vary wildly. If you’re highly sensitive, you pretty much CAN’T enjoy them!

Paul’s de vogue notes are useful. If you’re sensitive, stay far away despite good scores. If less sensitive, they could give pleasure at 2004 discounts. Just don’t share them with sensitive types!
Peter

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This is a good caveat emptor for anyone reading others’ notes (which I don’t often do.) Peoples’ scores, per se, are of no interest to me. Period. They can be wholly misleading, among other things. Brief notes of what someone tasted can be very informative, though.

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Agreed

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Great work, Paul. Another 99 that’s not ready, eh? :slight_smile:

De Vogue really got hit hard by 2004—ladybug or no, the wines all seem to have the qualities you’ve described, especially aromatically (your lentils are my peanuts). To extend and interact with what you’ve stated Peter, may be producer-variable too…

Best,

Mike