WTN - Blind tasting 5 excellent red Burgs

Josh Kates, a member here and a fellow Indiana University academic, kindly invited me to join a blind tasting of red Burgundy at his place, with other friends of his, which took place April 24. I was very excited by the opportunity, since I have regrettably little experience with serious red Burgundy. It also so happens that this was actually the first blind tasting I've attended. I very much enjoyed tasting with this group, which consisted mostly of academics, who were primarily novices to wine geekery. Nonetheless, being academics, they all approached the tasting in a focused, detail-oriented way, and clearly wanted to learn from the experience. I hope to have the opportunity of tasting with this group again.

As we arrived, Josh started us out with a Melville Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay, which I found to be somewhat corked, and so I took no notes, but my impressions were that it was very pure, with abundant lemon and lime curd, good acidity with perhaps a steely edge, significant oak, and an elegant cool climate character. It also managed to hide is alarming 14.9% alcohol quite well.

Then on to the Burgs. We had a small to medium pour of each wine for initial tasting, the rest of each bottle to be revisited with dinner (and after having the chance to open further). Being relatively inexperienced with village level red Burgundy, I attempted only to identify the wines as either Nuits or Beaune, and try to guesstimate their age. I also attempted to use some theoretical knowledge (i.e., what I've red) to take a stab at what village origin of each wine.

And now the notes: first my initial blind impressions, followed by the identity of the wines, and some additional notes I made after they were revealed. I've written my initial notes in the same tense that I took them.

Wine #1
Medium ruby/purple. Nose: dark fruit, a bit floral, gamey. Similar notes on the palate: cherry, blackberry, black currant, a bit of briar aromatics, gamey notes, and leather. Young and tight, probably less than 5 yrs old. Nuits? The dark berry fruits leads me to guess Gevrey. Excellent / Exceptional (89 - 91)


Wine #2
Medium-dark ruby. Nose of red berry and floral aromatics. On the palate, raspberry and blueberry. Pretty and aromatic. Definitely Beaune. Probably over 5 yrs old. Excellent / Exceptional (89 - 91)

Wine #3
Ruby going toward garnet. Awesome nose of strawberry and game. Palate of cherry, strawberry, tea, and cloves. Some glycerin showing. Beautiful. My guess is 8 - 10 years old, but still has more to give. I am in love with this wine! Obviously high quality - I think this must either a fabulous producer, or at least a 1er Cru. Chambolle? Exceptional / Extraordinary (92 - 94)


Wine #4
Light ruby/purple, pink rim. Aromatic strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry, with floral notes. Some glycerin showing. Finish is a little strange, with green tea notes, also a little metallic and acetic, but the aromatic lift carries it. Young fruit but old finish. About 5 years old. Probably Beaune. Excellent / Exceptional (89 - 91)


Wine #5
Dark ruby. Nose of gamey black cherry and plum, with some glycerin. Similar on the palate, with dark chocolate. Almost floral aromatics. Young. The combination of dark fruit with floral aromatics confuses me, but I'll guess its Nuits. Exceptional (90 - 93)


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The wines revealed:

1. Vincent Girardin, Vieilles Vignes, Chambolle-Musigny 2005
Opening very nicely, and showing its true quality. Needs 5 more years, and should last 5 - 10 years after that. Upgrade to Exceptional (90 - 93)

2. Domaine Bachelet, Bourgogne 2006
Bachelet is based in Gevrey. Black currant, still a bit tart. Very nice. 5 years or more to go. Upgrade to Exceptional (90 - 93)


3. Domaine Daniel Rion, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2001
My first Grand Cru red Burg! Very high quality. 5 years yet to give, perhaps up to 10 depending on your preferences. I love it!!!

4. Barthod, Bourgogne 2006
Barthod is based in Chambolle. Really pretty blueberry aromatics, with some darker game and chocolate. 5 years or more to go.

5. Domaine Denis Mortet, "Mes Cinq-Terroirs," Gevrey-Chambertin 2004
Opening nicely, inching toward the level the Rion Clos Vougeot (but still not anywhere near it). 5 years to go or perhaps up to 10.

The Clos Vougeot was head and shoulders my WOTN, followed by the Gevrey-Chambertin, and I think that was the consensus opinion as well, although for some it was the reverse. As to my blind guessing game, the three wines I felt were Nuits were indeed villages level Nuits or better, but the two I thought were Beaune were actually generic (or perhaps declassified?) Nuits. They were both also 2006, which I gather has that highly aromatic accentuation. Interesting to note that they both also made me think they were older than they actually were.

And with desert, probably the best and certainly the most impressive Single Malt I've had, and also the first Islay I've had: Lagavulin, Islay 16yr. Incredibly peaty. Huge body. High quality. Formidable. One of the very rare Single Malts I feel needs additional barrel age.

Wonderful evening, great company. Thanks Josh!

Thanks for the notes Ryan. It looks like you're discovering that good Burgs also respond well to more lengthy aeration, an absolute must imo. As you probably know, all the vineuard boundaries are well established in Burgundy, AND by law, there are restrictions on how much wine you can produce per acre (or hectare, as they measure area in France). So producers can't produce more wine, regardless of the demand. Consequently, prices on grand cru and 1er cru Burgs (especially) have been escalating rather dramatically this decade.

For village wines, it helps a lot to get good producers and good vintages. Domaine wines have an edge too, I think, as the grapes are all from owned parcels, the quantities are usually small and manageable, and they also benefit from the expertise of the domaine winemaker. Burguet and Bachelet are excellent in Gevrey, and my limited experience with Barthod in Chambolle is also good.

The good 1ers and grand crus really deliver when they are aged, but it's tough to find such wines on the market as the production quantities are small, especially compared to Bordeaux, where EACH famous property might turn out 200,000 bottles a year, whereas in Burgundy, even a vineyard as relatively large as Richebourg will only produce about 30,000 bottles a year (according to Coates) AND that is the TOTAL of all the producers with holdings there!

Hello Paul,

What I've slowly learned is that the quality-price ratio scale is just fundamentally different for Burgundy. And frankly, the way Bdx prices are going up, village level red Burgundy may start looking like a good value in few years! I found the Girardin C-M VV 05 online for $40 (although that's a discounted price), and I'm thinking about getting a couple bottles.

It was very fortunate that if my first Grand Cru was to be Clos Vougeot, that it came from the upper slope of the vineyard. It would have been crushing if it had tasted no different than a villages wine (I understand the wines from the lower slope basically do taste like villages wines).

Having recently done some research, I was stuck by the fact that the upper portion of Clos Vougeot borders both Musigny and Echezeaux - I knew the Cote d'Or is compact, but I didn't realize the extent of it! But then I'm used to Bdx, which as you say, is just huge in all respects.

Best Wishes,
Ryan

Lagavulin 16yr was the first scotch that really resonated with me. I love the peat, so I picked up a Tomintul "Peaty Tang" and it was peaty but out of balance. I hear the Cask Laphraoig is excellent as well.

Ryan,

Sometimes you can taste a hint of Musigny or Echezeaux in a good CV. Another interesting nearby vineyard is Chambolle "Combe D'Orveau", which is actually in two separate pieces, the "village level" part is adjacent to Echezeaux and the 1er cru part is adjacent to Musigny (and has taste similarities too).

[James Roscoe]

Ryan, next time you are in DC let me know and I will introduce you to a friend of mine (okay, Jeannette's) that will give you a tour of Scotland without ever leaving his dining room! He is a single malt fanatic!