Home
|
Subscription
RSS
Contact
Newsletter
Search
German| Date: 2007-07-03 14:41:14 |
| From: Gerhard Praesent |
Subject: BURGUNDY 2004-tasting with mature vintages |
| BURGUNDY tasting in GRAZ: 2004 and mature vintages Hi, I never was a great lover of the 2004 vintage in Burgund, although there were some producers who did very fine, but I bought conservatively, and so I decided to combine the young vintage with comparable older examples from mature vintages. I think the result was very successful - as many participants have confirmed afterwards. Sixteen people met on June 22nd in the restaurant "Im Fünften" (On the Fifth Floor) of the Shopping-Center STEIRERHOF with its marvalous view over the City of Graz - and chief Günter Papst did a great job with his 4-course-dinner to accompany the 24 wines. This was also kind of a present to myself for my 50th anniversary, although I have organized a private party with tasting the next day ... I will report later on this. After each flight the participants voted for the favorite wine. The points are mine out of 100 - and I have kept the notes quite short. Flight 1: 1) medium red ruby (a colour significant to many 2004s), fragrant with nice red berries and cherries, some earth, good structure and balance, 88p 2) nice full but mature colour, orange rim, some cold muff disapeared soon, behind was a very fine and complex floral nose, balanced with a spitz of lively acidity, just a certain amount of power and length is missing for very fine. 91p 3) Darkest colour with mature rim, very open and seductive, ripe plums, very elegant, very fine to drink, only lacking a bit of depth and complexity, very satisfying, 90p 4) Transparent light ruby, smoky nose with raspberries, sweet entry on the palate, acidity comes through, touch of oak, fine to drink, but no great potential. 87p for the future, (but 89 for the pleasure) Group: 6 votes for 2) and 3) each, 2 for 4) After this flight it was evident that there was not a great deal of difference in darkness and depth of colour between 2004 and older vintages, only the orange rim revealed the age most of the times. 1 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru "Les Fuées" 2004 / Jean-Frederic Mugnier 2 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru "Les Amoureuses" 1992 / Jean-Frederic Mugnier 3 Chambolle-Musigny - Village 1990 / Domaine Jean Gros - Vosne-Romanée 4 Vosne-Romanée "Clos du Chateau" (Village Monopole) 2004 / Comte Louis-Michel Liger-Belair (Vosne Romanee) ( The "Clos du Chateau" was perhaps more "Chambolly" than others ) Amouse Goule: kind of a cold tunny-mousse on aromatic scampy-egg-white foam (?) - nice! Flight 2: 5) deepest colour, however TEXTBOOK CORK 6) Quite deep transparent ruby, fine elegant nose, sweet and full on the palate, kind of a meaty character, excellent, 90p 7) Full ruby colour, quite structured (and slightly dry) on the palate, youthful, a bit straightforeward, some sweetness, concentrated, 89p 8) Medium red with dark center and orange rim, very fragrant, sweet lush fruit intermingled with spices, an earthy chewy character, warm mouthfeel, outstanding for what it is, 92p Group: 12 for 8), 2 for 6), 1 for 7) 5 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "Les Chaignots" 1993 / Robert Chevillon 6 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "Aux Boudots" 2004 / Dom. J.J.Confuron 7 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "Clos de la Maréchale"(Monopole) 2004 / Jean-Frederic Mugnier 8 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "Aux Boudots" 1992 / Dom. J.J.Confuron - Premeaux The quality of both 2004 and 1992 Boudots was very convincing! 1st course: filet from "flying duck" with chanterelles and black risotto (1st class !) Flight 3: 9) medium dark ...., slightly reduced nose, later cassis, black and red fruits and woody toast, good concentration, but slightly bitter and short, may improve, but at present a bit disjointed, 86-88p? 10) bright ruby, nice redberried nose with touch of orange peels, forthcoming acidity, good length, a bit "straight", lacking real sweetness and depth for outstanding, 89p 11) dark ruby, even with hints of purple, plummy, full and sweet with nice touch of oak, fruity and voluptuous, chewy and mouthfilling, 92p 12) quite dark but transparent red, bright rim, creamy in nose and on palate, very complex and long with mature berries, spices, hints of mushroomes, great balance, very intense, years of life ahead, 93p Group: 13 for 12), 3 for 11) 9 Clos Vougeot GC 2004 / Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair (Nuits-St-Georges) 10 Clos Vougeot GC 1993 / Domaine Georges Mugneret 11 Clos Vougeot "Le Grand Maupertui" GC 2004 / Domaine Anne Gros 12 Clos Vougeot GC 1991 / Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret 1991 is IMHO a better vintage than 1990 for Mongeard-M ! Flight 4: 13) quite bright colour with orange reflexes, complex nose of red currants, raspberries, strawberries, even sour cherries, sweet but with a slightly bitter hint, but nicely balanced, 89p 14) darker colour than 13), soft, sweet nose, also soft but intense on the palate, minerally and a bit exotic (sweet-sour), becomes longer and longer with air, really lingering, fine, 93p 15) medium dark ruby, mature nose, earthy and stony, deep, full of dark fruits, still with a tannic bite, very persistent, mature, but with another 5-8 years ahead, 92p 16) quite dark, high-class fruity nose, later hints of greenness, earthy, on the palate medium deep with powerful structure, good grip, but a bit dry, high-extracted, this is doubtless very concentrated, and I hope not too much so, future hard to judge, 89-91+?p Group: 10 for 14) 5 for 15) 13 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru "Les Suchots" 2004 / Dom. Robert Arnoux 14 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru "Les Suchots" 1991 / Dom. Robert Arnoux 15 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru "Aux Reignots" 1989 / Château de Vosne-Romanée/Bouchard Pere & Fils 16 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru "Aux Reignots" 2004 / Comte Louis-Michel Liger-Belair 2nd course: Cheeks from Styrian "Alpine Ox" ® braised in red wine sauce, with vegetables, cream potatoes (pastinakes ?), cooked corn meal with yellow boletus and greased small egg-dumplings (hard to translate) - simply stunning, one of the best meat courses I ever had. Flight 5: 17) full bright ruby, sweet nose of red berries, floral and very elegant, a feminine beauty, nicely balanced and very long indeed, 92p 18) quite dark, red and dark fruits, even some blackcurrants, coffee and wet stones, also some vegetal hints, concentrated but slightly astingent bitter finish, usually I would have said "needs time" but I´m not quite sure about it, hard to rate 88-90? 19) fusty nose, clear oxidation in the nose that grew stronger, also bitter on the palate, off - but not corked .... good substance below, but almost undrinkable, either a very bad bottle (very soft cork !?) or a failure, NR 20) deep mature bright colour, mouthcoating ripe Pinot-fruit with slight remains of tannin, acidic touch but very fine fruit, even sauvage, very masculine wine, but really classic, still powerful, 91p Group: 8 for 17), 4 for 20), 3 for 18) 17 La Grande Rue GC (Monopole) 2004 / Domaine Lamarche 18 Corton "Les Rognets" GC 2004 / Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair 19 La Grande Rue GC (Monopole) 1991 / Domaine Lamarche 20 Corton "Clos des Cortons Faiveley" GC 1987 / Faiveley Anybody who can comment on the 1991 La Grande Rue? The 1987 Corton was a fine example of an eventually MATURE Faiveley! Flight 6: 21) very homogenous bright ruby, forthcoming nose of sweet red berries, raspberries, strawberries, red currants, underwood, soja, dried herbs, minerals, lush and sweet on the palate with outstanding balance, structure hidden, great length, Burgundy on ist best, 95p 22) quite bright orange red, sweet-sour beetroots, raspberries, rose-hips in nose and on palate, this wine is excellent with food, just the competition in this flight is a bit hard, 90p 23) dark ruby, very full, dark-red berries, some smoke and coffee with kind of lactic notes, (I´m sure will integrate), good inner core, mouthfilling, young, 93+p 24) full bright red colour with dark center, only slightly orange, very fine forthcoming pinot-nose, wet wood, spices, mushrooms, even some leather and tobacco, extremely elegant, perfect balance, a great pleasure, would be really great if slightly more weight from a great vintage, 94p Group: 8 for 21), 7 for 24), 1 for 23) 21 Romanée-Saint-Vivant GC 2004 / Dom. J.J.Confuron 22 Richebourg GC 1989 / Dom. Jean Gros 23 Richebourg GC 2004 / Domaine Anne Gros 24 Romanée-Saint-Vivant GC 1992 / Dom. J.J.Confuron 3rd course: 5 different cheeses from sheep, goat and beef with grapes (very fine selection!) 4th course: dessert variations (with ice-cream .... ) For the dessert I opened a sweet 2003 Muscat Beaume de Venise (unfortunately forgot to note the domaine) ... but it fit well to the apricots ice cream etc. After the dessert - on request of a "thirsty" friend: 25) Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "Les Saint-Georges" 1986 / Faiveley Nice wine, fully mature if not slightly over apogée, acidity comes through, typical Nuits, but from a less than great vintage. (around 86-87p) Resumé: The wines from 2004 were very well selected, nevertheless in five of them I detected more or less some green or bitter notes that I didn´t really like. J.J.Confuron (both wines) and Lamarche LGR did perfectly (who sais it´s not on GC-level?), Anne Gros is very fine but needs time, Mugnier is good in a lighter style, Comte Liger-Belair Reignots showed the slight dryness I already detected from cask, but the Clos du Chateau was excellent to drink NOW ! It would have been unfair to pair the 2004s with great vintages, so I selected on purpose some mature vintages that often are said to be "off" .... NOT TRUE if you stick to the right producers! Also Confuron was a jewel! In a few days I will report on my private tasting party for my 50th anniversary - it was great fun! Best regards Gerhard More infos: www.wein-plus.com Unsubscribe: www.wein-plus.com/abmelden.htm |
|
 |
|
|