CWD: A pedantic, somewhat predictable, but still interesting question re Burgundy vintages

The 2004 Bachelet Bourgogne I reported on above was significantly better on night 2. It had much more expressive fruit & zero tobacco ash (yes ash), as opposed to night one where the ash element was notable but not totally distracting.
 
'96 Caillot Beaune Avaux are kickass right now. Picked up a bunch cheap, and they're really showing nicely.

I hadn't been familiar with the producer, but it's brought in by Jim Elston (Chemin des Vins), whose portfolio is generally high quality. He's got a thing going now with Patrick Lesek, though I'm not sure if this Domaine is a part of it.

Caillot's organic, low-SO2, hands-off stuff. Tasty. We picked up some Les Herbeaux (lieu-dit?) whites, too, and while they've got some noticeable oak it's well integrated, and hey, friggin' baby Meursault should have a bit.
 
I think .sasha is really looking for one of those funny math symbols that doesn't show up on a standard keyboard. Particularly, the symbol with the ~ superimposed over the top of the =.

Clear now?
 
I appear to be in a distinct minority here, but I have not been enjoying the 96s at all. Granted, I've not tasted a number of the wines mentioned here. Every time I've sat through a vertical of any significance, the 96 has been the ugly duckling; never bad, just out of wack. At best, they are just too young and seem neither here nor there - most recently a really splendid Clos des Porrets Gouges, had the structure of a very young wine (mostly centered around powerful and somewhat volatile acidity), but also the fruit and secondary complexity of a much older and fairly evolved burgundy, the two aspects not really jiving together in my book. And I am heavily pro-Gouges, for the record. This is down to personal taste most likely, given how many do enjoy the wines, but for me 1972 is an optimistic scenario for 1996, as I can definitely observe enough similarities.
 
originally posted by Lee Short:
I think .sasha is really looking for one of those funny math symbols that doesn't show up on a standard keyboard. Particularly, the symbol with the ~ superimposed over the top of the =.

Clear now?
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Yes, I've misplaced my old IBM keyboard with APL character set.
 
I've been in agreement with sasha at least with regard to aging curve though I'll defer to Maureen who tastes these things much more frequently than I do. I see similarities to 1988 there as well.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
I've been in agreement with sasha at least with regard to aging curve though I'll defer to Maureen who tastes these things much more frequently than I do. I see similarities to 1988 there as well.
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I think 1988 as well, but I haven't had many 1972s.
 
Obviously it depends which wines you come across, and on what day you do so. I was really uncomfortable with the disjunct .sasha mentions until I was persuaded that it's just an exaggeratedly normal evolutionary moment. I'll buy the wines at the right prices because I'm sure that as usual the wines from the best people will turn out splendidly but I think it's going to be a very long wait, even longer than 88 is being.
 
Hmm, a thread I can comment on

I have had a couple of 96s recently that showed very well (Bocquenet NSG, Bertheau CM 1er cru, Rion CM Beaux Brun) - as you can see, none of them from very high pedigree (those might still be closed) - all delightful. As they were when very young before they shut down hard.

1985 - delicious if well-stored
1986 - not sure I've ever had any
1987 - drank all of mine years ago
1988 - has really turned out fine, still waiting on grand crus for the most part - most of my experience has been from the CdB side (terrific Clair Dominode most recently)
1989 - never had many so no comment
1990 - loved them young - the good ones are shut down, others overripe or muddy
1991 - wish I had more but Rousseau rocked
1992 - nah
1993 - some starting to show well - great vintage to hold, tho, at the higher levels
1994 - nah
1995 - some very good (roumier, in particular, nailed the vintage)
1996 - loved them young, just beginning to open
1997 - nah
1998 - I like this vintage and keep backfilling - jadot's csj, roumier cras, and mugnier fuees particular standouts for me (haven't tried many grand crus)
1999 - a favorite of mine altho most are asleep now
2000 - have had very few but they pleased - bachelet corbeaux, truchot charmes, ponsot griotte, rousseau beze, and mugnier musigny - ok, so they are very good at the top at least
2001 - another favorite and I've had many recently - too young really, but they pleased - barthod cras, bachelet corbeaux, truchot blanchard, H-N suchots
2002 - hmm, haven't had many lately, own a bunch so hope I like them
2003 - nah (altho grivot's richebourg was stunning)
2004 - the very few I've had (mostly truchot) I've really liked - and didn't feel deprived because I'd spent time with young wine
2005 - see 2002
 
Maureen,you should try some 92s. Bachelet Charmes will kill you with pleasure, as will Drouhin's top wines, Pousse D'Or, Engel, Faiveley, to name but a few. Nobody could have guessed how wonderfully some of the wines would evolve five years ago.
 
originally posted by Tom Blach:
Maureen,you should try some 92s. Bachelet Charmes will kill you with pleasure, as will Drouhin's top wines, Pousse D'Or, Engel, Faiveley, to name but a few. Nobody could have guessed how wonderfully some of the wines would evolve five years ago.
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I had a freakishly good 92 Chevalier Corton Rouget this summer on our bike tour - picked up at Maximum or Extreme or whatever the name is of that place in Beaune.
 
Also, had a fairly nice 04 Tardy NSG Bas aux Combe last night - I think someone made the characterization above of a blend of 98 and 01 - that seemed accurate for that wine. Probably with more connection to 01, in a scaled down way.
 
Had a nice 1996 Lafarge Beaune Greve last night, one of the first non-shut down 1996s I've had in a while. Still very young, but quite enoyable with lots of bright fruit.

From my much more limited experience:

1983 - the good ones are perfectly mature right now and drinking well
1985 - some are faded, some are gorgeous
1986 - very mixed for me
1987 - some very good ones but no reason not to drink up. I generally prefer it to 1986. a d'Angerville was really really nice a few years ago
1988 - starting to drink well but should mostly hold longer (but I've been saying that for several years)
1989 - I've had some Volnays I like very much from this vintage
1990 - the good ones can be very good, the bad ones are all stewed fruit, yech
1991 - I find it more consistently good
1992 - had some great ones years ago, nothing recently
1993 - starting to show well, but certainly hold your grand crus
1994 - yet to have one I liked but of course I only bought my first Burgundies with the 1995 vintage
1995 - very good vintage, still needs time, Roumier village Chambolle is hauntingly beautiful (haven't had any of their others but I believe Maureen that they're good too)
1996 - I'm betting they'll all come around eventually
1997 - a few producers did well (Mugnier, Dujac, Rousseau, especially Gouges come to mind) but most are pretty disappointing
1998 - I like this vintage very much and many of them are drinking well now too. Thought it was mainly a Cote d'Or vintage at first but in the last few years I've had some great Volnays.
1999 - letting mine sleep
2000 - one of my favorite vintages for current drinking
2001 - letting mine sleep, re hail - avoid Volnay but not Savigny
2002 - letting mine sleep
2003 - my original negative reaction has been tempered by a few impressive wines. Those few should be great down the line but I still think the vast majority are not my cup of tea.
2004 - haven't tried any since shortly after release. Between the people saying the green streak is getting worse (I'm not especially sensitive to it but if it gets very bad...) and other people saying it's an early drinking vintage I may try to pull some and check in
2005 - holding for my retirement years
2006 - only tried a few less expensive bottlings none of which thrilled me. I'm trying to redirect my wine expenditures towards some other areas that aren't as well represented in my cellar. It's hard. Brad has helped recently.
 
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