Bouchard Beaune Greve L'Enfant de Baby Jesus 1997

[Chasse-Spleen]

Bouchard Beaune Greve L'Enfant de Baby Jesus 1997

I worked on Thanksgiving selling wine but was rewarded when my boss JR, a really great wine guy and an all around good dude opened up a magnum of this wine that was in the cold room. There are lots of iffy and/or orphaned bottles in there that he refrains from selling for one reason or another and I guess this was one of them. But it was great!

Translucent red with brown and gold highlights indicates a mature wine at 16 years of age. Tannins are resolved but there is still good acidity and the wine is perfectly balanced, a mature Burgundy perhaps a bit outside of its perfect drinking window but nonetheless a delight to drink. A memorable wine, everything that I had afterwards that day was overshadowed. Lots of earth and truffle, woody notes on the nose and palate. A nice long finish. A beautiful sweetness that includes some milk chocolate on the palate. Complex and long. I didn't have much time to enjoy it, just quick sips in between my work duties before hitting the road for my parents' house for dinner. There are a lot of amazing bottles in the cellar at Garnet and hopefully I'll get to try more of them in the not too distant future. A leaky bottle of 1982 Margaux wasn't even close to this bottle although you could attest to the nobility of the wine despite it all. There are plenty of others that will perform more along the lines of the Baby Jesus.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, a bit late I know but the weekend is just barely starting, especially for Stefan...

-Chris aka Chasse

[JimHow]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Chasse, I gotta come by Garnet sometime to check in on you.
I've been thinking about buying a bottle each of the 2010 versions of Bouchard Les Corton and L'Enfant, any thoughts?

[Tom In DC]

Happy Thanksgiving, Chris. The Burg-o-philes pretty much wrote off 1997 early on, but I'm seeing a lot of back-tracking recently. I'm not tuned in well enough to know when to buy so I grab a few burgs almost every vintage and then I just hold 'em. They almost always turn out well if you give them a decade or two. I'm glad to see some positive notes popping up for the 97's.

Now that both of our kids have moved to Colorado and either gotten married or are in the process thereof (May 31, 2014 wedding coming up in CO), I'm guessing we'll have stefan-esque holidays in our future. Turkey day seems like a perfectly good excuse for a looooooong weekend with the kids.

Ciao,
Tom

[Chasse-Spleen]

I know both of you guys are guitar players so I have to mention that I've been listening (and I'm listening now) to Jeff Beck Group's Truth album. Great holiday stuff (and any time)! Jim, I don't really know much about Bouchard wines but I think we have at least one. The Burg dept at Garnet is superb. You can go much further afield than Bouchard. Corton is generally a wine for very patient people. I'll look to see what we have. I've never really had many of their wines but I believe the Baby Jesus is one of the most famous. I have to do a little research on that site. I think Leroy also has holdings there? Anyway, we have a big sale now (and through Dec 17) so it's a great time to grab a few Burgs or any wines. I recently sold one of my customers a bottle of Chateau Bernadotte '05 to taste and he came back and bought six cases! We have a lot of good stuff.

Tom, believe it or not, I've heard a few people tout '97 over '99! I know it's crazy, but I once saw that written in a little guide by this wine store in Williamsburg (just shows what hipsters know about wine), I think it's called Uva. Anyway, in their little vintage guide, they rated '97 above '99. Absurd, but I think the moral of the story is that there were some good '97s to be had, I just wouldn't expect many of them to last terribly long but then again, producer, producer, etc... Congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family.

Hey, we've got to get together sometime! It's been too long, you guys! When is the BWE jam session going to take place? I could see that, a BWE jam and then a massive blowout of wine...

-Chris

[JimHow]

I've been writing a lot of music Chasse, my group and I just finished our 11 song "Andreita" album, it's pretty amazing. We were in a studio mastering it last month in Portland (Maine) where Bruce, Elton, Lou Reed, Billy Joel, Clapton and other big names have done some work, it was an amazing experience. Now we're finishing the artwork for the cover and insert, I'm not optimistic it's gonna be available for Christmas.
I'll be in the Bronx tonight for a session, this very talented young Norah Jones type is going to be singing some of my songs, she has an amazing voice and has written some of her own songs that have a lot of depth.
My schedule has been insanity plus. I've been caring for my 89 year old father, his health has really been failing in the past year. In the next 5 months I have a murder trial, a double manslaughter trial, and 3 attempted murder trials.
I've been accelerating my search for a studio apartment in Manhattan, an exhausting project.
Not to mention that we are exploring a run for Congress in 2014.
I don't know whether I'm coming or going!
I'll only be in town for a surgical strike tonight, I have to leave really early tomorrow. (Like 6am.)
I promise I'll come by Garnet sometime in the next couple weeks to check out some if those Burgs.
You are right, it's been too long!
Jimmy

[stefan]

1997 Burgs were trashed when they came out, but I have drunk many that were very good. None from Bouchard, but of the big negociants, Jadot did very well in '97.

[Chasse-Spleen]

Jim,
I don't know how you do it! That's an impressive list of activities. When and where can I hear some of your music, old and new? I'm just getting back to gigging after finishing my masters and starting my new job at Garnet, nothing to do with the masters obviously, except for trying to pay for it... We are playing tomorrow night up in Harlem at a place called Silvana, 10pm. Let me know anytime you are around, especially if you are planning on stopping by Garnet. I want to make sure that I'm there. Talk soon,
Chris