Monday 27 January 2014

Yet Again - Fine Bottles of Mature Burgundy, Bad Bottles of Natural Wine & Much More...

This was easy enough - I just recycled the same heading as from six months ago.
And again, Mikke invited, we came and ate and drank well (except for some wines...) - as usual! Thanks!

All wines tasted double blind.

1963 Finest Dry Oloroso, Gonzalez Byass
A stunner! The nose is bottomless deep and striking with notes of dried fruits, assorted nuts, acetone, dried mushrooms, paint, hay and white beans. Very rich, complex and deep. After a while it smells like something out of a dentists practise. Sooo fine!
The taste have been turned to eleven, with stunning intensity and complexity and notes of stale nuts, pickled ginger, dry rubber, dried fruit and hay. The acidity is not of this world and the finish goes on for minutes. This is a great bottle of wine! I had the 64 some years ago and that was equally fine.
96p   (tasted 2014/01)


Mikke then brought two decanters to the table. As soon as they were poured and I put my nose into the glasses, I shouted - "nature wines - why Mikke, why?!" And that is was...
2011 Cuvée de L´Enfant Terrible, Jean Francois Ganevat
As you can see from the link above, I wasn´t exactly thrilled over the 2011 Pinot from Ganevat. This would turn out even worse...
Well, lets see if I could get you excited over the nose - stale Coca Cola, lingonberry yogurt that have fermented, iron, athletes sweaty socks and old wood. No?
How about the taste then - dry, hollow and yesty. Diluted lingonberry juice, dried up balsamic vinegar and yogurt. Thankfully the taste is short. A disaster, or just "terrible"... Made from Poulsard.
56p   (tasted 2014/01)


2011 Plein Sud, Jean Francois Ganevat
This stunner (being ironic here...) is made from Trosseau and are even worse than the wine (?!) above. A big, foursquare, hollow nose with notes of fermented cherries, wet dog, old rubber and yogurt. Smells like a Beaujolais that have stood in a shop window in the sun for the previous three years.
The taste is dry, angular and yeasty with notes of old, stale liquorice, lingonberry yogurt that have fermented and wet dog fur. The acidity is high and lies on the side of the (miniscule) fruit. A disaster, short and simple.
54p   (tasted 2014/01)

With a creamy seafood soap three decanters of white wine was brought to the table and the guessing game began...
2009 Les Grand Teppes Vieilles Vignes, Jean Francois Ganevat
It got better, thankfully! He can obviously get Chardonnay right, even though this is not a great wine either. The nose is fine, deep and rather elegant with notes of spicy lemons, almond cookies, earthy and with a salty note that is interesting. Unfortunately it gets a bit cheesy when it gets warmer in the glass. Really good as long as it is cold.
The taste is young, tight and fine with notes of grilled lemons, summer flowers, almond paste and earth. A medium long, fine finish. But again, with some time in the glass, a yeasty, cheesy note appear. If you drink this cold and fast, it is very good. But when compared to a great Burgundy Grand Cru (which we happened to have in the next glass), it doesn´t stand a chance.
88p   (tasted 2014/01)


2009 Batard-Montrachet, Bachelet-Monnot
Aaaaah, this is the real thing. From a producer unknown to me. The nose is big, deep and penetrating with a laser focus and stunning notes of ripe melon, lemon cream, summer flowers, sweet minerals and matchbox. Very deep and refined. Great!
The taste flows over your tongue with gorgeous fruit, a fresh acidity and a length counted in minutes. Notes of spiced up lemons, summer flowers, cold butter and lots of chalk. The finish is spicy and fresh, and leaves you wanting more. Really fine.
94p   (tasted 2014/01)



2009 Block 2 Chardonnay, Felton Road
This is not the faint hearted but oooh boy, it is good! A big, all-over-the-place nose with notes of vanilla fudge, white currants, modelling clay, warm grass and a touch of white peppers. Very creamy and fine. Deep. Smells like snow, not the yellow kind though...
The taste is deep, focused and fine with notes of lemon cream, ripe yellow apples, modelling clay and dried flowers. A lot of warmth, in a good way. A very long, creamy finish with a fine acidity. This is good!
92p   (tasted 2014/01)

With another soup, this time a creamy mushroom variant we were presented with three older gentlemen. We almost got the decades right...
1949 Corton, ?
A deep, mature (!), meaty nose with notes of mushrooms, cooked raspberries with muscovado sugar, smokes sausages and dried up Coke. Pretty interesting even though it is over the hill, but not that far away.
The taste is dry and a bit hollow with notes of dried up rowan berries, lingonberries, lots of warm earth and meat stock. Still hanging in there, but not much more. A nice warmth in the finish.
78p   (tasted 2014/01)



1959 Corton, Jourard
10 years older but ooh so much fresher! The nose is full of ripe, sweet raspberries, forest floor, Christmas spices, liquorice and rose petals. Very fresh and floral. Deep and fine. This has matured into a fine bottle of Burgundy.
The taste is tight, mature and rich in flavour with notes of dried raspberries, lingonberry jam, forest floor, spices and a touch of tobacco. A long, velvety finish that gives lots of pleasure. This is fine!
92p   (tasted 2014/01)

1969 Beaune Clos de L´Ecu, Domaine Jaboulet-Vercherre
A medium bodied, ripe, mature nose with notes of just ripening raspberries, rowan berries, warm earth and beet juice. A cool feeling to the fruit. Elegant. This is mature but just so. Fresh.
The taste is semi mature, fresh and lively with lots of lingonberries, a touch of strawberries, undergrowth and beet juice. A very fine acidity. For drinking now and the coming 10+ years. Very good.
88p   (tasted 2014/01)


Next up was a trio of, seemingly youngsters and we were pretty much of base even guessing their origin...
1995 Nuits-St-Georges Les Pruliers, Domaine Jean Grivot
A deep, restrained, powerful nose with notes of black cherries, liquorice, rosehips, spices and forest floor. Cool and fine. Still very young.
The taste is very tight and withdrawn with notes of red cherry fruit, lingonberries, rosehips, forest floor and smoky notes. A very high acidity. A bit sharp. This needs time but I wonder if it ever will get harmonious?
86p   (tasted 2014/01)


1995 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Narbantons, Leroy
A deep, sweet and intense nose with notes of ripe red cherries, rose petals, licorice, tobacco and a touch of coconut cream. Very deep and multi layered. This is also very young but the building stones are there for something really fine.
The taste is young, tight and focused with notes of ripe red cherries, dried raspberries, licorice, spices, tobacco and some fine chocolate notes. A long, long, fine finish with a fine acidity. Needs another 5+ years to really unfold.
92p   (tasted 2014/01)


1995 Clos de la Roche, Domaine Laurent
This starts out a bit foursquare but gets better and better as the evening progress. A deep, broad nose with notes of red cherries, sweet lingonberries, rose petals, dried mushrooms and some tobacco. Very, very good.
The taste is finely concentrated and still rather young, with notes of sweet/sour cherries, tobacco, rosehips and warm earth. A very refined structure. A long, fresh finish. Could use 3+ years in the cellar.
91p   (tasted 2014/01)


Dessert time! A liquid one...
1969 Château Filhot
A mature, deep and semi sweet nose with notes of saffron, glue, band aid and molasses. This has matured gracefully, even though it lacks some stuffing in the core of the nose. Good.
The taste is bigger and more intense than the nose leads you to believe. Fine notes of ripe tangerines, blood orange peel, saffron, glue and dry milk chocolate. Very charming.
86p   (tasted 2014/01)


1959 Château Maut...?
Unfortunately corked "#¤%¤#"#¤%!!



1953 Croix-de-Monts, Unknown producer
A deep, lovely nose with notes of tangerines, almond paste, saffron and detergent. Very good. A touch of cold sugared coffee after a while. Soft but interesting.
The taste is a bit more hollow with notes of blood orange jam, almond paste, band aid and dried up saffron. The finish is medium long and ends semi dry. A good nose but the taste is a bit past it.
82p   (tasted 2014/01)

The night wasn´t over - Mikke thought that we needed more - and so did we!
1970 Royal Rioja Reserva, Bodegas Franco-Espanolas
A warm, mature, dry nose with notes of dried strawberries, lingonberry bushes, balsa wood and autumn leaves. Very good. Fully mature.
The taste is mature, warm and seedy with notes of dried raspberries, red currants and autumn leaves. A fine warmth. A bit short. I guessed a Burgundy from the 70`s - well, it wasn´t...
85p   (tasted 2014/01)

2004 Inflorescence La Parcelle Blanc de Noir, Jean-Pierre Bouchard
This was a great palate cleanser to finish the night of. A young, fresh and sprightly nose with notes of green apples, almonds, lime peel and lots of minerals. Very fresh, and very young.
The taste is young, tight and with lots of potential. Notes of lime, lemons, potato peels and chalk. Very refreshing. My palate was kind of jaded by this hour and I didn´t really took serious notice of this wine. Would love to taste it again. Hence that, I don´t give it a score.


6 comments:

  1. A pity I could not make it this time, Well, Ganevat was not your cup of tea this time either. I agree with you that the Chardonnays are good wines, but with the price tag it is defenitely a pass. The reds are nonunderstandable, but we are probably not in the right space to accept them (should probably be in a space with nonstraight vectors). Einstein did not understand Quantum Mechanics, and we do not understand Ganevat. I heared you discussed Laurent, I am very happy I did empty my bottles some years ago, even though the Clos Vougeot was a stunning wine. The 200% oak and very concentrated fruit was maybe fun in the beginning but not in the end, even though the Clos de la Roche still seems to have been a great wine (but I looked through my notes and five years ago it was a 95p wine).

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    1. The best/worst thing is that I get so curious about other nature wines from other producers - they can´t all be this bad? I guess I have to order some and make me my own crash test dummie...:-)

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  2. I can only say one thing about those "unnatural wines"...

    The horror. The horror...

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    1. No, no, you don´t understand - these are natural wines - they way they are intended.....:-)

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  3. "Most wineries ruin their wines in late winter, before the new vintage even begins, with the cruelty of pruning. Authentic Natural Wines are made from grapevines that are never touched by man. Pruning is barbaric. Harvest began on September 7th, or thereabouts. Time is yet another of man’s constructs that harms wine. Why is it always about when? When to Harvest, When to Drink, When to Suspend Disbelief? We don’t care about When. Or How. Or Why. We make Natural Wines, we don’t need to care." :-)

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    1. "we also don’t believe in the silly notion of Fruit, Root, Flower and Seed Days, or that the Moon influences our wines. The Moon is 240,000 miles away! Our bank is seven miles away. It has far more influence. And is equally lifeless"
      :-)

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