TN - '01 Barthod Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras

K

Kevin Harvey

Kevin Harvey
I need to admit that I find Les Cras every bit as compelling as the now over-rated, over-priced Amoureuses. There I said it.

'01 Barthod Chambolle Musigny Les Cras-
Captivating floral nose of crushed limestone, fresh roses and cherries. This is a middleweight with a lot of precision and freshness. It is not particularly deep or generous right now but the elegance and purity are outstanding. These wonderful elegant and detailed beauties really deserve some age. Drink in 4-10 years.
 
I tasted her 01 line up last fall and liked the wines a lot, although I preferred Les Vroilles and Fues to the at that moment a bit more austere Les Cras. Didn't taste the Les Amoureuses.

From my limited experience with the Les Amoureuses (or was it Les Charmes?) in the mid- to end nineties I never found it to be significant superior to the other crus. But always significantly more expensive. Nowadays, it has simply disappeared from the market here.
 
No Amoureuses chez Barthod, sadly (or maybe fortunately, since it would probably get cultified a la Fourrier Clos St. Jacques). Also, up til this year I never noticed much of a price difference among the Barthod crus - not that any of them were ever cheap.
 
so it was the Les Charmes. It always was more expensive hereabout. Les Cras, Vroilles and Fues would be 35 while the Charmes 50+.
 
originally posted by Anders Gautschi:
so it was the Les Charmes. It always was more expensive hereabout. Les Cras, Vroilles and Fues would be 35 while the Charmes 50+.
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Beaux Bruns is pricer as well.
 
originally posted by maureen:
naw, beaux bruns is nearer the bottom of the pricing structure (well, middle to bottom)
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Yep. It's Cras and Charmes, although Fuees has been creeping up. They're all very pricey these days.
 
I was at a dinner last night where the '01 Fuees disappeared from the table, literally. I thought it was fairly spectacular, but that was based on one drive-by taste.
 
originally posted by Bwood:
I was at a dinner last night where the '01 Fuees disappeared from the table, literally. I thought it was fairly spectacular, but that was based on one drive-by taste.
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I think that was the WOTN, at least in red. The '06 Baudry Blanc gave it a run for its money, though, especially wrt food matching. I thought the Fuees was compelling, but a few years young.
 
originally posted by Susannah:
Agreed.
originally posted by Bwood:
I was at a dinner last night where the '01 Fuees disappeared from the table, literally. I thought it was fairly spectacular, but that was based on one drive-by taste.
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I think that was the WOTN, at least in red. The '06 Baudry Blanc gave it a run for its money, though, especially wrt food matching. I thought the Fuees was compelling, but a few years young.
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I never did get your take on the Verset vs. the Clape. Any thoughts?

The Baudry Blanc was compelling.

And fuck chardonnay and the horse it rode in on. Well, ok, maybe that's extreme. I have finally realized I just need to quit buying chardonnay-based wines except for the ones meant to be drunk young.
 
was excellent. For me the 1995 Verset was the wine of the evening, although it was a night where everything showed well, except that brett 1995 Allemand.

I thought the Dauvissat was spectacular, but I like chardonnay. The 2006 Croix Boisse blanc was very good, but not quite 2004.

The 1996 Beaux Bruns really came on late. I really liked the 1996 Cornu Bressandes as well.

The wine that got lost in the shuffle for me was the 1996 Trimbach CFE.

I'm guessing you got home OK, it was great to see you, as always.

Did you realize we didn't have a single corked bottle all weekend? And only the Allemand was truly fucked.
 
originally posted by Bwood:
I never did get your take on the Verset vs. the Clape. Any thoughts?
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I was a bit disappointed in the Clape, thought it came off generically Syrah. The Verset, OTOH, had a head-turning limpidity of fruit. It was alive and self-aware and I loved it. My first experience with the producer and one I hope to repeat.
And fuck chardonnay and the horse it rode in on. Well, ok, maybe that's extreme. I have finally realized I just need to quit buying chardonnay-based wines except for the ones meant to be drunk young.
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You know, I missed the Chablis (also the Trimbach), but I agree with you wrt the '95 Corton-Charlemagne, which was too lactic for me and lacking in complexity. A shame, as I usually swoon over C-Ch.
 
I love the mystery of this dinner, wherein vague hints and murmurs of other bottles keep getting evoked, like the fleeting image of someone in a rearview mirror before you turn around.

Oh, and to stay on-topic: a 2001 Barthod "Beaux-Bruns" drunk last week was nowhere near user-friendly.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
I love the mystery of this dinner, wherein vague hints and murmurs of other bottles keep getting evoked, like the fleeting image of someone in a rearview mirror before you turn around.

Oh, and to stay on-topic: a 2001 Barthod "Beaux-Bruns" drunk last week was nowhere near user-friendly.
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There were many wines and it is someone elses job to produce the record.

As for user friendly, I've found 2001s to be surprisingly giving. Not near peak, but delicious in many cases. I tend not to be necrophilic about wine.
 
originally posted by Susannah:
originally posted by Bwood:
I never did get your take on the Verset vs. the Clape. Any thoughts?
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I was a bit disappointed in the Clape, thought it came off generically Syrah. The Verset, OTOH, had a head-turning limpidity of fruit. It was alive and self-aware and I loved it. My first experience with the producer and one I hope to repeat.
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It was a head-spinning bottle. Really fantastic. You took the remainder of the Clape home, anything happen?

And fuck chardonnay and the horse it rode in on. Well, ok, maybe that's extreme. I have finally realized I just need to quit buying chardonnay-based wines except for the ones meant to be drunk young.
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You know, I missed the Chablis (also the Trimbach), but I agree with you wrt the '95 Corton-Charlemagne, which was too lactic for me and lacking in complexity. A shame, as I usually swoon over C-Ch.
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I went back to the Rollin at the end of the night and it had come a ways. It was on the light side, but had stretched out and didn't have the lactic quality. Sophie and I went back to it several times throughout the evening and it moved around quite a bit. I expect more density than that from Corton-Charlemagne, but it was still good.

Can't believe you missed the Chablis and the riesling.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
VLM, don't get me wrong; I love the maligned 2001 vintage in Burgundy. But the Beaux-Bruns wasn't feeling the love, last week.
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It's maligned? By whom?
 
2001 was long considered drastically lacking, for reasons unknown; we still laugh about it with vignerons.

ETA: perhaps in comparison to 1999? In any case, 2000 is the real whipping boy for red Burgundy. Blech.
 
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