WTN: Six Burgs at Vin

1997 Bouchard P&F Volnay Caillerets Cuvée Carnot
Very gamey notes - not quite bacon - maybe venison stuffed with cloves. Garrigue bordering on mint. Drink now & in five year increments [2012, 2017, etc].

1998 Chateau Vosne-Romanée Reignots
Pine needles.

1996 René Engel Vosne-Romanée Brulées

1999 Chandon de Briailles Corton-Bressands
Raspberry/rhubarb custard, with some notes of burnt crème brûlée. [Is that redundant?] Hold till 2009 before making any further decisions.

1996 René Engel Clos Vougeot
Strong nose of cork, although I don't think it was TCA - more an instance of the varietal & the vineyard being so pliant, malleable, and eager, that they simply absorbed the aromas of the cork.

1999 Jean Grivot Clos Vougeot
Hold until 2019.


The Côte de Beaune wines [Bouchard & Briailles] were the real stars here, although I'm worried that I was attracted to their oak residue, and that a purist might disagree with me.

This was the second excellent Bouchard which I've had in the last couple of months, so I wasn't all that surpised, but the Briailles was a real eye-opener. Very tasty juice, and, judging from Wine-Searcher Pro, it looks likes it's almost affordable [at least in London].

The Engels were the obvious outliers - exceptionally clean, pure, and [highly] acidic.

I think that René Engel might be challenging Henri Gouges for the title of "Lean Mean Fightin' Machine", so if you're pouring some high-octane Rieslings [Bodenstein or Pichler], and if you're worried that they might overwhelm your Pinots, then maybe look to Engel to bat cleanup for you.

Thanks for the TNs. I think Engel makes great VR wines. I recently had the '98 VR (AOC) and it showed quite well, though lean is not a descriptor I would use. What I think you experienced was the '96 vintage more than the Domaine's style. Highly acidic and lean is the current state on many '96s (both from my own tastings and TNs on the web). I'm concerned that some '96s will take a long time to mature and wonder if they ever will come around. One example I can offer that correlates with your post is the '96 Bouchard Beaune Greves "L'Enfant Jesus". A wine that could be inserted as an acidic, lean '96 poster child.

Highly acidic and lean is the current state on many '96s (both from my own tastings and TNs on the web). I'm concerned that some '96s will take a long time to mature and wonder if they ever will come around.

If that theory proves to be correct, then what was it about the 1996 vintage which fooled so many professional critics into believing that it was the [then latest and greatest] "Vintage of the Century"?

I remember when I first tried the 2002's [both red & white], I thought that there was something cheap & artificial about them - kinduva a fake sheen, which might be impressive in a mass tasting, but which, over the course of an evening, didn't wear well [vis-a-vis, say, the minerality of the 2001's].

If that theory proves to be correct, then what was it about the 1996 vintage which fooled so many professional critics into believing that it was the [then latest and greatest] "Vintage of the Century"?

I said the '96s are currently in a bad place. On release the '96s were reported to have concentrated fruit yet very high in acid (I did not taste them on release). I also don't buy much into the notion of "Vintage of the Century" (BTW - which publication anointed '96 VoC?) , nor do I think critics always get it right. '93 & '98 were not considered great vintages, yet they could be my favorite vintages for current consumption. '98s more of the lesser 1er cru category and below. With the tannin levels in the '98s, I'm holding any grand crus & better 1ers for many years. Then again, I'm a champion of "off vintages".

I haven't tasted many '96s but I love the way that the acidity and fruit fight with each other in many of the wines - it makes for very exciting drinking IMO. From what little I've tasted, I'm a fan (but do take into consideration all caveats of such generalisations).

I think that some of the "lesser" '96s are charming to drink now. Drouhin's Pommard and the Fougeray de Beauclair Fixin I just posted on are really lovely wines now.

-O-