Paris=Burgundy

R

Rahsaan

Rahsaan
Quick trip to Paris to see Nadal defeat Djokovic and other Roland Garros-related pleasures. But there should always be at least one nice wine-related meal. So I met Claude K. at Les Climats for lunch before flying back to Berlin.

Started with 2018 Picq Chablis Vaucoupin. I know Picq gets lots of love but this might not have been the most typical bottle. A bit blocky and marked by 2018, but nonetheless a poised pleasure that did good service with the French-style burrata and then the asparagus/oyster dish.

2014 Clavelier Chambolle-Musigny La Combe-d’Orveau was a real treat for me. Elegant, fresh but with good firm presence in the mouth and layers to play with. Life was good in that moment.
 
I can't begin to tell you what a pleasure it was to se Rahsaan again and what you folks in NYC are going to gain with his new move (hope I'm not talking out of class, Rahsaan).

Re Picq, I had recently bought a bottle of straight Chablis 2018 here in Paris and was underwhelmed (no focus), so I went for a glass of the 2020 Bourgogne-Aligoté from Pierre Morey, which was as good as an Aligoté can get, I think -- pure, razor sharp precision, penetrating, and mineral.

The bottle of premier cru Combe d'Orveau is not to be confused with the village version -- which Grivot and Anne Gros bottle and which is a substantial part of Mugnier's village Chambolle. The village version is essentially a continuation of Vosne-En Orveaux and not even contiguous with the premier cru portion of Chambolle-Combe d'Orveaux, and it has an entirely different exposition. The premier cru is contiguous with the southern edge of Musigny (Amoureuses is on the north side of Musigny). Amoureuses is more famous because its owners include de Vogüé, Roumier, Drouhin, Jadot (formerly Clair-Daü), Mugnier, and Groffier all of which have long been famous producers. But with the exception of Roumier, Amoureuses is different from Musigny, more red fruit, a different spice and a different texture. The premier cru Combe d'Orveau is the true Musigny relation/continuation. Add to that Bruno Clavelier, one of the most talented vignerons in the Côte d'Or, and 2014, a vintage that is filled with freshness and has never shut down, and there's nothing more to say.

A Burgundy trivia point: Combe d'Orveau is one of the rare Burgundy climats that is village, premier cru, and grand cru.
 
As Rahsaan says, I'm currently splitting, but each year spending more time in Paris, less in SF, and this year will pass into majority Paris.
 
I agree wholeheartedly that Pierre Morey's is one of the finest examples of Aligote in the Cote d'Or. The description however does not attempt to capture the underlying reasons, and if anything is more suitable to other Aligote in the region that I regularly dismiss as aspiring to be a poor man's (a fiscally responsible man's?) Chardonnay with a famous Domaine's label and style attached. Morey's version remains varietal in the best sense, despite its elegance. A degree of freshness brought about by a healthy dose of herbaceous bitterness that is particular to Aligote in the region is a big part of what makes this special, as does its relatively modest octane level (which I have not had the pleasure to gauge in 2020, and expect to be a little higher than normal).
 
Aligoté is a complex subject.

To begin with, there is the Raisin Doré that is the basis for famous producers such as de Villaine, Lafarge, and Pataille and that gives a much richer wine -- in fact, totally different in characteristics and one should not approach it with the expectation of other Aligoté. Aubert de Villaine is also quite adamant that it needs the proper terroir, in particular the proper soils, to show as it should.

Aligté also is not a grape strictly limited to the Côte d'Or. Indeed, I've had some really splendid examples from de Moor in Northern Burgundy, and most recently picked up a cheapie from Bruno Verret, a producer in Saint-Bris, in my local Carrefour of all places, that while not of quality (or price) of Morey or de Moor, was excellent for what it was (and less than 9 euros/bottle). On the Côte Chalonnaise, Jacqueson has in the past made very good Bourgogne-Aligoté and Bouzeron, but I think there has been a generational change and I'm not sure the wines are still in the same style.

Finally, don't overlook the relatively recent appellation of Coteaux Bourguignons, which for the whites are blends of Aligoté and Chardonnay. You're not going to get any terroir there, but you can get some delicious wines (especially for picnics) for very little money.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
As Rahsaan says, I'm currently splitting, but each year spending more time in Paris, less in SF, and this year will pass into majority Paris.
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I am in Paris quite often. Hopefully our paths will cross.
 
originally posted by Robert Dentice:
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
As Rahsaan says, I'm currently splitting, but each year spending more time in Paris, less in SF, and this year will pass into majority Paris.
Click to expand...

I am in Paris quite often. Hopefully our paths will cross.
Click to expand...
E-mail sent.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
As Rahsaan says, I'm currently splitting, but each year spending more time in Paris, less in SF, and this year will pass into majority Paris.
Click to expand...

So, less time in the so-called Paris of the United States and more time in the Paris of the world.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Paris=BurgundyQuick trip to Paris to see Nadal defeat Djokovic and other Roland Garros-related pleasures. But there should always be at least one nice wine-related meal. So I met Claude K. at Les Climats for lunch before flying back to Berlin.

Started with 2018 Picq Chablis Vaucopin. I know Picq gets lots of love but this might not have been the most typical bottle. A bit blocky and marked by 2018, but nonetheless a poised pleasure that did good service with the French-style burrata and then the asparagus/oyster dish.

2014 Clavelier Chambolle-Musigny La Combe-d’Orveau was a real treat for me. Elegant, fresh but with good firm presence in the mouth and layers to play with. Life was good in that moment.
Click to expand...

Perhaps not coincidentally, in the last two nights we downed a bottle of 2006 Picq Vaucoupin. We came, we saw, we were unequivocally underwhelmed. The floral aroma was pretty enough, elegant even, but the rest was butter, butter, butter, the apparent result of battonage up the wazoo. No sign of Kimmeridgian soil, insufficient acidity to buttress the butteriness, and no sense of minerality whatsoever. I don't mean to nitpick, or be picky, but the Picq rose to the top of no peak, was unfit for even a picnic, and came close to inducing a fit of pique.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Paris=BurgundyQuick trip to Paris to see Nadal defeat Djokovic and other Roland Garros-related pleasures. But there should always be at least one nice wine-related meal. So I met Claude K. at Les Climats for lunch before flying back to Berlin.

Started with 2018 Picq Chablis Vaucopin. I know Picq gets lots of love but this might not have been the most typical bottle. A bit blocky and marked by 2018, but nonetheless a poised pleasure that did good service with the French-style burrata and then the asparagus/oyster dish.

2014 Clavelier Chambolle-Musigny La Combe-d’Orveau was a real treat for me. Elegant, fresh but with good firm presence in the mouth and layers to play with. Life was good in that moment.
Click to expand...

Perhaps not coincidentally, in the last two nights we downed a bottle of 2006 Picq Vaucoupin. We came, we saw, we were unequivocally underwhelmed. The floral aroma was pretty enough, elegant even, but the rest was butter, butter, butter, the apparent result of battonage up the wazoo. No sign of Kimmeridgian soil, insufficient acidity to buttress the butteriness, and no sense of minerality whatsoever. I don't mean to nitpick, or be picky, but the Picq rose to the top of no peak, was unfit for even a picnic, and came close to inducing a fit of pique.
Click to expand...

I admit to few experiences with Picq, but consistently poor ones. I don't understand the praise, especially given the ease with which one can find numerous Chablis producers of excellent quality.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Paris=BurgundyQuick trip to Paris to see Nadal defeat Djokovic and other Roland Garros-related pleasures. But there should always be at least one nice wine-related meal. So I met Claude K. at Les Climats for lunch before flying back to Berlin.

Started with 2018 Picq Chablis Vaucopin. I know Picq gets lots of love but this might not have been the most typical bottle. A bit blocky and marked by 2018, but nonetheless a poised pleasure that did good service with the French-style burrata and then the asparagus/oyster dish.

2014 Clavelier Chambolle-Musigny La Combe-d’Orveau was a real treat for me. Elegant, fresh but with good firm presence in the mouth and layers to play with. Life was good in that moment.
Click to expand...

Perhaps not coincidentally, in the last two nights we downed a bottle of 2006 Picq Vaucoupin. We came, we saw, we were unequivocally underwhelmed. The floral aroma was pretty enough, elegant even, but the rest was butter, butter, butter, the apparent result of battonage up the wazoo. No sign of Kimmeridgian soil, insufficient acidity to buttress the butteriness, and no sense of minerality whatsoever. I don't mean to nitpick, or be picky, but the Picq rose to the top of no peak, was unfit for even a picnic, and came close to inducing a fit of pique.
Click to expand...

I admit to few experiences with Picq, but consistently poor ones. I don't understand the praise, especially given the ease with which one can find numerous Chablis producers of excellent quality.
Click to expand...

perhaps things have changed at Picq in the last few years? i just started drinking and buying Picq with the 2016 vintage and think the wines are very good.
Vaucoupin the last couple vintages has been really good and a terrific value.

Oswaldo,was your Vaucoupin really 2006 and not 2016? I'm not sure that wine is meant to go 16 years. If you bought a 2006 recently, your description sounds like a compromised bottle. Maybe heat damaged.
 
Claude, great to see you posting here! Have not seen you since the cellars of Dujac a few years ago.

I was very specific in saying that Morey makes one of the best Aligote, to my taste, in the Cote d'Or. That is because my favorite examples overall come from elsewhere.
 
You may disagree with Oswaldo's taste. God knows Oswaldo and I have disagreed about lots, from Darwin through exchange rates to aesthetics. But his description doesn't sound remotely like a damaged wine. It sounds like CA style malolactic treatment ( another thing we once disagreed about!).
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
You may disagree with Oswaldo's taste. God knows Oswaldo and I have disagreed about lots, from Darwin through exchange rates to aesthetics. But his description doesn't sound remotely like a damaged wine. It sounds like CA style malolactic treatment ( another thing we once disagreed about!).
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agreed. i had those thoughts also.

but more than CA style treatment, it could be an example of the level and style ripeness that growers were confronted with in 2006.
 
originally posted by Bill Lundstrom:
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Paris=BurgundyQuick trip to Paris to see Nadal defeat Djokovic and other Roland Garros-related pleasures. But there should always be at least one nice wine-related meal. So I met Claude K. at Les Climats for lunch before flying back to Berlin.

Started with 2018 Picq Chablis Vaucopin. I know Picq gets lots of love but this might not have been the most typical bottle. A bit blocky and marked by 2018, but nonetheless a poised pleasure that did good service with the French-style burrata and then the asparagus/oyster dish.

2014 Clavelier Chambolle-Musigny La Combe-d’Orveau was a real treat for me. Elegant, fresh but with good firm presence in the mouth and layers to play with. Life was good in that moment.
Click to expand...

Perhaps not coincidentally, in the last two nights we downed a bottle of 2006 Picq Vaucoupin. We came, we saw, we were unequivocally underwhelmed. The floral aroma was pretty enough, elegant even, but the rest was butter, butter, butter, the apparent result of battonage up the wazoo. No sign of Kimmeridgian soil, insufficient acidity to buttress the butteriness, and no sense of minerality whatsoever. I don't mean to nitpick, or be picky, but the Picq rose to the top of no peak, was unfit for even a picnic, and came close to inducing a fit of pique.
Click to expand...

I admit to few experiences with Picq, but consistently poor ones. I don't understand the praise, especially given the ease with which one can find numerous Chablis producers of excellent quality.
Click to expand...

perhaps things have changed at Picq in the last few years? i just started drinking and buying Picq with the 2016 vintage and think the wines are very good.
Vaucoupin the last couple vintages has been really good and a terrific value.

Oswaldo,was your Vaucoupin really 2006 and not 2016? I'm not sure that wine is meant to go 16 years. If you bought a 2006 recently, your description sounds like a compromised bottle. Maybe heat damaged.
Click to expand...

Not a typo, definitely 2006, and not showing any of the characteristics that i associate with heat damage. But whatever is done to make CaliChards triple cream did cross my mind.
 
Just cruising around with my pal Google, I don't see anybody else suggesting that the Picq wines are treated to batonnage or that Vaucoupin is anything other than saline and citrus. Perhaps you had an off bottle.

Of course, being 2006, a few people reported unusual flavors associated to ripeness (e.g., pineapple, porcini) and one importer wrote: "The fundamental change here happened with the 2006 vintage, when the brothers got a sorting table. This enabled them to control their grape selections to the point where they elected to forgo yeast inoculations. Didier admitted to a number of sleepless nights because the fermentations were consequently much slower than normal, but this resulted in better breadth and textures, and subsequently working with spontaneous yeast fermentations has become the norm chez Picq. No fining, only a light filtration."
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Just cruising around with my pal Google, I don't see anybody else suggesting that the Picq wines are treated to batonnage or that Vaucoupin is anything other than saline and citrus. Perhaps you had an off bottle.

Of course, being 2006, a few people reported unusual flavors associated to ripeness (e.g., pineapple, porcini) and one importer wrote: "The fundamental change here happened with the 2006 vintage, when the brothers got a sorting table. This enabled them to control their grape selections to the point where they elected to forgo yeast inoculations. Didier admitted to a number of sleepless nights because the fermentations were consequently much slower than normal, but this resulted in better breadth and textures, and subsequently working with spontaneous yeast fermentations has become the norm chez Picq. No fining, only a light filtration."
Click to expand...

gtk, thanks
 
OK, but Oswaldo said butter, butter, butter. This does not sound to me like batonnage. It sounds like extreme malolactic. Do they say anything about this? Do others taste what Oswaldo tasted. I don't know the wine, so I really don't have a position.
 
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