Top WHITE Burgundy vintage of the 21st Century so far

[Mike_C1]

Just as a casual observer of tasting notes, one thing I have noticed about 2014 is that the greatness is not as evident in Cellartracker notes where people evaluate the wines. Usually for red wines there are very sharp differences in the scores you see for the greatest vintages compared to the surrounding ones. Less so for whites. For 2014 in particular scores often seem to be good but not great compared to surrounding vintages. A fair share of 2014 tasting notes mention wines being shut down, highly acidic, or needing more aging – quite unusual to see that for white Burgundy where people are now tending to drink them early. Realize I’m just conveying Cellartracker impressions here, perhaps the lowest form of wine commentary, but that’s what I’ve observed.

I had this experience recently—drank Hubert Lamy’s ‘14 bourgogne blanc a few months ago and it was highly acidic. It didn’t seem like there was much else behind the acid that would bring it together with more age.

I had a bottle of Lamy’s 2014 Chez Derriere Haut Densite in November and it was spectacular, so his 2014s definitely have plenty behind the acid.

Yes, not surprised that the HD has the stuffing to go against the acid compared to a humble bourgogne blanc. My example was to highlight that, as always in Burgundy, a “great” vintage does not make a “great” wine, and a “great” producer can make a not-so-great wine.

[Greg_K]

I had this experience recently—drank Hubert Lamy’s ‘14 bourgogne blanc a few months ago and it was highly acidic. It didn’t seem like there was much else behind the acid that would bring it together with more age.

I had a bottle of Lamy’s 2014 Chez Derriere Haut Densite in November and it was spectacular, so his 2014s definitely have plenty behind the acid.

Yes, not surprised that the HD has the stuffing to go against the acid compared to a humble bourgogne blanc. My example was to highlight that, as always in Burgundy, a “great” vintage does not make a “great” wine, and a “great” producer can make a not-so-great wine.

I do not believe that anyone takes the position that “2014 is a great vintage” means “all 2014 white burgundies are great”.

[Mike_C1]

I had a bottle of Lamy’s 2014 Chez Derriere Haut Densite in November and it was spectacular, so his 2014s definitely have plenty behind the acid.

Yes, not surprised that the HD has the stuffing to go against the acid compared to a humble bourgogne blanc. My example was to highlight that, as always in Burgundy, a “great” vintage does not make a “great” wine, and a “great” producer can make a not-so-great wine.

I do not believe that anyone takes the position that “2014 is a great vintage” means “all 2014 white burgundies are great”.

Maybe you were inspired by Howard, but you’ll find no disagreement here, as that wasn’t the point I was responding to.

[Greg_K]

Yes, not surprised that the HD has the stuffing to go against the acid compared to a humble bourgogne blanc. My example was to highlight that, as always in Burgundy, a “great” vintage does not make a “great” wine, and a “great” producer can make a not-so-great wine.

I do not believe that anyone takes the position that “2014 is a great vintage” means “all 2014 white burgundies are great”.

Maybe you were inspired by Howard, but you’ll find no disagreement here, as that wasn’t the point I was responding to.

Them’s fighting words!

[Howard_Cooper]

Just as a casual observer of tasting notes, one thing I have noticed about 2014 is that the greatness is not as evident in Cellartracker notes where people evaluate the wines. Usually for red wines there are very sharp differences in the scores you see for the greatest vintages compared to the surrounding ones. Less so for whites. For 2014 in particular scores often seem to be good but not great compared to surrounding vintages. A fair share of 2014 tasting notes mention wines being shut down, highly acidic, or needing more aging – quite unusual to see that for white Burgundy where people are now tending to drink them early. Realize I’m just conveying Cellartracker impressions here, perhaps the lowest form of wine commentary, but that’s what I’ve observed.

Very surprising. I don’t read CellarTracker reviews that often so I assume you are correct. But, this differs widely from the reactions I see to the 2014s that get opened with my Burg friends. Could be that Burg lovers (esp. my friends who also tend to be German wine lovers) like more acid in the wines than would say the typical California Chardonnay drinker who bought some 2014s white Burgundies because they were highly rated.

I have had ones I really liked over the last couple of years or so at higher ends like Bouchard Montrachet and CM Morgeot from Ramonet, Drouhin and Bernard Moreau. But, I have also really liked more affordable ones like Moreau-Naudet & Fils Chablis; Bourgogne Blanc from PYCM, Charles Van Canneyt and Bernard Moreau; and A. et P. de Villaine Rully Les Saints-Jacques. Somewhere in between I have really enjoyed a couple of different St. Aubin premier crus from Lamy. The one I have had over the couple of years that I was not sure about was Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chaumées Clos de la Truffière. I thought it was rather closed hopefully will improve with time.