WTN: 1993 Burgundy at RiverPark

On a shockingly warm January evening, our (supposed) Bordeaux group once again veered off theme to do a look at 1993 Burgundy at 25th. A nice semi-private room at Riverpark, where the service was nice.

A couple of bubblies to start
2010 Agrapart “Mineral” Champagne
Crisp and dry, snappy acids, apple and orange zest with a chalky mineral finish. Really enjoyed. A-

NV Bereche Campania Remensis Rose Champagne (unsure re base year)
Pale, bready with a nutty edge, heavier style than many liked though I much preferred the Agrapart. B

As we had first course (I had sweetbreads with fried caperberry and a lemon/parsley sauce), the
1993 Jadot/Gagey “Le Clos Blanc” Beaune- Greves 1er. Appropriate oxidative nuances for a 25 year old wine, but fresh acids, solid pear fruit, smoky/flinty notes and a solid mineral finish. Good showing! B+/A-

On to the reds, non-blind. A 1993 Coste-Coumartin “Les Vignots” Pommard 1er was unfortunately madireized. We all had a pasta, fusilli lamb ragù with pine nuts & olives, which sadly was really oversalted.

1993 Jadot “Clos des Ursules” Beaune 1er
Black and red cherries, smoke and herbs, quite structured - both tannin and acids propping up. No hurry here. A-/B+

1993 Arnoux-Lachaux Clos des Corvees Pagets Nuits st George
Pretty crunchy red fruits, floral nose, some dried mushroom and earth. Lovely, feminine, to me more like a (great) Volnay or Chambolle than NSG. A-

My main was lamb chops with Japanese turnips, pears, and lentils

1993 Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 1er
Lovely, perfumed, tangy, long. B+/A-

1993 Jadot Clos Vougeot
Sturdy, structured,meaty, tasty B+

1993 Raphet Chambertin Clos de Beze
Sweet black cherry fruit, balanced acids, an exotic sandalwood note. Nice mouthfeel, good length. A-/B+

1993 Faiveley Echezeaux
Super structured, dark fruited, really needs time. B for now, will be great

Fun night with lots of great showings.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

[David M. Bueker]

Oh old school Faiveley. 25 years old, and still needs time.

Good to see fine showings from the Ursules and the Drouhin Chambolle 1er. Love both of those bottlings, year in and year out.

Nice. It's always a bottle-by-bottle thing, but I've loved the vintage character of what little '93 red Burgundy I've tasted. Too bad it was pretty much before my time. (Not worth mentioning what I was drinking when it was released, the early years of college and all...)

Yeah, Faiveley was then the Dunn of Burgundy.
The Ursules was great, and will only get better. Ditto Drouhin.
Rahsaan, when these were released I was more into Bdx than Burg. All of my '93s are backfill. Prices keep going up, so that gets harder. I really like '93s, though not the most consistent vintage. But I think even some of the ones that seemed to have questionable balance are evening out a bit.

I really like '93s, though not the most consistent vintage. But I think even some of the ones that seemed to have questionable balance are evening out a bit.

Yes, I have heard that. Although of course I never taste/buy so broadly that things like 'overall consistency' matter much for me on a personal level. What I do like is the verve/energy/acid combined with the fruit. 96 was of course also very exciting for me in that way, but then went out of balance for a while and I stopped following.