Burgundy Report

R

Robert Dentice

Robert Dentice
A brief initial report from Burgundy.

The hail damage is bad and one producer said this could put some growers who are already on the brink of financial collapse over the edge and prices keep going up and up due to smaller yields.

Prior to the storm everything was set for a beautiful vintage. It is extremely hot now.

The 2012 Cossard wines are stunningly beautiful and I am so happy Zev is bringing in a large amount.

Prieure Roch is making two extended maceration no sulphur whites that were very good and new to the lineup, their 04s and 08s are drinking well.

Tasted the entire 2013 lineup from Pacalet and was very impressed with what he did with this vintage.

He made a Syrah from Cornas that is beautiful.
 
originally posted by SteveTimko:
This is three years in a row, right? Has this kind of hail damage ever happened three years in a row before?
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Prior to three years ago hail of this destructive magnitude had rarely, if ever, been seen. Most growers had no insurance.

In addition to the above I also tasted the full Denis Bachelet 2013 lineup. Extraordinarily beautiful wines and despite needing age showed really well from Barrel. I only wish they were less expensive and easier to get.

I am sure it was partly due to the circles I travel in but this trip I was most surprised by the amount of interest in Natural wines. And not just from Burgundy.
 
I am always glad to see something like that.

So much to be preferred to a Parker rave over a favorite wine.
 
originally posted by Robert Dentice:


In addition to the above I also tasted the full Denis Bachelet 2013 lineup. Extraordinarily beautiful wines and despite needing age showed really well from Barrel.
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Sigh. My unexpectedly quick departure from Burgundy in May meant i missed my scheduled tasting with Denis. As well as dinner with him and his wife afterwards. Glad to hear you liked them. Not so hard to find if you don't insist on the Charmes. Much as i have loved his Charmes, i quit buying it after the 05 vintage and am ok with just buying the gevrey, which was always the steal from Denis' collection.
 
The hail tends to go in cycles, so, for example, Vosne-Romanée was very badly hit during several vintages in the 1970s.

But since the late 1990s, it's been unbelievably brutal on the Côte de Beaune: 1998, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, plus smaller hits in other years and heavy rains on the eve of harvest in 2000. Not to mention small harvests in years such as 2003, 2008, 2010 -- really, only 1999, 2002, 2005, 2009 were abundant during that period.

Steen Öhman at winehog.org posts the following reports of losses:

"Pommard: 60-90%
Volnay: 50-80%
Beaune: 15-100%
Corton: 30-50%
Meursault: 10-20%, up to 80% for some premiers crus
Puligny-Montrachet: 1er crus 30-40%, grands crus 20%
Chassagne-Montrachet: 5-10%
Vosne-Romanee/Flagey Echezeaux: 10-20%
Chambolle: Between 10-20%
Clos de Vougeot: 20%"

Additionally, I have heard of reports of hail in Nuits and Gevrey, and that leads one to suppose Morey, too.

As for insurance, I heard different things from different vignerons last year, but these last three years are just going to raise the premiums to the sky.

They tried cloud seeding in Volnay this year, but it didn't work (or didn't work nearly well enough).
 
originally posted by scottreiner:
Fantastic reporting on Natural wines....
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Goodness. A few sentences so stupid they make your teeth ache:

"It is more than just grapes and you can’t make wine without human intervention, unlike cows or carrots."

"Without adequate sulphur, wine becomes highly unstable."
 
originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I am sure it was partly due to the circles I travel in but this trip I was most surprised by the amount of interest in Natural wines. And not just from Burgundy.
Click to expand...

Think the fact that virtually every hot new Paris restaurant composes its list from natural wines may have something to do with it?
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I am sure it was partly due to the circles I travel in but this trip I was most surprised by the amount of interest in Natural wines. And not just from Burgundy.
Click to expand...

Think the fact that virtually every hot new Paris restaurant composes its list from natural wines may have something to do with it?
Click to expand...

I think it would be really cool if there were a hot new Paris restaurant that only poured conventional wines. So thrilling!
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I am sure it was partly due to the circles I travel in but this trip I was most surprised by the amount of interest in Natural wines. And not just from Burgundy.
Click to expand...

Think the fact that virtually every hot new Paris restaurant composes its list from natural wines may have something to do with it?
Click to expand...

Yes for sure. But it is a really interesting dilemma because the prices for Burgundy are high and steadily rising.

I have had conversations with two of the very top restauranteurs in Paris that focus on natural wines and both are very concerned about the prices.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I am sure it was partly due to the circles I travel in but this trip I was most surprised by the amount of interest in Natural wines. And not just from Burgundy.
Click to expand...

Think the fact that virtually every hot new Paris restaurant composes its list from natural wines may have something to do with it?
Click to expand...

I think it would be really cool if there were a hot new Paris restaurant that only poured conventional wines. So thrilling!
Click to expand...

Not quite yet, the new cool thing is non-french Natural wines!

For example, the recently opened Chateaubriand Cave focuses exclusively on non-French wines.

It is a little odd that every hot restaurant has almost the exact same wine list and there are not many new producers.

I do know that one London based importer is going to be bringing in several U.S. New California type wines, I doubt they get much traction due to pricing.
 
originally posted by scottreiner:
Fantastic reporting on Natural wines....
Click to expand...

seems like another dude who would rather talk about furniture....

fb.

nat.jpg
 
originally posted by Robert Dentice:
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I am sure it was partly due to the circles I travel in but this trip I was most surprised by the amount of interest in Natural wines. And not just from Burgundy.
Click to expand...

Think the fact that virtually every hot new Paris restaurant composes its list from natural wines may have something to do with it?
Click to expand...

I think it would be really cool if there were a hot new Paris restaurant that only poured conventional wines. So thrilling!
Click to expand...

Not quite yet, the new cool thing is non-french Natural wines!

For example, the recently opened Chateaubriand Cave focuses exclusively on non-French wines.

It is a little odd that every hot restaurant has almost the exact same wine list and there are not many new producers.

I do know that one London based importer is going to be bringing in several U.S. New California type wines, I doubt they get much traction due to pricing.
Click to expand...

Alexandre Bain Pouilly Fume was seemingly on offer at every restaurant that I went to in Paris.

Hatzidakis whites are also pretty well represented in Paris, seemingly.
 
originally posted by Robert Dentice:


It is a little odd that every hot restaurant has almost the exact same wine list and there are not many new producers.
Click to expand...

occhipinti, foradori, clemens-busch and the georgian dudes are actually required by law under a loophole opened by the armistice that history forgot to close.

more mystifying to me is teh oceans of wine from alsace one sees everywhere. especially the pinot bruns.

fb.
 
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