WTN: '05 Brun Côte de Brouilly

Last night, I returned home to find Jean in a bad mood (the result of some Bad Behavior on the part of some colleagues in other departments). "Could you open a light and fruity red?" she asks plaintively, remarking that the '06 Brun L'Ancien that I'd opened recently didn't qualify as light & fruity in her book. So, on down to the cellar to see what we've got in the Bojo bin: Lapierre Morgons? nope, too dark; '05 Desvignes M-a-V? no, again! '05 Coudert? nope; '05 Brun Côte de Brouilly? Why not? If a Côte de Brouilly isn't light and fruity, what is?

Answer: something else

2005 J.-P. Brun "Terres Dorees" Côte de Brouilly
color: dark
nose: pretty closed in, hinting of berries
palate: dark fruit, somewhat tannic, highly structured, shut down

Nope, this isn't what she was looking for. A dark-fruited and closed down Bojo if ever there was one. I chalk up the problem to global warming, always an easy scapegoat, and make the promise that we'll pick up some genuinely light Bojos. Oh, well. Let's put the half-finished bottle back in the fridge for a couple of nights and see what becomes of it. If you've got some of this, hands off for another few years!

Mark Lipton

Mark: Has it been your experience that the 2005 Cru Bojos are more like this? Some of the 2006s I've tried seem to be very approachable, albeit big and black and tannic.

[David M. Bueker]

I've had some of the '05 Brun cru wines - they are all pretty much tight monsters that need time (and have been for a while).

Sounds like the kind of night when it might have been nice to have some Valpolicella in the cellar.
I'm letting my 05 bojos sleep until Florida Jim says it's okay to drink them.

Sounds like the kind of night when it might have been nice to have some Valpolicella in the cellar.

Or '04 Beaujolais.
Or Grignolino or Freisa.

I had an '05 Longefay Brouilly the other night that should have met the light and fruity descriptors as well, but was also pretty much shut down and not giving much at all.

Sounds like the kind of night when it might have been nice to have some Valpolicella in the cellar.
I'm letting my 05 bojos sleep until Florida Jim says it's okay to drink them.

We do have some Zenato and Allegrini Valpos in the cellar, but Jean doesn't consider them light so that's a non-starter around here. Now, Lambrusco and Dolcetto OTOH, but alas none in the cellar.

Mark Lipton