Burgundy: First Day Joy, Second Day Disappointment

I opened a bottle of 2004 Paul Garaudet Monthelie 1er CRU on Saturday.

That first day was pure joy - great aroma, well-balanced, a slight earthy taste and firm but not overpowering tannins. It went well with the salmon I had for dinner.

I used one of those vacuum cork devices to cork it up for the night and stored it in my dining room (a cool 66 degrees)

On Sunday, I was surprised to discover that there was no aroma at all. No amount of swirling would release that distinctive PN aroma. The taste was also off but I chalked that up to the fact we had Teriyaki chicken for dinner, which is probably not the best match. So I had just one glass and seal it up again.

Last night, my wife was planning beef stroganoff for dinner (my pleas for Julia Child's beef bourguignon were met with deaf ears) so I was anticipating finishing off the bottle with a great food match. However, same problem - no aroma and even more of an off taste. After I poured the last of the bottle, I noticed a sediment at the bottom of my glass. I've had many unfiltered wine before and didn't think much of it until I noticed it was a white substance, not "normal" sediment. After swirling the wine around, I was able to get the sediment on the side of the glass. I then got some on my finger. It had the look and texture and of table salt. I was able to "dissolve" between my fingers.

It didn't seem like the sediment I've found in unfiltered wine. I figured the reason why the first day was so good was because I didn't get any of the sediment.

Has anyone experienced this? What was that substance and why did it ruin the wine?

I’m supposing on day one when the bottle was first open, you didn’t “notice” the sediment. I find it quite strange that just after 1 day of opening the bottle, sediment “immediately” began falling out of solution. Is it possible? Might be. Could components which contribute positively to a wine’s character fall out of solution and “be-gone”? Absolutely. What exactly do you mean by ”the sediment was able to be dissolved between your fingers”? Was the sediment in the bottle able to be stirred or shaken lightly “back into” solution?

Salute

[David M. Bueker]

Well the sediment sounds like tartrates, and I doubt that was what actually messed up the wine. What is more likely is that as a 2004 (difficult vintage) from a modest appelation the wine was relatively fragile & just did not hold up to that much exposure to air (those vacuum devices don't really work all that well).

I'm with David - if looks like table salt, it sounds like tartrates. Usually precipitate out when wine exposed to very cold temps, doesn't usually affect taste.

What is more likely is that as a 2004 (difficult vintage) from a modest appelation the wine was relatively fragile & just did not hold up to that much exposure to air.

I'm with David. This is not an unusual phenomenon, especially with a wine like this one.

Thanks for the information.

What I find interesting is that Monthelie is just down the road from Volnay and Pommard yet Monthelie is considered a "modest appellation ". From the description of the Monthelie Paul Garaudet at finewine.com (where I bought the wine):

"The village of Monthelie is situated geographically and no doubt mentally in the shadow of it more well-known neighbors Volnay and Pommard".

I have two 2005s from Volnay safely tucked away.

Dave

I find that only a minority of wines taste as good on the second day as on the first and very few indeed actually taste better. Not that we give many bottles a chance to show their form in this respect .

On Sunday, I was surprised to discover that there was no aroma at all. No amount of swirling would release that distinctive PN aroma.

I find this odd. I keep a fair amount of bottles for a day and I can't recall one losing its aroma. Changes sure, sometimes better but often worse. A percentage are downright undrinkable on day two.

I used one of those vacuum cork devices to cork it up for the night and stored it in my dining room (a cool 66 degrees)

Others have claimed that these devices can actually remove some of the volatile compounds that contribute to aroma or something along those lines. I forget the technical stuff but in a nutshell they claim that you can literally such the aroma out of a bottle. I never experienced that when I used them but I stopped probably a decade ago. I find that if its only going to be a day, cork in the fridge works fine. If its going to be longer, gas it.

What I find interesting is that Monthelie is just down the road from Volnay and Pommard yet Monthelie is considered a "modest appellation ".

That's Burgundy for you. There are many examples where just ACROSS the road makes a world of difference.

What I find interesting is that Monthelie is just down the road from Volnay and Pommard yet Monthelie is considered a "modest appellation ".

That's Burgundy for you. There are many examples where just ACROSS the road makes a world of difference.

For what it's worth, I think this is true in all wine regions. The special sites are always special/unique and just being near a special site is never a reliable indication of quality.

The only thing different about Burgundy is that there are more special sites.

Hi David M,
I agree with David B and the others the sediment was very likely tartaric crystals (the “salt- like” texture is the clue here). They could be very small grains, small metalic flakes, the size of small shards of glass, or small pebbles (hence the term “wine diamonds”). They could take on a various shades of different colors depending upon whatever substances they “take-on” as they fall out of solution. Another possible thing that could participate out of the wine is tannin. Tannin will look almost “fluffy” and feel “flour-like” or “cotton candy-like” in texture. They too could be of various sizes and shapes (just thick of the size and shape of clouds) and slightly different shades of colors depending upon whatever they “link up” with as they settle out of solution. Generally tartaric acid tends to drop out of wine when it is cooled and tannin when it is warmed, but in reality either one could “fall-out” at any time. Filtering (or “normal” filtering anyway) is not really a guarantee that either tartaric or tannin will not fall out of solution when the wine is put into the bottle. The only way is to cold and heat stabilize the wine prior to bottling. Some commercial winemakers perform these techniques others don’t.

Salute