TNs: Vogue Musigny, Sauzet, Fourrier and Mission HB

WINE TALK
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This was a pretty nice way to kick off the weekend. 8 of us sat outside and enjoyed these over dinner with a great sunset and meal. I didn’t take notes and I know there was a mag of 99 Vilmart and also a 95 Chateau St Jean LH split of riesling that was excellent but I just didn’t write down the exact specs. While I am still not much of a fan of bordeaux-based wines, as the HB below can exhibit, I have much growing love for burgundy. There’s just something hard to elaborate when good burgundy hits the senses, like the Musigny. Moreso, and no knock on the Fourrier, as it was nearly 10 vintages removed from the CGdV, the latter is just a wine to savor. Thanks to Steve, Jim and Thad for making this a great evening.

  • 1990 Château La Mission Haut-Brion - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (4/16/2011)
    I don’t possess much context or experience with bdx or this property but I was told this wine is of high esteem. What I got from it was lots of cedar, tobacco leaf, spice and it didn’t show its age in my opinion. There was something hard to identify in the aromatic, something I have found occasionally in some CdP based wines, a kind of burnt or scorched note. It kind of lurks in the background.
  • 1999 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru (4/16/2011)
    Drank over dinner, I paired it with a salmon served with lentils, figs. There is something hard to narrate when one can enjoy wines of this caliber. Was not served blind so I had the legacy of the label and reputation to sort out (which is not easy, I admit). The balance of wines like this is quite remarkable, the aromatic nuance and just pleasure behind it. This was served across a table of eight so my portion was parsed but when I see my wife enjoy it, who is someone who eschews reds, it’s not hard to see why wines like this can draw in the taster. I didn’t take formal notes but clearly this is a terrific wine and one I was thrilled to have tasted, especially with the meal and the warm friends at the table.
  • 2007 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cherbaudes Vieille Vigne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru (4/16/2011)
    Enjoyed over dinner, with a decant time of roughly 2 hours, remaining in bottle. Shows a pretty good amount of stable and barnyard in the aromatic, enough to get my attention. Then tasting the wine, raspberry, medium weight but a bit forward and then lots of soil and mulch. This had a lot of character and was quite young in tone but I’d like to see this wine in another 3-5 years. I bought it to obtain some more experience with Fourrier, as I am liking this producer and want to gather a better sense of house style.
  • 2007 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru (4/16/2011)
    This bottle was consumed with less decant time and also I had less to try, as we spread it over 8 people. Also seemed to possess a smokiness to the aromatic tonight that I had not picked up previously. Showed the same lithe balance and finesse and was enjoyabe, just could not track the wine over time as easy as the previous one.

Posted from CellarTracker

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I wish more notes read like these.
You just became a “must click” for me.
Best, Jim

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Glad to see you getting deeper into Burgundy. It’s funny how different your WOTY sig line has changed from a couple of years ago. [cheers.gif]

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Jim, I don’t think you’ve ever posted back on one of my TNs. Thanks for the comments, although I can’t say I can keep this stream of grand cru going unless Ramon comes over with a bag full of wine, or unless a bag falls off the Loomis truck and we go shopping.

Ramon, in May, we have to do the burg dinner at my house. Start saving your pennies, dude.

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Poster boy for the wine trajectory discussion?

Was the Vilmart the Coeur de Cuvee? That is the bomb.

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Since I did not bring a burg, Frankie dissed my contributions lol.
We started with a mag of 99 Vilmart couer, which was awesome. Really fat round and deep with lots of brioche and acid. Many years to go.
The sticky was a 95 chateau st. Jean LH Riesling, which I have had forever and showed very well.
These were really good, but that Moose is in the stratosphere, I could drink that everyday.
P.S. Frankie’s new avatar was the laugh of the night as his wife Jill and Thad’s girl Gina showed up in the same dress.

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This was a truly wonderful night of food and wine. We dined alfresco at Montage in Laguna Beach with an ocean side table with the sunset to the right and a full moon to the left. Add to that two lovely ladies showing up in the same designer dress and the evening was off to a roaring start. BTW they both rocked it!

The wines were all showing extremely well and all of first class quality. Vilmart is one of my favorite Champagne producers and the magnum of 1999 Vimart Couer de Cuvee was excellent. Steve brought this bottle and it was a splendid precursor of what was to come. The wine had a yeasty, nutty and beautiful fruit aromas. A creamy texture and bright rich finish. Like premier cru white burgundy with bubbles.

Frank’s 2007 Etienne Sauzet Puligny Montrachet Champ-Canet was one of the best Puligny Montrachet wines I have had in quite some time. A bit of smokiness on the nose along with apple,peach and citrus. I agree with Frank if we had more to savor over the course of the evening it would have even showed more complexity. A fairly full palate and great concentration of flavor but not heavy with a persistent finish. Great wine from a great producer.

The 2007 Domaine Fourrier Gevry Chambertin Cherbaudes was a very young and still a bit primary. I did not pick up any stable or barnyard aromatics more of an earthy, smokey quality which I would have guessed to be some of the oak still showing. Dark fruit on the palate with some tannins lingering on the finish. Agree with Frank it needs at least 3-5 years to resolve some of the tannins and integrate some of the oak.

The 1999 Domaine Comte de Vogue Musigny V.V. was simply stunning. It still has years to reach its pinnacle but still a treat to drink now. Dark fruits, spice, violets, and some earthiness are some of the aromas emerging on the nose. Great concentration of flavors with a silky, sexy texture on the palate. Elegant with great persistence. This wines embodies all things good from Musigny.

The 1990 Ch La Mission Haut Brion was textbook. Cedar,tobacco, earth, dark fruit, spice and tar and tar. Dark ruby color. Fruit is still vibrant on the palate and the finish is very persistent. This is a very great Bordeaux and went incredibly well with my lamb entree.

We finished off the evening with a 1995 Chateau St Jean Special Select Late Harvest Riesling. This was listed at about 18% residual sugar. Amber color. Dark caramel, ripe stone fruit on the nose. Intense sweet fruit with good acidity on the palate. Still holding well but probably is time to drink up as it lost some of its vibrancy as the night wore on although that might have been me.

Thanks to Steve Nordhoff for arranging this phenomenal dinner in one of the most perfect settings one could imagine. Great wines with the best people always makes for memorable occasions. This was one of those.

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Wow frank. 99 vogue. Ballin!

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just say when. i already know what to bring. neener

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Had a '99 Vogue Musigny at a Musigny dinner the other night, was WOTN (although the first bottle was corked), easily beating out two Leroys and both '99 & '90 Mugnier…a wine for long term keeping!

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Jim’s in with TNs, now? epic. Hey, your comment on the Fourrier. Interesting that the aromatics you perceived differently. I

Steve, maybe the reason I didn’t chronicle the Vilmart is because you nearly drank the whole mag! [truce.gif] I never got a chance to see it. [rofl.gif]

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[cheers.gif]

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Nicely done, gents…nicely done.

[cheers.gif]

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Great notes!
I love Vogue and especially that 99 Musigny.
Thanks for sharing your experience.

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Nice notes.

I suspect the barnyard was so2 in the fourrier. These wines are typically super-clean.

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You’re not the first person to challenge me on my characterization of that note in the Fourrier. Perhaps I am not making the correct perception but it was less about being smoky and more about being stable-like. Are you saying, Berry, that SO2 will show as ‘stable or barnyardy’?

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The general rule I use is that if it blows off then it is some sort of sulphur compound from the winemaking process, but if it doesn’t then its likely brett. An exception is mercaptans as these don’t blow off but they smell like burnt rubber. Ive seen experienced tasters briefly mistake sulphur compounds for barnyardy brett.

Ive found some Fourrier’s that Ive opened to have a stink to them from sulphur but it always blows off. Different people seem to have different detection threshold for this.

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I call this, perhaps incorrectly, reduction funk when it blows off.
Not a Fourrier expert by any means, but I thought I saw somewhere that he actually uses less SO2 but retains more CO2 in the wine?

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+1 I always pop and delicately decant young Fourrier wines for this reason- based upon experience.

Anthony

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Yeah it is some type of sulphur compound. Not sure if the chemical produced by reduction is so2 or some other sulphur-based molecule. Anyone know?

Ive read that too.