2013 Morgon, Foillard and Descombes

originally posted by Marc D:
I always love JPB Fleurie. I think it’s beautiful Fleurie and the most minerally of his crus.
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BJ may argue that CdB is more minerally.

I shall remain silent on the matter.
 
Great conversation that has me inspired to go back to JP Brun. It's been years.

But as always, discussions of aging Beaujolais leave me and my small storage capacity feeling depressed. I'm already putting in resources to age red Burgundy and Piedmont, I need something to drink now!

Woe is me.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
2011 and 2012 are probably not too dissimilar
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???!!!

Perhaps in that they can be approached in a similar time frame. Sure. That's where the similarities end. But even there I would argue - and this is personal and palate-specific - that while you *have* to drink 2011s sooner rather than later, you *can* (but don't have to) drink the 2012s early.
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I was thinking drinking window, regional maturity levels, and rot, but if you're talking about conditions specifically in Morgon, I don't know and would have to concede.
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Ah yes, rot. On that subject I am the one who may have to concede. But I need some help here, because while I have fairly deterministic notes on 2012, I can't find any useful information that I may or may not have recorded on 2011 (which is odd because I tasted quite a few and spoke to people while in France in 2012). I have been drinking the best of the best in 2012 (Coudert, Chanrion, Chamonard, et al), and my suspicion is that these producers bit the bullet and performed the strictest selection in early to mid-September. The point being that, in 2012, there was an opportunity to perform such a selection, if you got rid of all the garbage in mid-summer to begin with; what was left on the vines was small, with (at that point) not a lot of rot, and eminently *selectable* under nice harvest conditions. The best wines confirm this: they come across as small-berried, clean, not expressly fruity, but with some cool complexity and medium-term potential. Tasting the 2011s is like having the 2012s turned on their heads. Does anyone recall if there was a nice summer, producing decently ripe fruit, followed by uniformly distributed issues close to or during the harvest - the kind of issues that made it impossible, even for the best producers, to make a selection? Because this is what they taste like. The juxtaposition of ripe fruit with what appears to be rot-induced flavors is particularly nasty, even if the amount of rot in absolute terms is less significant than in 2012. It is my least favorite Beaujolais vintage in recent memory. I prefer 2008 and 2004, even more so when I contemplate ageing any of the 2011s. As an aside, I am quite a fan of 2011 red burgundies that receive similar criticism (unjustified in my book).
 
I think 2009 Tardive is great. 2010 is totally closed. 2005 is over the hill. Haven't tried any other vintages lately, they're in the cellar or I missed them (2011, 2012).

Griffe is more open than the Tardive, I think the elevage really helps and is great for this wine. 2010/2011/2012 all showing well. Haven't had anything more recent, sleeping in the cellar.

Desvignes 2005 still going strong, but maybe bottles a couple years ago were preferable to the current situation. Will try some 2011 soon, other vintages I either don't have or will let sleep.

Descombes I'm drinking my last bottles and magnums of 2010/2011/2012 Morgon VV. 2013 Brouilly VV showing well. Will try 2013 Fleurie VV from magnum soon. Last mag was off. 2014 Morgon VV can be broached, but better in a couple of years.

Generally, 5-7 years from the vintage works for me. I except Coudert Tardive, because who knows? I feel like the 2005 never really resolved and then the tannins took over.

Philosophically, I think that Beaujolais that is purely tertiary is pointless. Best case is some bottle complexity while having the fruit and structural elements come into harmony and still expressing fruit/flowers/minerals in abundance. That's my goal anyway.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Great conversation that has me inspired to go back to JP Brun. It's been years.

But as always, discussions of aging Beaujolais leave me and my small storage capacity feeling depressed. I'm already putting in resources to age red Burgundy and Piedmont, I need something to drink now!

Woe is me.
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Me too. I've got one on deck. I think MaV.
 
Pavel, I’ll send Thevenet an email asking how he sees the differences between 11 and 12. If I catch him in a good mood, perhaps he’ll respond.
 
originally posted by VLM:
Philosophically, I think that Beaujolais that is purely tertiary is pointless. Best case is some bottle complexity while having the fruit and structural elements come into harmony and still expressing fruit/flowers/minerals in abundance. That's my goal anyway.
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What do you think of pinoté, the pinot noir-ish flavor that some older bottles will take on?
 
originally posted by BJ:
The 07s, my favorite vintage for years, is probably starting to slide over into tertiaries (?).
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I have pathetically little 07. A couple of bottles of Coudert Tardive in the past year proved exceedingly frustrating, as they were at their best when only half a pour remained; both were served at festive dinner occasions with little control over the pace. Out of the gate, the wine has a very fruity, borderline candied outer layer that hides some delightful juice. Desvignes Javernieres is even more confusing as one recent bottle was better on day 2, while another seemed over the hill. A tie-breaker may be required.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Pavel, I’ll send Thevenet an email asking how he sees the differences between 11 and 12. If I catch him in a good mood, perhaps he’ll respond.
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much appreciated. I heard Morgon was hit particularly hard in 2012, but Chamonard's is a very intriguing bottle that you don't want to mess with for another couple of years.
 
originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Pavel, I’ll send Thevenet an email asking how he sees the differences between 11 and 12. If I catch him in a good mood, perhaps he’ll respond.
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much appreciated. I heard Morgon was hit particularly hard in 2012, but Chamonard's is a very intriguing bottle that you don't want to mess with for another couple of years.
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Alas, the response was not as helpful as I had hoped, but at least he revealed that he thinks his 2011s will "last longer" than his 2012s:

Bonjour Mr Costa,

Je vois que certains dégustateurs sont très conservateurs .

Si le vin a été conservé à bonne température , on ne peut pas parler d'un moment idéal pour boire le vin mais simplement d'une évolution .

En vieillissant , les vins du Beaujolais ont tendance à prendre des caractères de Pinot .

Le millésime 2011 est à mon avis plus apte que le 2012 pour être conservé encore plus longtemps . Par contre , n'attendez quand même pas trop longtemps car les vins peuvent fléchir assez vite .

Cordialement.

THEVENET Jean paul
 
I'm drinking a '10 now. Because I often am imbibing solo these days, I usually decant a freshly-opened bottle into a 375, so I can drink a glass or so a night and note the development. My glass tonight is from the decanted 375, which was in the fridge for several days before re-opening, after taking a glass last night.

Tonight's glass, drunk cool from the fridge, is the best yet; rather delicious very tart cherry. I wasn't impressed with the first half of the bottle; don't know if it's the temperature or the slow oxidation effect caused by the decanting. Anyway, FWIW.
 
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