The Beaujolais TN thread

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originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
Good to hear the Dutraive was clean (and good). Despite liking the style in principle, I stopped guessing on which bottling in which year wasn't going to be VA-ridden and/or mousy.
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Yup, I hear ya.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by BJ:
OK, I checked out the Serol. It's great!
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Eclat de Granite? which vintage?? i am still on 21 :-)
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Yes, the '22 (I thought you were referencing the Lotus for a moment). I'm sure heftier than the '21, but lots of life and energy and depth.
 
'23 G Descombes Morgon

I could drink a lot of this. Yes a bit heftier in a more modern Beaujolais way, but I'm comfortable - nothing too much. That Descombes of yore is front and center. I feel like Descombes went through a flawed period - am I wrong?

Deep red fruits, orange rind, red and black licorice, a bit dusty, slight emerging prune (but nothing bad), strong thrust balancing the weight. Not the last word in complexity, but who cares?

This wine reminds me why G Descombes, at the end of the day, is my favorite Beaujolais producer. Am I wrong about the cleanliness? There's a reason I avoided for a while.

This is great now...no hesitation to age either.
 
originally posted by BJ:
'23 G Descombes Morgon

I could drink a lot of this. ... That Descombes of yore is front and center. I feel like Descombes went through a flawed period - am I wrong?
... Not the last word in complexity, but who cares?

This wine reminds me why G Descombes, at the end of the day, is my favorite Beaujolais producer.
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That all sounds great. I assume this is the regular and not the VV, which is even more reason not to fret the lack of complexity.
 
2018 Richard Rottiers Moulin-a-Vent Champ de Cour last night was lovely - fresh, nicely proportioned, delicious. 12.5% abv, if memory serves me. Thanks to comrade Brézème for the Rottiers tip.
 
2021 Brun L’Ancien provided us with an interesting twist. I’m familiar with the idea that old Gamay can pinote and take on the characteristics of Pinot Noir, but tonight’s bottle of young Gamay put on a fair imitation of a New World Pinot Noir, albeit a red-fruited, low alcohol one. Lush red cherry fruit and a floral note in the nose that reminded me of roses made me think of a bottle of Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir that we had a couple of months ago. I’m used to the lack of semi-carbonic character in Brun’s wines but this was a new twist for me. The overall impression was highly positive, if unusual.

Mark Lipton
 
Several glasses from several bottles of 2023 Pierre-Marie Chermette Beaujolais Griottes were so joyful and so perfect for casual sipping. Ripe and fleshy but nowhere near too much. Great fun. Highly recommended for simple pleasure.
 
originally posted by BJ:
'23 G Descombes Morgon

I could drink a lot of this....
This is great now...no hesitation to age either.
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Maybe I should have listened to you. I thought about this wine but decided for '22 G Descombes Morgon VV instead. It was certainly nice and good at the table. But something seemed out of sorts between the dark fruit and the light texture. Not the same juicy integration I was getting with '21. This was my first taste of the '22, so maybe it is 'shutting down'. Although my previous experiences with Descombes' Morgon VV haven't really given many awkward periods.

And to be clear, this 'critique' is really a nitpitcking moment. The wine was perfectly delicious and perfectly worthy, but just didn't soar like I want from the best Descombes bottles.
 
I bought 4 bottles of the Descombes Vieilles Vignes bottlings recently: 2 bottles of the 2022 Chiroubles VV and 1 each of the 2021 and 2022 Brouilly VV. The results were pretty disappointing. One bottle of the Chiroubles was admittedly great, but the other tasted out of balance; and both the bottles of Brouilly were super mousey. Maybe the importer didn’t take enough care with the wines, but I found Domaine de la Grosse Pierre’s 2021 Chiroubles Aux Craz way more reliable, as just one example.
 
Well, that's a bummer, and sounds like they haven't left the cleanliness issues behind.

It could well be these are fine in Beaujolais, or even in Paris (though with the heat and lack of AC there I doubt that). But I think time and distance simply exposes these bottles too much to some spell of warmth that lets things grow. Just not worth the effort to find out for me.

I think Pacalet has been a pied piper of leading a lot of the Beaujolais youngins down a bad path...
 
This felt overly dense at opening - I put it aside for a couple hours, with enough out of the bottle to give it some air. Licorice nose.

Coming back to it - lovely stuff - opened, mellowed, and calmed. Deep cherry, blueberry, graham cracker, a bit baked, slightly meaty, grippy, long thrust. It's hefty, but just this side of hefty.

Slightly more air...strawberries, hot bricks. I should mention this wine is into secondaries.

I think this would age wonderfully, very well balanced. Adding - given how it evolved over eve, maybe not age too long...I will be drinking these.
 
The once lovely 2009 Cuvee Tardive was a stinker the other day. Bottom third of the bottle was pure sludge. Hopefully I just got the literal bottom of the barrel and it doesn't portend the same for others.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
The once lovely 2009 Cuvee Tardive was a stinker the other day. Bottom third of the bottle was pure sludge. Hopefully I just got the literal bottom of the barrel and it doesn't portend the same for others.
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No sludge whatsoever in my last two bottles, but I still struggle with the wine a bit. The 2010 has so much energy/lift next to it, along with requisite ripeness.
 
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