A good red Burgundy
I don't drink enough Burgundy. Trying to redress this balance, I opened one this lunchtime. A village Gevrey, it's quite elegant and understated, but at over £20 it feels a little on the expensive side. Perhaps I'm being unrealistic, but if I shell out £20 on a bottle of wine, I want something exciting. It's not that this wine is expensive by the standards of the region - it's actually one of the best £20 red Burgundies I've had - and I suppose this is the reason I don't really drink a lot of Burgundy.Albert Bichot Gevrey-Chambertin 'Les Corvees' 2004 Burgundy, France
A light red in colour, this is a really pleasant, elegant red Burgundy with restrained cherry fruit and a pleasant earthy, spicy structure. It's got an almost weightless quality to it, with all the components working in harmony. There's a supple, slightly green quality under the fruit, which makes this quite savoury. If it just had a little more richness and fruit sweetness, it would be really top notch. Satisfying drinking now and for the next couple of years. 89/100 (£21 Soho Wine Supply, Harrison Vintners)
A light red in colour, this is a really pleasant, elegant red Burgundy with restrained cherry fruit and a pleasant earthy, spicy structure. It's got an almost weightless quality to it, with all the components working in harmony. There's a supple, slightly green quality under the fruit, which makes this quite savoury. If it just had a little more richness and fruit sweetness, it would be really top notch. Satisfying drinking now and for the next couple of years. 89/100 (£21 Soho Wine Supply, Harrison Vintners)
Labels: Burgundy, pinot noir
posted by Jamie @ 5:26 PM
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6 Comments:
Well, Bichot is usually good, correct Burgundy, but rarely exciting.
Too, I avoid bottles from the major communes when I look for inexpensive Burgundy - the name of a well-known commune bumps the price. Cote du Nuits Villages, Santenay, Marsannay, to some degree still Savigny and Pernand.
What vintage was it?
I'm also trying to drink more Burgundy as good ones are a very rewarding experience. There's an ethereal quality that comes from a good burg but they do tend to be pricey (eg. the Rousseau Clos St Jacques 2000 that we had at Christmas was £50+ even with a heft discount from Waitrose).
I suspect I'm teaching grannies to suck eggs here, but I've been told (and since verified with my own "research") that older burgundies (10 years-ish) - even the cheap ones - can give a lot more pleasure than they do when young. This has slowed my quest to learn more as I don't want to waste good wines or commit infanticide with the various 1999's, and subsequent that I've been buying over the last 2 or 3 years.
2000 is an exception to this and (egg sucking mode on again) I'd encourage others trying to pick up the habit (that everyone warns against) to try some 2000's - early drinkers that are very approachable and not overly priced for beginners.
I recently picked up some 1998 1er cru (Combe aux Moines and Goulots) from Fourrier which, while not being utterly seductive, had a lovely honesty and lack of sheen to them that makes a nice counterpoint to many modern and New World styles. I paid £18/bottle for these which was probably a bit of a price cock-up.
I understand from those in the know that 2005 reds are spectacular, so maybe we can talk about this again in 2018 or thereabouts?
Keep your Burg TN's coming to balance views from the BurgNuts that I also try to follow.
It is interesting just how many time you remark on 'greeness' in wines.
I seem to recall it is mentioned especially in wines from Chile (where you are ambivalent about it) and South Africa (where you are negative), but in this Burgundy it's apparently positive ('savoury').
Are there degrees of greeness or does the origin of the wine affect whether it is postive or negative?
Bichot are far from boring/steady these days and have become a dependable source at the level of Bouchard/Drouhin since about 2002 onwards - of course they have to keep it going for quite some time to come to be positioned that way for the majority of consumers.
Interesting Jamie that I see the name cropping up much mor in the last 6 months from UK 'press sources' - an offensive on their part?
Cheers, Bill
Alex, thanks for those thoughts.
Peter, greenness is all about context, I reckon. There's good and bad greenness, and it's hard to separate the two in terms of a definition.
Yes, Bill, they are doing some PR work in the UK at the moment, which is quite rare for Burgundy in my experience.
To not pay Burgundy prices and still have an outstanding Pinot Noir experience, I find red Sancerre to be delightful.
Unfortunately, there are too few actually making out of France, more of a local treat. The same can be said for a lot of the outstanding inexpensive Burgundies.
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