A disappointing 02 Lapierre Morgon

B

BJ

BJ
Especially disappointing as I just got a half case.

This one was one of those labeled (under the KL import sticker) as needing to stay below 14 degrees C. I have heard this is a sign the bottle is not sulfered.

This bottle just seemed volatile. It was exciting at first, with bretty and volatile elements there but not dominant, and a lot of 02 structure, with lots of Morgonesque meat tones. But with air this got a bit more disjointed and even though we were pulling hard for it by the end of dinner concluded it was pretty messed up.

Really too bad. I wonder about the sans soufre for aging, seems like maybe not a good idea.
 
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
A disappointing 02 Lapierre MorgonEspecially disappointing as I just got a half case.

This one was one of those labeled (under the KL import sticker) as needing to stay below 14 degrees C. I have heard this is a sign the bottle is not sulfered.

This bottle just seemed volatile. It was exciting at first, with bretty and volatile elements there but not dominant, and a lot of 02 structure, with lots of Morgonesque meat tones. But with air this got a bit more disjointed and even though we were pulling hard for it by the end of dinner concluded it was pretty messed up.

Really too bad. I wonder about the sans soufre for aging, seems like maybe not a good idea.
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sans souffre ages fine, 02 in the beaujolais is not 02 in the loire...
 
Brad,
'Bretty and volatile elements' might well be explained by a complete absence of SO2 in an unfiltered wine that had been allowed to stray above its advised 14oC max - and for that reason I always buy the version [still unfiltered] where some SO2 is used at bottling although I know that some have aged the completely unsulphured product successfully. The supplier I buy from in the UK only imports the completely unsulphured version in the winter because of the 'below 14oC' requirement.

OTOH you were not [initially at least] complaining about excessive brett or VA but perhaps they were what ultimately upset the balance for you although maybe you just didn't like the 02 version.

AFAIK 2002 was generally a very good Beaujolais vintage and I have enjoyed quite a number and still have some left from various producers e.g. Chateau des Jacques Clos de Rochegres et al although my Lapierre Morgons are finished. I am keeping some of my 05 Lapierres longer and some of my 02 and 05 'Clos' Jadot wines will, as usual, reach 10+.
 
I too am a big fan of 02 in cru Beaujolais, its earth and carnal elements, which is why I was excited to find these. This had nothing to do with disliking 02 as a vintage in Beaujolais (I have had the 02 Lapierre several times in the last several years, including with Lapierre himself, and loved it, and the 02 Chermette MaV Roches was one of the best Beaujolais I've ever had). This was clearly a bottle issue which focused me on the sans souffre.

It was interesting, the bottles looked to be in perfect condition, with no wine moving up the sides of the cork at all.

I will be curious to see how the other bottles are.
 
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:

It was interesting, the bottles looked to be in perfect condition, with no wine moving up the sides of the cork at all.

I will be curious to see how the other bottles are.
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Brad,
As you're probably aware already, that 14 C caution is because of the microbiological activity left in the bottle. If you allow the wine to warm up, you run the risk of getting, as someone put it, a "bacteriological time bomb." So, you can have a wine that suffers no heat damage but is nonetheless ruined.

Mark Lipton
 
Yeah, that's what we had going. Not what I normally experience as brett bloom (at least how I think about it) but not good.
 
Ah Kane. I see some signs of improvement. We had an entire lunch at Momofuko and he didn't take a single photo! (Although, now I think about it, I vaguely remember something about the camera being fixed?)
 
Lapierre produced some screwed up wines in 2002. I don't know if it was limited to particular bottlings/barrels. And then there was frequently the issue with the wines in the late '90s and early "Aughts" that in the full flower of maturity it turned out they were brett bombs. I don't know how widespread the shipping/transit issues were but the local store from which I purchased the '02 Lapierre also received a huge number of cases of Chevillon at roughly the same time that had been ruined in shipping (similar possible transit/storage issues). That local store no longer exists.

I haven't noticed these problems in the past 3-4 vintages (and am now buying them from a different source).
 
originally posted by Bwood:
Lapierre produced some screwed up wines in 2002. I don't know if it was limited to particular bottlings/barrels. And then there was frequently the issue with the wines in the late '90s and early "Aughts" that in the full flower of maturity it turned out they were brett bombs. I don't know how widespread the shipping/transit issues were but the local store from which I purchased the '02 Lapierre also received a huge number of cases of Chevillon at roughly the same time that had been ruined in shipping (similar possible transit/storage issues). That local store no longer exists.

I haven't noticed these problems in the past 3-4 vintages (and am now buying them from a different source).
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My experience has been similar to John from my own bottles and even with John from his.
 
originally posted by MarkS:
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
I honestly don't think 02 was a great Burgundy vintage. A bit facile.
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Even "real" Burgundy?

Serious?
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I'll take 01, 99, and many 98s over 02 any day. Just not my kind of vintage. A little generic.

And I realize I'm really generalizing.
 
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