Juice

2005 Michel Sarrazin Givry "Sous La Roche"

Last night I enjoyed another beautiful 2005 Burgundy.  Almost everything I've had for the vintage, from simple bourgogne to grand cru's (although far less accessible right now), have been stupendous. I'm obviously not saying anything that hasn't already been said about 05.  Most people are calling it one of the best vintages in the last 100 years.  The really enjoyable thing about this vintage is that there's a ton of great wine, that will undoubtedly age amazingly, at bargain prices.  It's hard to fathom that with the shrunken dollar, increased demand for Burgundy and a stellar vintage, that there would be bargains.  Try to find pinots from anywhere else in the world that match 05 burgs for under $40.  Exhibit A. The 2005 Michel Sarrazin Givry "Sous la Roche" possessed lots of the things that make 05 so special.  For one, the wine has an amazing structure and fruit balance for a simple Village level wine.  These two things were interwoven in a taut and elegant package.  The first 30 minutes after opening, the wine seemed coiled and vibrant.  Not coiled as in tight, but coiled as in ready to pounce.  Exhilarating.  An hour and a half later, the flavors were starting to unwind and lengthen a little bit more but there was obviously still much more hiding.  It hinted at a promising future. The firm acidity should be a great backbone for aging.  The cost?  $18 at Whole Foods.

2000 Robert Chevillon "Les Vaucrains" plus Braised Short Ribs

After having braised short ribs a few times recently. I decided to try to make them myself.  I followed Daniel Boulud's recipe that seems to be the benchmark, although Kelly wanted me to try Asian style.  In the puree I substituted cauliflower for celery root since I couldn't find any here in Springfield, MO.  It turned out very well that way though.  One key:  BUY GREAT SHORT RIBS.

I have tasted a number of Chevillon Burgundy's this year, including the 2000 "Les St. Georges" and the 2000 "Pruliers".  Vaucrains is supposed to usually be the biggest most brooding of Chevillon's wines.  This 2000 easily out classed and out sexed the other 2000s I have had.  Nice, very round flavors of cherry and blueberry and an attractive creamy character.  Some sandalwood and cinnamon were present on the nose.  Very soft, well integrated tannins.  The thing that separates a Burgundy like this from many well made "New World" pinots is this slight restraint in the wine.  It easily gives a lot but there is something else there.  Not at all unpleasant but more intriguing.  This wine is peaking right now.

2002 Pousse d'Or Corton "Clos de Roi"

A while back, I reviewed the 2002 Pousse d'Or Corton Bressandes which I really liked.  I suppose you could call this a sister wine.  This bottle was opened before its time.  Wasted youth.  It had deep layers and a creamy texture like the Bressandes but everything is packed more tightly together at this stage.  Some very concentrated cherry and raspberry notes.  Sexy mouth-feel.  There was about a glass left in the bottle when the desserts arrived so I took it home.  Although my tasting faculties weren't optimum at 7:30AM, it hadn't evolved a whole lot, but the aromas has opened a bit.  I haven't had a lot of experience tasting Burgundys as they age so we'll see what happens.  I probably won't come back to my other two bottles for a few years.

2002 Pousee d'Or Corton Bressandes Grand Cru

For Kelly's birthday dinner with my parents I figured I better open something great.  Honestly I'm not sure if that was for her benefit or mine but whatever.  I settled in on a magnum of 2002 Pousse d'Or Corton Bressandes.  I found these mags priced at about $100 and jumped on them because suggested retail for the 750s was $100 at premiercru.net.   Pousee d'Or has a regal bloodline as at one time it was part of a dream estate that also included Romanee Conti and Clos de Tart.  It's modern history started in 1998 with he purchase of the estate by Patrick Landanger.  The domaine had been underachieving by many accounts through the 90s and Patrick sought to make the necessary investments to express the ultimate potential.  Lower yields, later harvesting, more new french oak (from 20% to 30%) has resulted in some very nice wines.  Alan Meadows writes about the 2002s

As the scores suggest, this is by far and away the best set of wines that Landanger has made since he purchase Pousse d’Or in 1997. There is a purity of expression as well as much better transparency to the underlying terroir that has been missing in the past and these are decidedly less new world in style too. It’s rare to see a domaine where every wine is worthy of your attention. In short, this is simply an outstanding set of wines that has Pousse d’Or once again rejoining the elite domaines in Volnay.

The 2002 Corton Bressandes had an absolutely charming nose.  Deep cherry and wildflowers (violets), a little bit of earth.  Very elegant and round on the palate.  Love the texture.  Leaning more dark than bright red fruits.  Fairly low in acidity.  Lots of layers to think about.  Nice sweet tannin at the end.  Super long finish. After about two hours decanted it was still fresh and evolving nicely.  Didn't finish before the souffle's came so the rest was donated to the waiter.  Hope he enjoyed.

1999 Alex Gambal Vosne Romanee and Flame the Steakhouse

I can turn into an apologist when it comes to Burgundy, especially when I'm the one paying for it.  I'll look intensely for any redeeming qualities.  Leave it alone, come back and hope it has evolved.  Hold it in my mouth longer, blame the food, question if I just "get it."  Burgundy more than any other place asks for a bit of intellect.  But sooner or later when a wine just isn't very appealing you have to have to say it.  Especially frustrating when almost everything under the "Pinot Noir" side of the list would have been a better value.

Alex Gambal is an American who owns Maison Alex Gambal in Beaune.  Alex and his wife moved to Burgundy on a sabbatical in 1991 and it became their life's calling to be in the wine business.  Alex writes,

"         I left the export business in September 1996 and enrolled in the adult         wine school in Beaune, a division of the Lycée Viticole. I finished         the program in June 1997 and as part of my study developed a plan for         a French negociant (literally wine merchant) company which we started         in July 1997. In addition to several small vineyards on which I grow grapes         with partners, the major part of our activities involve buying grapes,         grape must (mout), conduct its elevage (literally raising) in barrel (12-22         months) and then bottle...We make all our wines in an artisanal         manner in small lots by hand, manipulate the wines without pumps, bottle         by gravity without finning or filtering our reds and only lightly fining         our whites. We make approximately 60% red and 40% white.

I have enjoyed a number of Alex's wines in the past and he is undoubtedly an up and comer to watch for.  I even ran into him at a restaurant in Boston a few months ago.  The 1999 Vosne Romanee was very thin with almost no real fruit to speak of.  There was a tough tannic almost vegetal finish.  Didn't offer up much on the nose.  For the $85 I paid at Flame in Springfield, MO it was probably one of the worst selections on the list.

The food at Flame was very good.  The food is simple American fare.  Dry aged steaks, shellfish, Fries Lyonnaise style, Onion rings, Lobster Mac and Cheese....I had a 12oz. strip that was dry aged for at least 14 days.  It was served on a small plate, cooked perfectly medium rare, with a small dab of butter.  They come with a nice crust on the outside and very juicy on the inside.  One of the better steaks I've had at Flame.  They also have a small raw bar that has very good Blue Points and nice shrimp.  Kelly and I shared the shrimp cocktail which can be pretty boring especially in the Midwest but it was tasty.

2000 Robert Chevillon Nuits St Georges "Les Pruliers"

I recently bought this wine online from Rare Wine Co. in Sonoma.  They were excellent to deal with but when the wines came I was a bit concerned that they did not contain Kermit Lynch's import strip.  they were imported by Barrique Wine Co. in Chicago.  Barrique was bought by Vins Divino so I have had a difficult time finding out the shipping conditions or if this is the same wine sent to Kermit Lynch.  Had it been filtered.  Had it baked in a container. I would like to get a Kermit Lynch bottle to compare but can't find one anywhere.

Luckily the wine was pretty good.  Much deeper and rounder than 2000 "les St Georges" I reviewed a while back.  Less of the stoniness, perhaps a bit less elegance.  Very nice length.  A bit unwilling to give up a lot on the nose but nice nonetheless.  Very pleasant juice.  Nice dark flavors with a little fading on the rim.

$35

2001 Robert Chevillon Bourgogne

Continuing on my infatuation with Robert Chevillon wines, I opened a 2001 Bourgogne.  Unlike the almost universally liked 2002s, 2001 was less ripe vintage.  Like 2000 weather tended to swing from extremes. Early frosts, a much cooler than average first two weeks of July, and much hotter than usual second two weeks of July, an extremely hot August with a hail storm that destroyed much of the grapes in Volnay.  As is the case often in Burgundy, the most talented growers came in with the best fruit.  Low yields and proper hang time sometimes seem like new ideas but in fact they have been used by the best in Burgundy for generations.   The best 2001s are elegant and reflect well their origins.  At this stage I like many of them as much as the 2002s.

The 2001 Chevillon showed lots of finesse and elegance for a wine of its pedigree.  light medium ruby.  charming if not complex nose.  Bright fruit balanced by nice acidity.  Not sappy.  Showed great dexterity on the mouth.  Most important of all....FUN TO DRINK.

Paired with grilled ham gouda, onions, frisee on sourdough sandwhich.

About $25.

2000 Robert Chevillon Nuits St Georges "Les St. Georges"

Robert Chevillon is one of the most consistent great producers in Burgundy.  His wines are a study in balance.  The operations are now run by his two sons Bertrand and Denis.  All of their bottlings are from Nuits St Georges.  Mostly premier cru vineyards, although he does have a Nuits St Georges villages wine as well as a Bourgogne.

2000 was a rather odd weather year in Burgundy with spikes in heat and then dips into below average temperatures.  Rain at all the wrong times.  It resulted in a large but irregular crop.  Denis Chevillon reported that they did a pretty big green harvest in order to keep yields down which is definitely NOT the norm in Burgundy.

The 2000 "les St Georges" is an amazingly pure wine.  It hits so many points on the fine, balanced, precise, elegant scale that I am at a loss to find the right words here.  It has perhaps less bulk than other vintages of this wine like 1999 and 2001.  There are raspberries and sweet cherries and a very fine minerality but those descriptions are not the story here.  This wine has a killer cerebral finish.  Still thinking about it.  This is Gwentyh Paltrow and not Jessica Simpson.  It is crafted from 75  year old vines.

This Kermit Lynch imported beaut is bottled unfiltered with some egg white fining. 

1996 Luois Jadot Beaune Theurons

Alex Gambal wrote in his year-end newsletter ,

If Jacques Lardiere is not the true Master of the Burgundy Universe he is close. I have been fortunate to taste some older Jadots recently and they were terrific. Young his wines are often not flattering. No micro oxygenation here. He lets the wines make themselves. If you ever see any old Jadot's for sale on close out or at an auction and you have a vague idea that they have been well stored they are great values and the real deal."

Upon reading that I looked at BrownDerby.com for some older Jadot's.  I found a 1996 Beaune theurons for about $30.  It came out with a beautiful nose if a bit high pitched.  Mushrooms reduced cranberry nose.  Very vibrant medium ruby in color.  Not much rust.  Maybe a slight bit at the rim.  Very precise flavors of semi tart, candied cherries.  A pretty decent mouthful in the mid-palette.  After about two hours decanted it had really fleshed out and become longer.  For a village wine of 8 years it was remarkably fresh.

From Robert Parker:

"Wine lovers have come to expect first rate Beaunes from the Gagey-Lardiere team at Maison Jadot, and that's exactly what they delivered in 1996. The bright sunny days of September allowed the vines on these hillside vineyards to attain full physiological ripeness, which is not an annual occurrence in these cool sites.

"I am in love with this vintage's purity and its touch of tension," said Pierre-Henri Gagey, Maison Louis Jadot's director. Jacques Lardiere, this negociant house's talented winemaker, shares Gagey's enthusiasm for the 1996s, feeling they beautifully reflect their respective terroirs. Lardiere bled (a technique of removing the watery juice of a light pressing to increase concentration) many of the 1996s, "but never more than 10%," and performed a 28 to 35 day cuvaison in order to extract a maximum amount of flavor, color, and aromas while softening the tannins. These wines will neither be fined nor filtered prior to bottling."

 

Drank with wonderful egg, mushroom, and country ham tart.  The tart was prepared wonderfully by my sister Katy via the Queer Eye for the straight guy recipe.

1981 Leroy "Beaune Perrieres"

It's not everyday that I drink wines of this age, pedigree, and class.  Indeed it was a treat.  Leroy is reknown as one of the, if not the, finest producer of pinot in the world.  Notice I didn't write Burgundy.  Robert Parker writes

"When I traveled through Burgundy, it appeared Lalou Bize-Leroy may have as many critics as I do. Some producers accuse her of adding "Alicante" to her wines because she obtains such a deep color. Others claim she is hiding hundreds of cases of grand crus in another cellar since her yields cannot "possibly be so low." Of course all of this is nonsense, not to mention appallingly jealous behavior from producers who are scared to death that other growers might decide to follow in Lalou's footsteps. For now, Bize-Leroy stands at the top of the Burgundy pyramid, alone both literally and figuratively in her pursuit of the finest Burgundy can produce. I will keep my tasting notes brief, recognizing that in this situation it is almost criminal to try and describe wines that may be the greatest red Burgundies I will taste in my life. As even the immodest Lalou Bize-Leroy says, these wines are "an accident of nature."

Coincidentally I had just read the following passage in Gerald Asher's collection of essays called "The Pleasures of Wine"

But a mature red wine in it's prime should offer subelty and nuance rather than a blast of crushed berries.  with its skein of aromas and flavors there should be hints of mushroom and truffle.  We should have casuse to think of velvet and old silk rather than tannins and acidity....Any wine young or old is more than an amalgam of smeels and tastes and organic components waiting to be picked apart, labeled, numbered, and nailed to the wall.  A mature wine, particularly, embraces qualities we hardly percieve on a conscious level."

Appropos of the 1981 Leroy.  All of obvious flavors had receded.  What remained was elegant and sensual.  Soft leather, hyper understated prunes, tiny violets, mushrooms, nicely woven bit of acidity.

The Leroy was tasted next to a 2002 Sea Smoke Botella.  This was a great contrast of two wines over twenty years apart.