Wine Berserkers Appellation Tasting Week 6: Vosne-Romanée +

WINE TALK
21

Mugneret-Gibourg’s village VR has to be up there on the list.

22

Bruno Clavelier and Robert Arnoux are my faves for the village wines. Both make an excellent Hautes-Mazieres; Clavelier’s Montagne and Combe Brulees are also very good. Also Bruno Clair’s Champs Perdrix is an excellent village wine.

23

Jean Grivot’s Vosne-Romanée “Bossieres” is no slouch either. I wanted to mention the Clavelier “Hauts de Beaux Monts” as well, but Keith beat me to it.

24

And here’s my classification in “if Burgundy were ranked like Bordeaux” format. Omitting any vineyards which either don’t rank or which I haven’t had any mature examples of. This was a toughie since there are so many that can be all over the spectrum depending on particular subplot or producer or who-knows-what other factors, even moreso than other villages I think. So, I have cheated.

1er cru classe:
Romanee-Conti, La Romanee, La Tache, Richebourg, Romanee-St.-Vivant

Mouton-esque top of the seconds with possible future promotion to 1er:
Malconsorts (Christiane)

2eme cru classe:
Cros Parantoux, Petits Monts, Reignots, Brulees (Meo), Grands Echezeaux, Echezeaux (some), Nuits-St.-Georges Les Boudots (some)

3eme cru classe:
Gaudichots, Malconsorts, Chaumes (some), Beaumonts (some), Suchots (Arnoux), Echezeaux (some)

4eme cru classe:
Brulees (some), Beaux Monts (some), Nuits-St.-Georges Les Boudots (some), Echezeaux (some)

5eme cru classe:
Suchots (some), Chaumes (some), Echezeaux (some)

And also with the obvious caveat that this is a parlor game and I might come up with a different list tomorrow.

25

So Grande Rue doesn’t even make 5th class?

Do you really find the difference between the cuvée Christianne and other Malconsorts (especially de Montille’s other one where there is not difference in winemaking to factor in) to be significant?

All Suchots except Arnoux’s are only 5th class?

26

Cros P below Montille Malconsorts? I would have to disagree.

27

I said I omitted vineyards I hadn’t tasted mature examples of. I am a fan and regular buyer of La Grande Rue and other Lamarche wines including Croix Rameau which I also had to omit.

Huge. The 2005 Christiane was the greatest young Burgundy I’ve ever had and the regular Malconsorts didn’t compare. I haven’t had any other Malconsorts (or Vosnes that didn’t say DRC on the label) that compared. The awesomeness of this stuff is so apparent I made an exception to my maturity rule above.
Obviously one thing that has to be noted about Malconsorts is that until the Dujac and Montille bottlings came out, the producer roster making wine from the vineyard was kind of middling. So, the best Malconsorts is probably yet to come.

28

Interesting. The times I’ve been blinded on the two de Montille Malconsorts, I correctly identified which was which, but I didn’t find the difference to be great. One of the times that I compared the two, there was another eminent writer on Burgundy with me and others tasting with us. The other writer had to disappear with Etienne into another room before he came back and pronounced (correctly) which was which. Many people connected with Burgundy view the separation into two cuvées as marketing and at least one of de Montille’s importers has tried to convince Etienne not to separate the two.

De Montille and Dujac are clearly elite producers, but the field producing Malconsorts before they entered included many that IMO deserve to be called better than middling, e.g., Lamarche, Cathiard, Hudelot-Noëllat, and Potel. [Correction on edit: Bouchard P&F omitted from this list; I’m not sure that they produced Malconsorts prior to 2005.]

29



Well, I have to disagree with several points, but Keith said explicitely he based his “classification” on what he´s tasted mature …
that says it all …

Clos des Reas for instance is a serious omission … much much better than most Chaumes … (Liger-Belair is the exception) …

(on the other hand I have never had a Malconsorts by Montille … )

30

I don’t really care for Michel Gros’s wines, so I can’t judge Clos des Reas. I don’t know how far back you would have to go to find one made in a style other than what Gros is doing now.

31

Being away from my cellar at the moment, I’m unfortunately unable to participate in all of these threads. But I am really enjoying reading them.

I wanted to chime in on this one to see if Robert Thornton is reading and if perhaps he would consider reposting his treatise on the Vosne 1er crus from ebob several years ago. It was a great rundown on the character of each vineyard, extraordinarily insightful, especially for folks not lucky enough to have made a thorough exploration of Vosne’s wines. Or I suppose if someone else could snag a copy off the site, that would work too. I had always meant to copy it and save it, but also assumed I would be able to search for it when I wanted!

32

Here’s a recent note from Mugneret-Gibourg’s delicious 07 VR AOC, which is up there with my favorite village wines in all of Burgundy.

2007 Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanee

This middleweight is all about texture. A high-toned nose of cranberries and earth introduces a silky palate showing crushed raspberries and a drop or two of soy. The fruit here is freshly picked and vibrant. This wine is so elegant, so seamless, and so delicious that its tartness and lack of depth are mere afterthoughts. An excellent effort.

33

Keith,

why don´t you care - if you don´t know his wines ?
Or do you know them ?

[scratch.gif]

I enjoyed almost all vintages from 1988 to 2006 (2007 less) …
but no problem, so the price remains stable … [wink.gif]

There are many producers mentioned here already not up to his level of quality (IMHO) …

34

Maybe I’m getting lost in translation a little? I didn’t say I don’t know the wines, what I’m saying is I don’t like the style. I find them too oaky and extracted. Since noone else makes Clos des Reas it’s hard for me to form an opinion on it as a terroir, although obviously it’s been esteemed very highly historically.

35

Gerhard:

Have drank the Clos des Reas since 1987(a very great wine

in a lesser vintage) Heavy Oak and Bacon favor but in 2005

I was disappointed a bit lighter and no bacon? A change in

method?

36

An Avery’s bottling of the 69 Clos Des Reas was quite stupendous a couple of years back.

37

John,
certainly no change in style, as far as I remember the 2005 Clos des Reas was very typical if even more concentrated and structured - and kind of very pure …
it might have been that the fruit concentration has hidden the smoky bacon a bit at certain times … great success in this vintage … and will evolve over a long time …
Also 2006 is fine - only 2007 is slightly less concentrated …
2004 is a good wine compared to many others …
2003/02/01 all excellent …

38

I had a fine 1976 Cos des Reas about a year ago … the 1st or 2nd vintage Michel vinified … (I think he took over in 1975) …
and an outstanding Richebourg by Remoissenet 1969 - and Michel told me that it could well have been from his father - he used to sell his Richebourg partially to Remoissenet then …

39

Michel Gros is a proponent of reverse osmosis to increase the concentration of his wines, although I don’t know specifics of how he treats Clos des Reas. That fact does not bother some folks, but it is all I need to know…
[smileyvault-ban.gif]

40

I recently tried a Michel Gros Clos des Reas in a restaurant and found it very weird (and not good). I later learned that he used RO. It should be a crime when used with such terroirs.

BTW, I am surprised to see positive comments on Lamarche. I recently tried the '01 Grand Rue and it was quite oaky and very average (or even poor for such a privileged terroir). Has there been a positive change since then?