Which Burgundy to drink?

[carpet bagger]

I have to select two of the four Red Burgundies. 1990 Cambolle Musigny Phillipe Leclerc Les Babillaires. 1989 Gevery Chambertin Phillipe Leclerc Les Cazetier. 1988 Morey St Denis Clos de la Bussier Georges Roumier. or 1988 Vosne Romanee Jean Gros. The food will be French California at Sona Restaurant tomorrow night. Curious any ideas?

[Beachfan]

Drink the LeClercs. I find the other two more appealing; this way I can share the other two with you when we go to Sona

Edited March 18, 2003 by Beachfan (log)

[Florida Jim]

I have to select two of the four Red Burgundies. 1990 Cambolle Musigny Phillipe Leclerc Les Babillaires. 1989 Gevery Chambertin Phillipe Leclerc Les Cazetier. 1988 Morey St Denis Clos de la Bussier Georges Roumier. or 1988 Vosne Romanee Jean Gros. The food will be French California at Sona Restaurant tomorrow night. Curious any ideas?

CB,

Leave the 88's alone; despite what one might first think, they are not ready yet. Espeically not the Roumier.

Best, Jim

[Robin Meredith]

I've found 1988 red burgundy to be a somewhat deadly minefield - my ratio of disappointments to positive experiences is probably somewhere around 10 to 1. 1990 is almost the reverse - one of those ripe, sappy vintages that elevates the quality of lesser wines as well as the more reliable bottlings.

Drank the 1995 Roumier Clos de la Bussiere last week, and to my taste it was clearly into early maturity - drinking absolutely beautifully, likely to hold at that level for another 2-3 years. Based on that experience I'd approach the 1988 with caution.

So I agree - go for the LeClercs.

[Florida Jim]

Drank the 1995 Roumier Clos de la Bussiere last week, and to my taste it was clearly into early maturity - drinking absolutely beautifully, likely to hold at that level for another 2-3 years.

Robin,

This is a major surprise to me; almost - no, every - 95 1er or grand cru I have had has been closed down. And Roumier is known for longevity.

May I inquire - did you buy that on release or recently?

Best, Jim

[carpet bagger]

Florida Jim, I agree with you about Roumier being for the long hall. I have reservations about the 1998 because the last few times I drank it tasted very closed. Took days to open up. The 1995 vintage in general is slow developing and I would be surprised if it showed well without some heat influence. Or at least some other outside influence. The last time I had the 1998 it took two days to show its fruit. The reason I put the question out there for egullet is in case others have had different experiences than I. Not to take anything away from Robin ( I mean that) your experience is closer to mine. Boy I hope that doesn't come out wrong.

[Steve Plotnicki]

1988's are acidic and not ready yet. 1990's are too big and are not ready either. 1989 Premier Crus should be a point. And it's nice to see Florida Jim around here.

[Robin Meredith]

Jim,

It was purchased on release from the Burgundy Wine Company, so I hope the provenance is sound - I will say it showed absolutely no signs of adverse storage or other suboptimal handling.

The key phrase here might be "to my taste" - I don't think anyone would call the wine I tasted closed, but some might dispute the suggestion that it's entering the plateau. For context, I think most 1988's are fighting what will ultimately be a losing battle between tannin/acid and fruit, and I think most mid-level 1990's are drinking well now. So my framework might be a bit different.

Cheers!

[Claude Kolm/The Fine Wine Review]

Robin,

This is a major surprise to me; almost - no, every - 95 1er or grand cru I have had has been closed down. And Roumier is known for longevity.

May I inquire - did you buy that on release or recently?

Best, Jim

Jim -- While lots of 1995s are shut down and I generally have not been dipping into them, I have found some notable exceptions during the past year: Groffier Chambolle-Amoureuses and Rousseau Ruchottes-Chambertin being two that come to mind right away. I'm toying with opening a 1995 Rouget Cros Parantoux for a friend's birthday in a few weeks -- the last time I had it, which must have been nearly two years ago, it was open and spectacular, unlike the Meo Cros Parantoux next to it. (OTOH, Jayer's village Vosne was tight as nails last summer.)

Best regards,

Claude Kolm

The Fine Wine Review

[Claude Kolm/The Fine Wine Review]

1988's are acidic and not ready yet. 1990's are too big and are not ready either. 1989 Premier Crus should be a point. And it's nice to see Florida Jim around here.

Steve -- I've had plenty of 1988s that are ready. Lots on the Cote de Beaune have been drinking well for some time, e.g., Pousse d'Ors, de Montilles, Lafarges, Pothier-Rieussets. I've also had plenty of lovely Cote de Nuits, too, e.g., Dujac Clos la Roche, DRC Grands-Echezeaux. I probably would wait a few years for the very heaviest hitters, but otherwise, I think it is a vintage that is now beginning to come around and fulfill the promise that was evident at the beginning.

Best regards,

Claude Kolm

The Fine Wine Review

[Florida Jim]

Jim -- While lots of 1995s are shut down and I generally have not been dipping into them, I have found some notable exceptions during the past year . . .

Claude,

You and Robin have prompted me to go back into the notes and see if my absolute really was - and it wasn't. I had the 95 Ponsot, Griottes about a year ago and it was the essence of black cherry and much more elegant and open than expected.

So maybe its time to start digging into these; a little at a time.

Best, Jim

[carpet bagger]

A partial report about the wines last night. Firstly the 1988 Georges Roumier Clos de la Bousiere was for the first time of all the bottles from this case, fruity, with the soft underpinning of tannins. We also had the 1989 Philippe Les Clerc Gevrey Chambertin Les Cazetier. I have to say that it also was showing more fruit than at any other time that I drank it. It was side by side with the 1988 Philippe Les Clerc Les Cazetier, which also showed really well. Lots of fruit and soft velvety tannins. The 1988 was as expected bigger and more stuctured and showed that it still has a lot more time ahead of it. The other wines last night were as follows:

1988 Clos Vouget Gros Frere soeur. 1992 William Selym Russian River Valley. William Selym Allen 1992. Calera Selleck 1992. Mondavi Reserve Pinot Noir 1997. It turned out to be a wonderful collection of fruity pinot noir grape perfect time to drink. It was a real pleasant surprise. Often more than one wine dissapoints and does not show well. I will report in more detail with a report of the foods that were served with these wines.

Thank you to all that shared their ideas for my selection.

Edited March 19, 2003 by carpet bagger (log)

[Steve Plotnicki]

Hey, Claude is here too. Cool. Thanks again for the terrific bottle at out lunch last month.

[carpet bagger]

I'm sorry I don't have pictures but here goes with the verbal picture of my meal with the wines mentioned above.

We started with spoons of salmon with creme fresh. Good not exciting.

Spoons of Burrata cheese with wild arugala. Good, clean and unispiring.

Spoons of Prociutto with cheese. We had N. V. Billicart Salmon Brut served at a perfect temperature and it went well with the appetizers.

The amuze was exquisite veal toungue melt in your mouth, rich but not too. With tomato dill pickle, Nastrium and watermellon radish. The combinations were perfect. The radish cut the richness beautifully and the whole feel seemed to just fill my mouth wanting the dish to go on and on.

The soup. Wow! Potato with boudin (sausage) emulsion, sausage pieces and veal sweetbreads. There was also a foam on top but not blended. The sausage was so tasty, adding extended flavor mellowed by the soup itself and complemented by the sweetbreads being crispy on the outside. It was incredible. The combination really worked together.

Next was the Salmon confit on top was a couple of sprigs of mustard blossoms, with potato gnocchi. Served on the same plate with oxtail and jus. The salmon was absolutely melt in your mouth, perfectly moist and the combination of the mustard blossom ( fresh isn't the word) with the potato gnocchi worked to inspire your mind as well as your palate. The oxtail is often done too rich by many chefs, not David, and it was a great balance with the salmon on the same plate.

The last main dish was Roasted duck breast, beautifully cooked , texture was right, not over or under cooked. There was a piece of fennel that was cooked just right bringing out sweetness that I am not used to from fennel. Yet it came from it. There was chestnut confit, scrumptious, and the beluga lentils were prepared perfectly, not dry and tastless like I have had other places. The flavor came out of the lentils. The flavors of all the parts of this dish worked incredibly well together. They also showed of the freshness of all the ingredients.

I have to say David selected his dishes perfecly for the wines. He has an uncanny knowledge of the way food and wine is supposed to go together.

Unfortunately we only had one desert. Actually I don't think we had room for more anyway. I would have made room though. It was chocolate beignets with caramalized bananas and banana nutmeg sorbet. The chocolate was dark but not bitter. It was very pleasant, rich but very easy on the tongue. Made a great ending which harmonized and not overtaking the whole experience of the evening. It went with the other colder ingredients. My only disappointment was that I didn't bring port to go with the chocolate.

Well, I hope my descriptions have been inviting enough. I'm sorry you weren't all there to taste for yourselves. :

[Beachfan]

I'm a big fan of WS Allen, but I thought the 92 might be a tad over the hill. Was it?

[carpet bagger]

The 1992 was actually very much alive. It was perfect and will go on for afew more good drinking years yet. It had depth, intensity, complexity and long finishing fruit.

[Beachfan]

Good to hear. I just had a 96 William Selyem Riverblock. Super, but I would not be planning to hold for another 4 years (if I had more that is )

[Robin Meredith]

Rooting around in the cellar tonight, discovered a handful of bottles of 1990 Michel Juillot Mercurey Clos des Barraults. Quietly muttered "oh s**t", since this is not a wine I would normally expect to evolve in a positive direction for 12+ years.

Pulled out a bottle to go with the roast chicken, and miracle of miracles...it's probably not ready yet! Quite a firm structure, with quite a bit of dense fruit underneath. I'm pretty sure it will never really come together, but I'm also sure I don't want to touch another bottle for 2-3 years. Definite potential for improvement, even if it never reaches a truly harmonious state.

I guess this is why people love Burgundy - it's a lifelong learning process.

[Craig Camp]

Ain't Burgundy great.

Mercurey can surprise. Lots of backbone. The 90's are impressive. I just opened a bottle of Volnay, 1er Cru, Hubert de Montille and it was hard as nails. It needs 5 more years before consideration.