Visit w/ Berserker Ray Walker at Maison Ilan - Recollections from Hospice de Beaune 2009 - Pt 1

WINE TALK
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Went to the Cote D’Or for a solid week for various tastings and the Hospice auction. I was part of a group that wound up buying ten barrels. It’s a lot to tackle, so I’m starting backwards from our last visit of the trip:

Maison Ilan (fellow Berserker Ray Walker’s start-up Burg project) - we were Ray’s first visitors at his soon-to-be-vacated temporary digs, a modest setup in a beautiful location in Saint Aubin. Soon his wines will be further north in the Cote - in Morey St. Denis. Compared to what I’ve started, Ray’s undertaking is mammoth. To go to Burgundy, get set up, pull contracts for grapes from grand cru and premier cru vineyards requires a real leap of faith. So far, the gods seemed to have smiled upon Ray, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. 2009 is not a bad vintage to start out with, especially with the quality of sites Ray has.

What is also clear is the level of commitment and hard work Ray brings to the project.

We tasted (all 2009s)(my apologies in advance for the poor notes, but hopefully the gist gets across):

Morey St. Denis, 1er Cru, Les Chaffots - The constants across all three wines were the elements of elegance and finesse. At present, these qualities shone most brightly for me with the Morey St. Denis. Compared to the vast majority of barrel samples tasted for the Hospice auction, Ray’s wines were very suave. I believe that is a mark of Ray’s winemaking, which very non-interventionist with limited punchdowns,etc. Gorgeous red fruit, nice level of alcohol and great balance.

Charmes Chambertin, Grand Cru, Aux Charmes - a bigger, more robust wine than the Morey, we tasted three barrels with different levels of oak. I thought the barrel with new oak was the strongest individually (although it flirted with “too much” without ever embracing it), but think the blend will be very good. Darker fruits, a bit more tannins than the Morey St. Denis, but still impeccably balanced.

Le Chambertin, Grand Cru - only two barrels of this wine and you feel a little guilty not drinking the portion Ray dispenses from the pipette - it’s mid-late afternoon, so none goes to the spittoon. Power and elegance nicely put together. Even darker fruit than the Charmes, but a nice example of power without weight that makes great Burgundy so alluring. Again, great balance and tremendous length on the finish.

While we had a lot of 2009 barrel samples during the course of the week, Ray’s stood out to me for their finesse, elegance and balance. Great start, I think!

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Nice. Thanks for posting.

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Ray is a friend of mine so I may be biased, but from what he has told me about the wines and how he made them, I suspect Im going to love them. Can’t wait to be a customer.

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BTW, I have to be honest and say Ray is a slacker. Pretty lame he only got some Chamertin his first vintage and no Musigny or Vosne Grand Crus.

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Thanks for the notes and background on Ray’s quest. Sounds like a great story and one I would love to support given what you say about the style of his wines. How does he plan to sell the wines? Or put more bluntly, how would I go about buying some?!

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I’ve been following Ray’s dream since the beginning, and I can’t begin to express how proud I am that he’s fulfilled so much so quickly. Can’t wait to have the finished product in my grubbly little hands!!!

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Great notes, Steve, thanks for setting up the visit to Maison Ilan, and inviting me to join wineberserkers, i’ve been a private beserk for quite some time. Ray has some great barrels and his attention to detail was amazing, hand destemming, actually everything by hand, a very green winery and one of the cleanest I have been in. I too was struck by the finesse and gentleness of the wines, especially the free run juice in the used oak, will be interesting to see how they marry with the structure of the press juice and new oak barrels. I think it is important to point out his Charmes is all charmes literally, no mazoyeres. The chambertin was very difficult to taste now, an iceberg but will be a great wine once it comes together in a few years. We’ll have to go back in the spring, maybe during hospices de nuits, to get a more accurate picture. Will be fun to see how this project evolves!

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Oops. Probably should have included the info. Check out his website http://www.maison-ilan.com/" onclick=“window.open(this.href);return false; and the associated blog http://blog.maison-ilan.com/” onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. The blog tells his full story quite well.

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Ray seems very serious and very enthusiastic. Based on e-mails with Ray, etc., and not on tasting any of the wines yet, I think we are seeing a real star in the making here.

Wait five years and the Burgundians will be going out of their minds.

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Awesome report. Can’t wait to try his wines.

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Do you even own any burg?

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Burgundy is more a state of mind :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the report, Steve.

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+1

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Steve and Justin,
it was such a great pleasure to meet both of you and to read your generous thoughts on the wines. I’m looking forward to seeing your impressions as they mature.

It’s quite a surreal experience to see impressions on something involving wine that I was a part of making. I’m honestly humbled at such support and kind responses.

Thank you again guys!

Cheers

Ray