Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don & Melissa, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Seth, Victor
My turn to provide wine. I decide to pass on "What's My Wine" and instead conduct an open investigation into 2019 Beaujolais.
VG says it was a short crop due to erratic weather early on, but Nature provided reasonable conditions after that so the wines are not so big and brutish as 2018, with better acids and even some delicacy.
Izzat so?
Here are the wines we tried:
$21 Ch. Cambon 2019 Beaujolais 12.5%
$39 Jean-Louis Dutraive 2019 Domaine de la Grand Cour Fleurie 14.1%
$32 Jean Foillard 2019 Beaujolais Villages 12.5%
$42 M. Lapierre 2019 Morgon 13.5%
All bottles popped and decanted immediately in the morning, delivered and reopened the same day.
Day 1:
Cambon is bright and light and carbonic and provides a nostril or two of VA. I'm a Musar drinker so I'm not really put off but it's on the edge of too much. Seems a fair drop otherwise: clean, typical strawberry-and-earth, lightweight.
Dutraive... OMG something is terribly wrong with this wine! The bouquet is fine, a bit darker profile than the Cambon, maybe a hint of pine?. In the mouth the attack is also good, a bit of brambles in the berry, and then, very suddenly, there is a cloying stink, like a spoiled oatmeal cookie, gag-worthy, several people declare it 'mouse' and it is univerally dumped.
Foillard is a bit closed, at first, but in a few minutes opens up beautifully and promptly becomes everyone's favorite, medium body, good balance of fruit and earth, holds its alcohol well enough.
Lapierre is not a bruiser of a wine but it does stand half a head taller than the Foillard. It's also kinda sullen and only partly indicating its heritage; tomorrow may be a better day for it.
Day 2:
Cambon works really well with food, the VA edge is hidden and the acidity brightens the meal. So, not for cocktail consumption but use it at the table and all will be well.
Foillard has gained a bit of weight, still has darker fruit tones, now maybe even hinting at some sweetness of fruit. Excellent.
Lapierre has indeed come around. Still more medium-large than large but showing minerality, some firm tannins, and just generally better complexity.
So, net net 2019? Yes, a little on the ripe side but the vigneron/ne will make or break it for your palate (unlike 2018 where the weather appears to have overruled all interventions).
And to make this more useful as a quick guide, I've hunted up all the other 2019 Beaujolais notes on Disorder -- there aren't all that many yet -- and copied them to the bottom of this report.
Meanwhile, Victor has also provided wines for tonight and we always look forward to them:
Trimbach 2007 Riesling "Cuvee Frederic Emile" - 13%, amazing stuff: bitter but tantalizingly aromatic and delicious, "almost a lemon-lime quality" -Melissa, "Gunflint" -Don; Day 2: still aromatic but going all towards resin
Ch. Latour a Pomerol 1998 Pomerol - 80merlot/20cf; rose petals and bacon, soy sauce, savory, minerally, this wine has everything, "That's the juice" -Victor; Day 2: less floral but still really good
Ch. L'Evangile 1998 Pomerol - 65merlot/35cf; very tannic, backward, combative, doesn't seem ripe, we're all calling cab sauv appellations, "massive and black-fruited" -Victor; Day 2: the tannin glacier is melting a bit, not quite all the way to "friendly" but a little less chewy and showing more breeding
---
Other 2019 Beaujolais notes on Disorder now
Monkey reported on three Sunier wines:
2019 Julien Sunier Morgon - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon (11/26/2020)
Beautiful shimmering ruby/garnet color that is distinct to Gamay. It isn't being particularly showy and while there seems like there is plenty of fruit underneath it's all a bit muted and wrapped in an herbal, wicker sphere. Bits of spice and earth on the finish but a wine not inclined to show much today. Again, a possible victim of my faulty palate. We decide it'll be great to use for braising. (88 points)
2019 Julien Sunier Régnié - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Régnié (10/27/2020)
Juicy, fun and full of life. Robust in the natural Beaujolais style. Well fruited but with floral and herbal meadow-like notes. Structured enough to work well at the table with a salad and charcuterie. Will probably improve with a couple years in the cellar, but good to drink now. (90 points)
2019 Julien Sunier Fleurie - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie (10/7/2020)
A luscious, bumptious version of Fleurie. Lots of ripe berry fruit barely held from bursting by the structural elements. Sort of a berry/floral hard candy element. A bit of spice mixes in but it is the exuberant fruit that leaves the lasting impression. It's been a while since I've had such a joyful, fruity Beaujolais Cru and it may have been just slightly more than was called for here but managed to hold its shape despite the richness (it wasn't overripe or flabby, just lots). Not sure what age will bring, though if I were to bet I think a few years might calm everything down a bit. (91 points)
FL Jim reported on two bottles of Jadot:
2019 Jadot, Beaujolais-Villages - character without artifice; fruit without spoof and a backbone that’s the envy of every politician. Under $20 and more than worth it.
2019 Jadot, Beaujolais Villages: Excellent value and quite pretty. Happy wine.
Virtual Tasting #8 reported on a Ducroux:
Wine J2 - Also double-decanted yesterday, this is candied, bubble-gum, someone says foie gras in the finish, "Soap" -Victor. Bleh. The nasal onslaught is easing up a bit as it sits in the glass. Don cleverly ventures that it's a sans-soufre Beaujolais... yes: Ducroux 2019 "Exspectatia", 12.5%, I have no urge to buy this.
My turn to provide wine. I decide to pass on "What's My Wine" and instead conduct an open investigation into 2019 Beaujolais.
VG says it was a short crop due to erratic weather early on, but Nature provided reasonable conditions after that so the wines are not so big and brutish as 2018, with better acids and even some delicacy.
Izzat so?
Here are the wines we tried:
$21 Ch. Cambon 2019 Beaujolais 12.5%
$39 Jean-Louis Dutraive 2019 Domaine de la Grand Cour Fleurie 14.1%
$32 Jean Foillard 2019 Beaujolais Villages 12.5%
$42 M. Lapierre 2019 Morgon 13.5%
All bottles popped and decanted immediately in the morning, delivered and reopened the same day.
Day 1:
Cambon is bright and light and carbonic and provides a nostril or two of VA. I'm a Musar drinker so I'm not really put off but it's on the edge of too much. Seems a fair drop otherwise: clean, typical strawberry-and-earth, lightweight.
Dutraive... OMG something is terribly wrong with this wine! The bouquet is fine, a bit darker profile than the Cambon, maybe a hint of pine?. In the mouth the attack is also good, a bit of brambles in the berry, and then, very suddenly, there is a cloying stink, like a spoiled oatmeal cookie, gag-worthy, several people declare it 'mouse' and it is univerally dumped.
Foillard is a bit closed, at first, but in a few minutes opens up beautifully and promptly becomes everyone's favorite, medium body, good balance of fruit and earth, holds its alcohol well enough.
Lapierre is not a bruiser of a wine but it does stand half a head taller than the Foillard. It's also kinda sullen and only partly indicating its heritage; tomorrow may be a better day for it.
Day 2:
Cambon works really well with food, the VA edge is hidden and the acidity brightens the meal. So, not for cocktail consumption but use it at the table and all will be well.
Foillard has gained a bit of weight, still has darker fruit tones, now maybe even hinting at some sweetness of fruit. Excellent.
Lapierre has indeed come around. Still more medium-large than large but showing minerality, some firm tannins, and just generally better complexity.
So, net net 2019? Yes, a little on the ripe side but the vigneron/ne will make or break it for your palate (unlike 2018 where the weather appears to have overruled all interventions).
And to make this more useful as a quick guide, I've hunted up all the other 2019 Beaujolais notes on Disorder -- there aren't all that many yet -- and copied them to the bottom of this report.
Meanwhile, Victor has also provided wines for tonight and we always look forward to them:
Trimbach 2007 Riesling "Cuvee Frederic Emile" - 13%, amazing stuff: bitter but tantalizingly aromatic and delicious, "almost a lemon-lime quality" -Melissa, "Gunflint" -Don; Day 2: still aromatic but going all towards resin
Ch. Latour a Pomerol 1998 Pomerol - 80merlot/20cf; rose petals and bacon, soy sauce, savory, minerally, this wine has everything, "That's the juice" -Victor; Day 2: less floral but still really good
Ch. L'Evangile 1998 Pomerol - 65merlot/35cf; very tannic, backward, combative, doesn't seem ripe, we're all calling cab sauv appellations, "massive and black-fruited" -Victor; Day 2: the tannin glacier is melting a bit, not quite all the way to "friendly" but a little less chewy and showing more breeding
---
Other 2019 Beaujolais notes on Disorder now
Monkey reported on three Sunier wines:
2019 Julien Sunier Morgon - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon (11/26/2020)
Beautiful shimmering ruby/garnet color that is distinct to Gamay. It isn't being particularly showy and while there seems like there is plenty of fruit underneath it's all a bit muted and wrapped in an herbal, wicker sphere. Bits of spice and earth on the finish but a wine not inclined to show much today. Again, a possible victim of my faulty palate. We decide it'll be great to use for braising. (88 points)
2019 Julien Sunier Régnié - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Régnié (10/27/2020)
Juicy, fun and full of life. Robust in the natural Beaujolais style. Well fruited but with floral and herbal meadow-like notes. Structured enough to work well at the table with a salad and charcuterie. Will probably improve with a couple years in the cellar, but good to drink now. (90 points)
2019 Julien Sunier Fleurie - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie (10/7/2020)
A luscious, bumptious version of Fleurie. Lots of ripe berry fruit barely held from bursting by the structural elements. Sort of a berry/floral hard candy element. A bit of spice mixes in but it is the exuberant fruit that leaves the lasting impression. It's been a while since I've had such a joyful, fruity Beaujolais Cru and it may have been just slightly more than was called for here but managed to hold its shape despite the richness (it wasn't overripe or flabby, just lots). Not sure what age will bring, though if I were to bet I think a few years might calm everything down a bit. (91 points)
FL Jim reported on two bottles of Jadot:
2019 Jadot, Beaujolais-Villages - character without artifice; fruit without spoof and a backbone that’s the envy of every politician. Under $20 and more than worth it.
2019 Jadot, Beaujolais Villages: Excellent value and quite pretty. Happy wine.
Virtual Tasting #8 reported on a Ducroux:
Wine J2 - Also double-decanted yesterday, this is candied, bubble-gum, someone says foie gras in the finish, "Soap" -Victor. Bleh. The nasal onslaught is easing up a bit as it sits in the glass. Don cleverly ventures that it's a sans-soufre Beaujolais... yes: Ducroux 2019 "Exspectatia", 12.5%, I have no urge to buy this.
