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WINE PRESS
ESSEX COUNTY WINE SOCIETY
Spring Letter
It is almost spring but winter does not
want to surrender. Our Burgundy tasting seems usually to occur at this time
of year for some reason and may well be a harbinger of a change of seasons.
We hope that spring comes soon.
On March 3, 2005 Howard Menaker led a
tasting of the excellent 2002 red burgundies. The tasting was structured so
that in a blind fashion we sampled two groups of three wines, a village
wine, a premier cru, and a grand cru each from the same producer (except one
stray village wine which was not), and three wines from the same producer
from three different communes. By vote the society correctly identified the
grand cru wines in each group, generally by noting their depth, complexity,
and finish. The three wines from the same producer and the same wine maker
from the three separate communes were thought similar in their tannin and
acidity, but their differences – attributed to terroir – was noted.
The first group of wines from
Aloxe-Corton in the Cote de Beaune were made by Tollot-Beaut (including the
grand cru Les Bressandes and the premier cru Les Vercots). They were
generally accessible with great red fruit. The second group was from the
Cote de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin, including the grand cru
Latricieres-Chambertin and the premier cru Lavaut Saint-Jacques made by
Camille Giroud. Again by the vote of the group the Chambertin grand cru was
nominated as the favorite of the evening. These wines were, as expected,
bigger, more tannic and more chewy than the Aloxe-Corton. Le Vougeraie was
the producer of the last three wines from Vougeot ( premier cru Les Cras),
Gevrey-Chambertin (grand cru Charmes-Chambertin), and Pommard (premier cru
Les Chamots). The latter two were the 2nd and 3rd
favorites of the evening, separated by only one vote.
All in all, the tasting reaffirmed our
faith in the wonder of Burgundy, albeit perhaps at a cost higher than one
would wish.
Carol Lippincott was nominated to
replace Alan Saroff as trustee as his three year term is expiring.
During the summer of 2004 we surveyed
the members of the society and asked if they would support a higher
priced/special Burgundy tasting. The question was answered with a
resounding Yes! The April 7 tasting will be just that – an event for a
limited number of participants led by our formidable Burgundy expert,
Richard Steinberg. The wines selected have considerable age and pedigree.
The tasting could have gone in two directions – recent vintage Grand Cru
wines, or wines with age, some of which would be premier cru. We selected
the latter. We will be tasting wines from vintages with which we except
Richard have little experience: 1920 Romanee; 1947 Charmes Chambertin
(Bouchard); 1952 Hospices de Beaune, cuvee Nicolas Rolin (Drouhin); 1957
Richebourg (Labaime?); 1957 Bonnes Mares (Bichot); and 1957 Pommard Epenots
(Latour). In addition we will taste some more recent wines: a 1966 Aloxe
Corton Les Boutieres (Doudet Naudin) and a 1988 Corton Bressandes (Nudant)
and 1988 Nuits St. Georges Clos des Forets (d’Arlot) The tenth wine wil
either be a 1988 or a 1989 Gevrey- Chambertin.
Because these wines were either purchased at auction or from a London,
England wine merchant, the quantities available were small, generally 3
bottle lots, except for the 1920 of which we could only acquire 2. The
limited number and the lack of clear provenance mean that we have not
pre-tasted the wine so that some (we hope not all) of the wines may be
interesting but not reach the high level of expectation. The number
of attendees will be limited to 45.
Tasting old wines may help us answer the question: How does a good wine
age, when is the wine ready, and when is it too old to drink? To paraphrase
Yogi, “prediction is difficult, especially about the future”. Jancis
Robinson approached the subject in her “Vintage Timecharts”(Mitchell
Beazley, 1989) and took an “audacious” leap into estimating the maturation
course of certain wines. The subject is certainly complex and depends not
only what went into making the wine (grapes, vintage, winemaker, etc.), the
state of the container, in this case a cork-sealed bottle, and the care or
lack of it with which it is stored. “All of the very finest wines improve
with age. Indeed what distinguishes noble wine from merely pleasant is the
ability to evolve”..(Robinson)
Michael Broadbent (Vintage Wine Webster’s International 2002) has had the
most published experience with older wines and vintages. We reviewed his
comments about the vintages. He describes 1920 (4 stars out of 5) as a good
start of the best-ever decade in burgundy. Small production. September
perfect. We could not find comments on any of the older wines in his book
or others (see below). The vintage of 1947 was wonderfully rich, following
an excellent growing season. Very hot (Broadbent). Clive Coates (“Cote d’Or”
University of California Press 1997) says this was a larger-than-life
vintage… some splendid wines . . irregular. Robert M. Parker Jr.
(“Burgundy” Simon and Schuster 1990) reports that the vintage was extremely
opulent, alcoholic, very concentrated. He has a great deal of experience
with the vintage since it is his birth year. Parker goes on some wines will
age but “I doubt many will have aged gracefully after 20 or 30 years in
bottle”. We will see. In 1952 there was a small crop, about one-half that
of an average year (Parker) They were described as “excellent wines the were
well structured, rich in fruit and quite tannic” (Parker). The 1952s
are-or-were-structured wines; sturdy, tannic, and old fashioned . . too big
for their own good “(Coates). Broadbent says that “1952 is one of my
favorite vintages of the decade; firm with structure, dependable wines”. In
1957 the wines were unbalanced (3 stars of 5), again according to Broadbent,
[but if ] “they had high acidity and if sufficient fruit, [they were]
flavoury and zestful”. Coates notes the vintage was best in the Cote de
Nuits. They are all “mellow with a good grip and backbone, long on the
palate; nicely acidic but with plenty of class”. Parker also has had a
number of fine wines from this vintage. He describes them as “deeply-
colored, rich, meaty and flavorful”.
The vintage of 1966 is called by Parker the first of the “modern-day
burgundies”. . . High quality and high quantity.. . . He laments, “sadly,
the magnificence of the 1966s are fading . . . [unless] you can find wines
from producers that have been stored in extremely cold cellars”..Brodbent
also calls the vintage “not great but stylish” (4 stars of 5) Coates rates
1966 just ahead of 1969 and just behind 1964 in the decade of red wine
vintages in burgundy. He says that 30 years later the vintage was holding
up.
Entering the more recent era, the 1988 vintage is describe as “very good
indeed – even fine”, by Coates. “Very good, sometimes excellent” (Parker)
With the 1985, one of the two best vintages of the decade. “Firmer with a
long life predicted” (Broadbent)
As
has been mentioned above, this is an unusual and special tasting as voted by
and supported by the membership. The number of attendees will be limited to
45. We will accept replies from members preferentially, first come, first
served. If there are spaces available, guests may be accommodated. The
cost, as one might expect, will be higher than usual and you should be aware
that some of the expense is being borne by the society.
The tasting will be $110 for members and $118 for guests (again only if
space is available)
Send your reply in as soon as possible.
The next event will be the annual Spring Dinner on May 1, 2005.
In
vino veritas and a votre sante
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