Bottles Never Forgotten - Burgundy Edition
France: Burgundy, featured
, Mar 2019
Imagine if you asked 102 Burgundy winemakers: What is the most memorable bottle of wine you have ever drunk? Imagine no longer. And find out which winemaker never drinks wine.
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Joseph Roty’s Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes
Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Burgundy, featured
, Feb 2019
The Roty family’s Charmes-Chambertin from ancient vines has established a half-century track record as one of Burgundy’s monumental collectibles. My extensive vertical tasting of this bottling in December was also a celebration of a very private family—and the ghost in the room was the formidable personality of the late Joseph Roty, who was largely responsible for creating the “Roty style.”
Caught Somewhere in Time: Clos de Tart 1887-2016
France, France: Burgundy, featured
, Feb 2019
Over the years, I have been fortunate to participate in three or four verticals of Clos de Tart. Yet I had never undertaken a comprehensive tasting that spans decades until Jordi Oriols-Gil organized a unique retrospective covering more than 50 years at Ten Trinity in London.
Drouhin’s Beaune Clos des Mouches Blanc: 1979-2016
France, France: Burgundy, featured
, Feb 2019
Joseph Drouhin’s Beaune Clos des Mouches Blanc is an oxymoron of a Burgundy: an insider’s wine that’s normally made in generous quantities. While some wine oenophiles may turn up their noses at the very idea of white wine from Beaune—not to mention the appellation in particular, as it possesses no Grand Crus, red or white—this Premier Cru is way more interesting, and serious, than it has any right to be.
The Picardy Third: 2016 DRC In Bottle
France: Burgundy, featured
, Feb 2019
Everyone is at the mercy of Mother Nature, including the most famous domaine in Burgundy. Late spring frost denied Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s three releases of their 2016 vintage, but how do the surviving crus fare now that they are in bottle? Do they finish on a major or minor chord?
Vertical Tasting of Louis Jadot’s Corton Pougets
Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Burgundy, featured
, Feb 2019
Jadot’s perfumed, distinctly feminine Corton Grand Cru—a red wine from white wine soil—has established a long track record for graceful evolution in bottle.
Cellar Favorite: 1971 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru
France: Burgundy, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Feb 2019
From whatever perspective you examine this Clos de la Roche, at least on the basis of this solitary encounter, I can only conclude that it is a perfect wine.
Cellar Favorite: 2005 Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Nuits Saint-Georges Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru
France: Burgundy, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Jan 2019
There aren’t too many values left in Burgundy. Frédéric Mugnier’s Nuits Saint-Georges Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru is one of them. Let’s be clear, Clos de la Maréchale is not an inexpensive wine by any means, but it does offer tremendous character and plenty of Mugnier finesse, especially in the best vintages.
Château de la Tour Clos-Vougeot Vieilles Vignes 1985-2016
Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Burgundy, featured
, Jun 2019
The largest single owner of land in Clos de Vougeot is making some of its best wines today. Director François Labet’s special bottling from vines planted in 1910 has been an essence of this legendary grand cru in recent years.
Cellar Favorite: 2010 Domaine Armand Rousseau Bourgogne Blanc
France: Burgundy, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Jan 2019
I am at Domaine Rousseau and ask Cyrielle Rousseau about the mysterious Bourgogne Blanc. She confirms that her family produced it for a number of years from a parcel in Gevrey-Chambertin, solely for personal consumption or to give to friends and associates. They no longer make it.