First strike for the 2005 Bourgognes

[Nicklasss]

When our BD wrote that the BWE ''Wine of the year'' in 2008 was the 2005 Village level Bourgognes, let say that it was, a little bit controversial. For 2 reasons :

1. BWE is Bordeaux Wine Enthusiast, a site for Bordeaux lovers, to talk/discuss/hail/glorify the wines of Bordeaux, and any other wines are welcome.
2. By writing that all 2005 Village level Bourgogne were the ''Wine of the year'', there are 2 problems : this includes hundreds of wines, but not a single Bordeaux.

I'm a Bordeaux fan, but lately, like many, I'm kind of revolted regarding Bordeaux. The prices are ridiculously high, and on the raise for Cru Classé, since the 2000 vintage (unfortunately called by the critics, the vintage of the millenium), and more you like Bordeaux, more you understand that the wines of Bordeaux need 10-12 years, before expressing their best sides. So, I'm buying other wines, and the 2005 Bourgognes up to now, have reveal themselves as a good choice. 2005 vintage is, I think, really special for Bourgogne. The Pinot Noir reach a superb level in 2005, being ripe but never denatured to become charicatural, like some New World Pinot can be.

But, I never lost the North, like some others. I still know that Bordeaux are the greatest. I just have to think about the 1990 Chateau La Conseillante, the 1983 Chateau Palmer or the 1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild to remember me how Bordeaux are great.

Since I'm opening more 2005 Bourgognes, I have been satisfyed. They represent really good wines. The 2005 Bourgognes represent good wines. But just when I was about to forgot the experience of the past with Bourgogne, when I was about to forget how many time in the past I paid a high price for some Bourgognes that never delivered the goods, when I was about to forget that in a weak or medium vintage Bourgognes have tough time ( the 1991 Chateau Lynch Bages or the 1993 Chateau Montrose, 2 Bordeaux from weak/medium vintages were pretty good anyway), Bourgogne hit me again. Hit my trust in those Bourgogne wines. I was about to give my soul to them, to treat them as the best thing on Earth since the invention of Ketchup... but like a punch in the face, the Bourgogne remind me they are not perfect. after some really good to impressive 2005, last Friday i opened the 2005 Bouchard Père & Fils Aloxe-Corton. A village level wine. A 55 $CAN bottle of wine. Color was light red. Nose, well, aromas of toffey and vanilla oak. Somered berries under, but never came over. In mouth, this was light red berries flavours, with again lot of oak, no density in mouth, maybe some soft spices too, cranberries, but a finish without tannins or lenght. Missing time, missing air? The following day, it was even worst. Bitter cherries in mouth, with sour wood and bitter oaky finish. Medium lenght of bad bitter oak. There are still some for tonight, but I think it will never be good. All in all, I have taste the 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin (very good) the 2005 Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Daminodes (good only) and the 2005 Aloxe-Corton (weak) from Bouchard Père & Fils, and that last one is a miss. TN : 79, and don't forget, I consider myself a generous grader. So, like in baseball, it is the first strike for those 2005 Bourgognes, proving that everything is not perfect in the ''Wonderland'' 2005 vintage. For 55 $, I'm pretty sure I would have had more satisfaction from Phelan Segur, Cantermerle or a Fronsac. So in the coming weeks, I bet i will open more Bordeaux...

Also opened this weekend, the 2007 Ménage à trois from Folie à deux winery in California, mix of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet, was nothing near a great wine, but it was dense red color, nose of cranberries, cherries, spices, and some medium flavours of berries in mouth, mixed with flowers and spices. Light tannins, short final, but still lightly more enjoyable than the 2005 village Bourgogne. TN : 82.

Nic

[stefan]

Nic, all the '05 Burgs I have tasted have been quite good, but then most are 1er cru or village wines from a reliable producer. Bouchard hit home runs in '05 with their classified wines, but that does not mean that they did as well with village crus.

I was given a couple of bottles of 2007 Ménage à Trois by a house guest and opened one earlier today for Lucie to marinade a flank iron steak. I put the remainder of the bottle in the fridge, but pulled it out now to try after reading your post. I find different kinds of candied red fruit in it, although not the complexity your note suggests. It is a well made wine, I think, and perhaps worth the 82 points you give it even if I find it too sweet and Lucie thinks the bouquet is off putting. It is, however, not within a light year of the '05 Burgs I have drunk and far, far behind the lovely '05 Chave Offerus St Joseph I drank at lunch.

Now I am sipping on a lucius 1990 Doisy Daene which has been in the fridge for a week. This is my kind of sweet wine--full of minerals, lasting finish, natural sweetness from honey bees,...

Lucie is asking me if there will be any wine left for dinner. I guess it is time to go open a 1995 Haut Batailley.

stefan

[Nicklasss]

I like that post Stefan. But not everything is good in 2005 in Burgundy. And we need the BD to ''justify'' his choice of WoTY for 2008. Right now, I'm thinking about bringing a 2005 Aloxe-Corton from Bouchard for the 2005 Burgundy dinner. Why not? After all, I want to open the eyes of some, before they loose it completely to Burgundy...

By the way, I think I never sat at your table during a convention. So in DC, I'm proposing I join Lucie and you at the same table. And I will find something nice to open with you, in honnor of all the great post you do, when you have family gathering.

Nic

[stefan]

That would be great, Nic. I was thinking of bringing '82 Bdx, maybe La Lagune and Canon, as surely that is before your driving time.

stefan

[Claret]

I enjoyed a 2005 Drouhin La Foret the other night. Not spectacular, but a solid value for around $12.

[JimHow]

I'm going to stand by my enthusiasm for the 2005 Burgundy vintage. It is not just Burghound, Wine Advocate, and Wine Spectator that have recognized Burgundy '05 as a top-to-bottom vintage. These wines are crisp, pure, ripe, aromatic, balanced, not acidic. Tannic and structured, but light on their feet. The '05 Jadot Beaune Premier Cru at under $20 a bottle was one of the best deals ever, I'd have bought another 3-4 cases at that price if I'd had the chance. They seem to be shutting down, which may have an impact on their performance in DC, but I'm hopeful that with some healthy oxygenization they'll open up and strut their stuff, display their beautiful ripe cherry notes on both the nose and palate. They are appealingly spicy but not at all green or vegetal, in my experience. I concur with a comment that Werner made a while back, that these wines-- even the lowest wines on the totem pole-- will age for a long time-- fifteen years or more.

[Nicklasss]

Yes Jim, I agree. And one ''bad '' wine is expected, of course. But what about the 2005 Bordeaux? Seem to me that you liked some as well. What about that 2000 Langoa Barton the other night? Jim, we already lost so many Bordeaux lovers to Burgundy, don't fall in the trap .

And Stefan, I'll be honored to sit at your table. And I'll check in my limited cellar, what could make that dinner special.

Nic

[Nicklasss]

And, I can see the nightmare already : will the Maine weekend, this summer, will be about... dare I say... Burgundy?

Nic

[JimHow]

Have no fear, Nicolas, my cellar is still nearly 80% Bordeaux.
My wine purchasing plans for 2009 are limited, except for some 2007 Chateauneuf du Papes, and I'll buy a few '06 Bordeauxs if there are fire sales.
I'm not planning on buying much 2006 Burgundy.

[Rieslingfan]

As I briefly mentioned lesewhere, the 2005 are getting more and more closed every single day.

That said - Aloxe is not the place to look for great Burgundy. Bouchard did make some lovely wines in 2005, their Beaune du Chateau 1er Cru being a great value and fantastic wine (I have not tasted much else from Bouchard due to availability).

Burgundy can never substitute for Bordeaux, but reverse is also true. I just started reading a book about the Bordeaux/Burgundy rivalry, and let's just say that it's ringing very true so far.

[DavidG]

Sounds like an interesting book, David. Can you post details - author, title?

[Winona Chief]

I enjoyed a glass of the 2005 Bouchard basic Bourgogne with dinner in a restaurant a few weeks ago. I thought it tasted good and I would guess that a bottle sells for less than $25.

A couple other low-priced 2005s I've enjoyed are Jadot's Marsannay and Santenay Clos Malte

Chris Bublitz

[JimHow]

I picked up an '05 Jadot off the supermarket shelf a year ago, I'm pretty sure it was the Santenay, it was very good, especially for the price.

[Rieslingfan]

Bodeaux/Burgundy: A Vintage Rivalry by Jean-Robert Pitte

[dstgolf]

Jim,

Similarly I picked up the Jadot 05 Generic Pinot Noir as one of the first 05 Burgs released onto our local shelves. They were claiming winereviewonline had apparently rated it a 92pts. Should have been an impressive effort for under $20 with that rating. Don't know who the reviewer was but I couldn't give this more than 75 pts. Nose was enticing enough but that was it. Tart cranberry,cherry,absent mid palate,very thin light red tinged and no length with gripping tannic finish. Not my idea of a good wine. Same on the second bottle openned (had to exclude a bad bottle) resulting in a return of the other ten bottles purchased. My luck with the lesser wines has not been as fruitful (pun intended) as yours Jim.

I guess it's harder to cross over to the dark side than you think Nick. I'm still open to trying new wines and having many wonderful hits in Spain and California recently especially with Californian Pinot. Unfortunately we don't get hardly any Oregon wines.Certainly pleasure can be found in any well made wine but in my mind Bordeaux reigns King even if their prices are out of whack right now. Hopefully that will change in the near future with the declining worldwide economy.

Danny

[Rieslingfan]

If you really think the Jadot generic Pinot is going to be a paradigm shifting experience then you deserve what you get.

Again - adot does a great job with their Domaine wines, and some of their negotiant bottlings are excellent, but the mass market stuff is the same old swill.

[dstgolf]

Rieslingfan,

Didn't expect the baseline Jadot to move mountains but with a reviewer giving it a 92pt rating I at least thought that it should give some pleasure and possibly open a window onto how great the 2005 vintage might be. Apart from acceptable aromatics for an inexpensive wine this was a total dud and offered nothing on the palate. Certainly in no way did this wine reflect the greatness of the vintage or producer. I agree with the comment about the mass market stuff. I'm not sure why wineries do this to themselves as you'd think these wines would be the baseline introduction to their house enticing novices to try some upper level wines.Why risk their reputation by marketing such crap! Drinking this at the outset would again convince me that Burgandy is nothing but a wasteland and certainly not make me want to try other Jadot wines. I guess there are a lot of stupid people out there that don't know good from bad but this was one of the worst Burgs of the year.

.

[JimHow]

I did not try that Jadot pinot but SteveH did and i believe he liked it. I really liked the 2005 Jadot Beaune 1er Cru, even better than the '05 Clos des Urdules and Chouachoux, although pappa doc tells me the latter are going to turn out better when they shed their tannins, and I have no reason to doubt him.

[Rieslingfan]

The first question is what is winereviewonline? Any actual credibility there?

As for the mass-market calling card: I actually know someone who loves the Jadot Bourgogne & buys a case every year. He doesn't really like wine though.

Jim - obviously I cannot travel into the future, but based on the 1999 and 2001 I have opened recently - you have nothing to worry about with the Ursules.

[JimHow]

David, what do you estimate the ageability of Clos des Ursules might be from a strong vintage like '05? What is your best guess as to what might be an optimal drinking window? Thanks.

[Rieslingfan]

I just opened my first 2001 (not a rich, tannic vintage) and it was glorious with 2 hours of air (no decant, just poured an ounce to make sure it wasn't corked then left it alone). The '99 (a strong but not as tannic vintage) is just starting to get good.

My plan, and I have the 2005 in the cellar, is to wait until 2017 to open one. Of course I have several other vintages around to get me through.

[DavidG]

Bodeaux/Burgundy: A Vintage Rivalry by Jean-Robert Pitte

Thanks, this is going on my to-read list.

[Claudius]

Guys,
I think Bouchard is over-rated.
I have tried the entire range at wine tastings the last 2 years and wasn't exactly impressed.
Did not buy a bottle.
So the note about the Aloxe does not surprise me.

Though I DO love 05 Burgundies.
I am just ont a lover of Bouchard.
I admit quality has improved over the years but I don't rate this estate yet.

[Tom In DC]

Bodeaux/Burgundy: A Vintage Rivalry by Jean-Robert Pitte

Ordered from Amazon... I'll pass it along to you, DavidG...

[DavidG]

Thank you, Tom!

[JimHow]

Sounds like it would be a good prize for the winner of a blind tasting competition at DC '09.