WTN: 2006 Chandon de Briailles Ille des Vergelesses

[Jenise]

Purchased a case of this Premier Cru about 5-6 years ago. .

Drank over two nights. 1st: very pale red and clear, with lean, delicate red fruits and spice. Light bodied, shows better with food, and overall much more open than the bottle we had one year ago though still quite acidic. It shows no signs of age. 2nd night: the first thing we noticed was the color--it looked darker in the glass, perfectly medium bodied and it felt that way on the palate, too. There, same flavors as the night before but no longer lean. Rather, larger, more expansive, and joined by a welcome, satisfying mushroom-earthiness. There's still a lot of upside potential here.

Purchased a case of this Premier Cru several years back. This is the third bottle we've opened:

Drank over two nights. 1st: very pale red and clear, with lean, delicate red fruits and spice. Light bodied, shows better with food, and overall much more open than the bottle we had one year ago though still quite acidic. It shows no signs of age. 2nd night: the first thing we noticed was the color--it looked darker in the glass, perfectly medium bodied and it felt that way on the palate, too. There, same flavors as the night before but no longer lean. Rather, larger, more expansive, and joined by a welcome, satisfying mushroom-earthiness. There's still a lot of upside potential here.

Thanks for the note. It sounds like time is necessary, as is often the case with Burgundy!

I had a few bottles of this, but drank them all by 2009!

Chandon de Briailles often requires a lot of time.

[David M. Bueker]

I glanced at a bottle of the 2005 version of this wine in my cellar last night. It glared back at me. Then it snarled. I left it alone.

[Jenise]

I had a few bottles of this, but drank them all by 2009!

You screwed up.

This wine is usually the best Pernand I taste. Somehow don't have the '06, but have '05, '07, '09. Probably should open an '07.
Glad it was approachable- seems to be story with '06s.

I had a few bottles of this, but drank them all by 2009!

You screwed up.

It was hardly my worst offense in terms of Burgundy Drunk Too Young. But sure, I wouldn't mind having some now!

[Jenise]

I had a few bottles of this, but drank them all by 2009!

You screwed up.

It was hardly my worst offense in terms of Burgundy Drunk Too Young. But sure, I wouldn't mind having some now!

By the time I bought them around 2010-11, they were totally shut down. Which I knew--but at only around $25/ea, I was willing to store and wait though we did open one early on "for science". Too bad it's so hard to send wind around, I'd happily send you a bottle so that you could meet the swan it's turning into.

[Jenise]

This wine is usually the best Pernand I taste. Somehow don't have the '06, but have '05, '07, '09. Probably should open an '07.
Glad it was approachable- seems to be story with '06s.

Well, I'd say 'barely'. It's just (finally) going into a good phase. Thank god for CellarTracker and a guy in Switzerland who opened one last week--I wasn't about to open another until someone else said 'go'.

Btw, on Sunday the lasting impression from the Briailles convinced us to open a California pinot with which to watch the back nine of the Masters. Getting cutesy considering weather conditions on the course, I planned to grab a 2012 Wind Gap--but chose a 2013 Sojourn Sonoma Coast instead. First time for me with that one. It's a particularly plush style, apparently, lot of lactic and oak--pretty hard to take with the fresh memory of a precise burgundy in one's most recent memory bank.