TNs: Ain't life grand?

[Michael Malinoski]

Eight of us got together recently to taste a range of Grand Cru Burgundies from our cellars alongside the excellent food at one of Waltham’s fine dining restaurants. The wines were all tasted blind, decanted by the staff and poured into a phalanx of glasses for each person.

1988 Louis Jadot Chambertin Grand Cru. This is just lovely all around, starting with beautifully-textured scents of suede leather, tobacco, sour cherry, cranberry, milk chocolate, spice and pressed red flowers wafting up out of the glass and slowly enveloping the senses as they expand and grow outward. In the mouth, it’s finely-resolved, but with subtle tension, good concentration, fanned-out flavors and just enough acidity to lend a bright aspect to the giving sour cherry, cranberry and raspberry fruit found at the core. It finishes with an earthier undertow featuring sexy spice accents, drawing you back for more. For my tastes, it’s impossible to dislike, and was my WOTN (though the group’s second-favorite overall despite 3 first-place votes).

1997 Domaine Trapet (Jean et Jean-Louis) Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru. This is darker-toned on the nose, with aromas of tanned leather, soil, forest undergrowth, baked cherry, cranberry, cola nut, melted chocolate and charred wood combining quite nicely. On the palate, it features a plush and seductive texture to carry along dark-toned flavors of black cherry, dark raspberry, beef bouillon and earth. Over time, it turns a bit more fudgy and chewy, but with nice length and a long finishing kick. It’s a really nice wine to drink now or over the next few years.

1988 Domaine Jean Tardy et Fils Clos Vougeot Grand Cru. This is one of the quieter wines on the nose over the first half of the night, but comes on stronger the longer it sits out, eventually giving fine pleasure with its aromas of dried rose petals, funky porcini mushrooms and cherry fruit. It’s smooth, pretty and almost effortless on the palate—with nice layering to the flavors of dried cherry and raspberry fruit. There’s quintessential balance and gentle flow to it, if not the length or concentration one might ideally seek. Still, it has that nice floral inner mouth perfume thing going on and delivers a really pleasant drinking experience.

2001 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes. This wine stands in contrast to the previous three on the nose, coming on much more aggressively and overt with its direct and lifted aromas of black olive, rich cocoa, vanilla paste and black cherry. It settles down as the evening goes along, though, eventually finding its center and delivering some beauty to go with the power. In the mouth, it’s dark and savory in flavor, but amazingly pure and smooth in texture and body. It’s luxuriantly-styled, with classy rounded edges all the way through, and it has tremendous length--leaving a lasting toasted spice, earth and cool-toned dark red fruit impression that’s impossible to deny. It’s an impressive specimen but needs another 5+ years in the cellar, in my opinion.

1999 Nicolas Potel Bonnes Mares Grand Cru. I find a lot of balsa wood, cedar, pine and menthol sorts of aromas with this wine, balanced out nicely by luxuriant scents of black cherry, raspberry and toasted spices. In the mouth is where it really shines most brightly, though, with greater weight and density than most of the other wines on the table, but with a regal sense of beauty and grace to go with that concentration of black cherry, savory earth and zesty dark berry flavors. The wine exhibits excellent depth without any sense of being overweight, and leaves a very long, woodsy impression on the slightly tannic but still rather refined finish. It feels like it’s still on the upside of its drinking curve, but I’m very happy to settle in and enjoy it right now. It was my #3 wine of the night (along with 4 other people with the same ranking).

1996 Geantet-Pansiot Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru. This is somewhat dark and toasty on the nose, with dense but lovely aromas of black cherry, cracked pepper and zesty blue and blackberry fruit. In the mouth, it sure is fun to drink--full of barrel spice, briery blue and black berry fruit and a bit of cherry liqueur flavors. However, I find it drier than most, with more outward acidity that sometimes seems to cut the finish shorter than I would like. Beyond that, though, it delivers a lively and rewarding flavor profile that was a big hit with the group (who voted it collective wine of the night on the strength of 2 first, 3 second and 2 third-place votes) Personally, I suspect will be better in a few more years’ time, so I would hold off a bit.

1988 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru. This is a real beauty, starting with the delightfully floral bouquet featuring aromas of dried cherries, caramel, mocha, rose hips and a fun streak of sweaty funk underpinning the airier scents. I like it a lot on the palate, too, where the fruit to earth balance is just right for my tastes, and where it delivers lovely flavors of cherry, funk, toasted spice and hints of gaminess. In a nod to at least being somewhat internally consistent, I had this as my runner-up WOTN, just behind the 1988 Jadot Chambertin.

1978 Louis Latour Corton-Grancey Grand Cru. Belying its age, I find the nose here to be sort of lifted, bright and zesty--with aggressive aromas of white pepper, limestone, leather, fireplace ashes, wild cherry and raspberry fruit. In the mouth, it has the sweetest red fruit of any wine on the table, coming across as a bit precocious in its profile of tangy but smooth and pure strawberry, raspberry and cherry fruit. There’s also some pink grapefruit and lemon citrus streaks running beneath it, lifting it all up. The earthy elements are somewhat missing for me, but this is a nicely-resolved, easy-going, beautifully red-fruited wine to drink and enjoy right now.

2001 Nicolas Potel Clos Vougeot Grand Cru. This wine comes across as one of the more virile wines on the table, with rather crunchy aromas of red berries, black cherries, baked plum, dark leather and toasted spices showing early complexity but lots of tautness and bite. It’s dense and dark on the tongue, and maybe a bit chewy at this stage, but with tons of drive and energy pushing it along. The backbone and structure are on full display at this time, nicely supporting the zesty blackberry, black cherry, charred earth and dark chocolate flavors. The tannins are yielding but will need a few more years to soften and integrate a bit more. The flavors are quite tasty, though, and this should get better over the next several years.

The quality up and down the line-up was really impressive. There wasn’t a wine I wouldn’t happily buy more of if I could. It was a very satisfying night all around!

With dessert:

1976 Karl Joh. Molitor Riesling Hattenheimer Schützenhaus Beerenauslese Rheingau. This was a fun topper to the evening, starting with the rich but bright bouquet of caramel, roasted nut, lime, kerosene, candied pineapple, wild honey, clover, blue slate and funk. In the mouth, it’s luscious and viscous, with an oily sheen to the flavors of candied peaches, caramel, and tropical fruits. The acidity can get a bit overpowering now and again, but the flavors are healthy and delicious. This was a fine bottle.


-Michael

[stefan]

When the 2001 Nicolas Potel Clos Vougeot does not make the top three you can be sure that this was an outstanding collection of wines. Congratulations!

[Nicklasss]

Your life, that night, was grant for sure!

Very niçe report Michael. I would like to buy more too Bourgogne, but geez the prices went up quickly .

I'm happy to see The Jadot wines performed well. I have a 2002 Bonnes Mares from Jadot, that i will open in 10 more years. I have also some 2005 Corton Pougets from Jadot, that i should also wait 10 more years or more.

Nic

[Comte Flaneur]

Thanks for the vicarious experience Michael.

One of my biggest regrets not snagging more wines like these when they were more affordable.

The 1988 red burgs have been notoriously difficult, nice to read that the two Jadots are now nicely resolved.

Seems like some of the 1996s are also emerging from a difficult phase.