Last Monday night I attended an interesting tasting of Pinot Noir, the majority Premier or Grand Cru Burgundies with a couple of highly rated wines from Central Otago making up the numbers in the opening flight. All of the following wines were served blind and then discussed before their identities were revealed:
2006 Maude Pinot Noir, Central Otago NZ (screwcap): Medium red. Rhubarb and beetroot at first on the nose, a hint of pepper/stalks and sweat before turning rather vegetal; the palate’s dominant features are acid and fine tannin, the cherry fruit bright and lightweight, the finish fine, clean and grippy with a bare lick of new oak.
2006 Domaine Fourrier Chambolle-Musigny Vieille Vigne: Medium to dark blood red with a hint of purple. Stinky nose at first with beef stock and bran, sweetening to show some black jubes and tobacco; soft entry followed by very sweet cherry fruit, then a wallop of chalky tannin leading to a very dry, minty finish. This looked very elemental and rather disjointed.
2004 Felton Road Pinot Noir, Central Otago NZ (screwcap): Medium to dark red/brick. Beetroot/raspberries and lovely mushroom/sous bois characters, then some cloves, tobacco, liquorice and black tea; the palate was just as complex, with tangy/ripe fruit, tobacco and pepper, finishing long and minty. This was so approachable, balanced and enjoyable, most of us thought the wine would have been much older.
1999 Domaine Roblet-Monnot Volnay 1er Cru Les Brouillards: Medium to dark red/crimson. A stocky/leathery and varnishy nose at first, followed by strong turpentine/petrol characters; the palate’s a bit better, a rather thin/watery entry followed by a grainy structure and ripe/dark cherries and herbs, finishing long with grainy tannins and a lick of mint and tobacco.
1999 Haegelen-Jayer Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes: Light brick red. Like the previous wine the nose is stocky/varnishy at first, followed by an unusual mix of sweet caramel, old leather and stalky/dried mint characters, later some tobacco. The palate structure is almost a polar-opposite to the previous wine, an aggressive opening of tangy raspberries and mushroom followed by a rather watery/thin and mineraly mid-palate and finish; this was always on the leathery side and looked a lot more developed than the Roblet-Monnot.
1999 Domaine G. Roumier/Christophe Roumier Chambolle-Musigny: Light to medium blood red. Beetroot, cherry and a little barnyard on the nose, some tobacco with breathing; loose-knit palate, opening with milky/black tea characters and a mineraly/stalky edge to the black cherries, finishing very dry and tannic.
2001 Domaine G. Roumier/Christophe Roumier Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Clos de La Bussière: Light to medium brick red. Closed nose with just a little tobacco/herbs surfacing with breathing and a lot of swirling; the palate’s bigger and muscular, opening with tobacco and tar followed by slightly jammy cherries and leather, finishing mineraly and soft with some brewed tea on the end.
2000 Domaine Denis Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes: Medium red/brick with a browning edge. A lovely, complex nose full of tea, beetroot, leather, coffee and caramel; lively palate with lots of zippy acid and lively cherry fruit on the entry, followed by more tea and meaty/leathery characters, finishing very long with lacy, fine tannins and some mint/herbs and milky tea characters. A lovely wine, my second favourite of the tasting.
1998 Vincent Girardin Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru: Light to medium brick/red. Quite a stinky nose, usually diesel and turpentine with an occasional flash of dried herbs and cloves; the stinky turpentine character is there on the palate, along with tart/tangy raspberries/strawberry jam, more smoky/diesel and some cheese/barnyard. A very strange and difficult wine to like, especially after the Bachelet.
1993 Domaine Niquet-Jayer Echezeaux Grand Cru: Badly corked and quickly removed.
1995 Domaine Moillard Echezeaux Grand Cru: Murky, medium to dark brick red. Earthy nose with mushroom and black liquorice; the palate’s very dry but equally earthy with tangy fruit and more black liquorice, mineraly, long with a fine, tannic finish.
1996 Domaine Bart Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru: Light brick red with an orange rim. Green capsicum and dirt, dried chillies and paprika on the nose - a few people remarked this was like a very green Coonawarra cabernet! The palate has the same dried chilli/green capsicum and spicy/earth characters, a soft entry and lingering fine/dry tannins, a little vegetal touch on the finish.
1999 Domaine Jean Tardy et Fils Clos Vougeot Grand Cru: Murky, medium to dark blood red. Like the excellent colour the bouquet and palate were young and vivacious; milk chocolate and ripe berries, then tea and plums, very fruity and sweet with just a hint of stalks and tobacco on the finish. This was young, full of stuffing but long and perfectly balanced, and those plummy characters were almost reminiscent of a cool-climate Shiraz; my favourite wine of the tasting.
1990 Hubert Lignier Morey St. Denis 1er Cru: Murky, light brick red. The first whiff smelled trouble, the unmistakable dampness of taint; with breathing a little tea, tobacco and raisin characters escaped to the surface. The palate wasn’t as badly affected and gave a pretty good hint at what could have been, meaty/spicy with mushroom, chocolate/caramel and raisin characters, the weight and length excellent despite being a little stripped on the end. I had the feeling this could have been absolutely stunning and easily WOTN if it wasn’t for the taint.
1988 Louis Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru: Light brick red with an orange rim. A fabulous bouquet which was the best of the tasting, full of mushroom and earth, sweet/black tea, truffle and sous bois; the palate was just as earthy, soft, layered and attractive although the finish was surprisingly light and a little short. It was still a nice way to finish, and was my third favourite of the tasting.
Cheers,
Ian
TN: 13 Burgundies and a couple of Kiwi Pinots 6/4/09
TN: 13 Burgundies and a couple of Kiwi Pinots 6/4/09
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
1999 Haegelen-Jayer Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes: Light brick red. Like the previous wine the nose is stocky/varnishy at first, followed by an unusual mix of sweet caramel, old leather and stalky/dried mint characters, later some tobacco. The palate structure is almost a polar-opposite to the previous wine, an aggressive opening of tangy raspberries and mushroom followed by a rather watery/thin and mineraly mid-palate and finish; this was always on the leathery side and looked a lot more developed than the Roblet-Monnot.
Hi Ian,
I have one of these in the cellar
. When would you suggest opening it?
Cheers,
Tony
tonsta wrote:1999 Haegelen-Jayer Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes: Light brick red. Like the previous wine the nose is stocky/varnishy at first, followed by an unusual mix of sweet caramel, old leather and stalky/dried mint characters, later some tobacco. The palate structure is almost a polar-opposite to the previous wine, an aggressive opening of tangy raspberries and mushroom followed by a rather watery/thin and mineraly mid-palate and finish; this was always on the leathery side and looked a lot more developed than the Roblet-Monnot.
Hi Ian,
I have one of these in the cellar
Cheers,
Tony
A really difficult question to answer - I thought this had seen better days, yet one of the senior club members thought it was too young and just in an awkward phase!
One key thing I thought of and discussed with others right after the tasting was maybe the wines would have been better with a good serving of food - the equivalent tasting last year had some duck dishes to match, but this time around it was the usual cheese, spreads and nibbles.
Cheers,
Ian
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
I wouldn't expect any of the Burgundian vintages in that line up to be at their best yet, except the 2000, 1990 and perhaps 1998 and 1988. Both 1993 and 1988 were slow maturing years but should be showing well now albeit with more potential in the top wines. The 1995 reds all round France tend to have hard tannins; will they ever soften? I haven't touched my 99s yet and have only made cautious experiments with the 96s and 95s but have drunk most of my 97s.
Burgundy is a food wine and undoubtedly they would show better with steak or duck than with cheese nibbles. With certain exceptions I don't rate cheese as a good pairing for red wine.
Burgundy is a food wine and undoubtedly they would show better with steak or duck than with cheese nibbles. With certain exceptions I don't rate cheese as a good pairing for red wine.
Eboracum