Burgundy
2003
En primeur cask sample tasting held by Bibendum
Wine, London, 11 January 2005
In
common with many classic European regions, Burgundy
experienced an exceptionally warm 2003 vintage. In Bordeaux, where
decisions about the relative merit of a vintage are taken absurdly
early, in the March following harvest, 2003 was feted as a great
year by many critics. With Burgundy, it is traditional to take a
little longer to decide: these wines are only now being shown as
cask or tank samples, before bottling but a little further on in
their lives than the poor Bordeaux wines that present themselves
to the world for assessment some six months after harvest, while
they are still in barrel and unblended.
So how did Burgundy 2003 turn out? On the basis of this
limited sampling, it seems it’s not a classic year, with rather
atypical wines. I don’t think there are many wines here I’d be
anxious to buy, partly because the prices are high for what’s on
offer. The value for money award goes to the Nuits St Georges from
Chauvenet.
Note/caveat: these are cask/tank samples of
young wines, therefore the scores are only approximate and should
not be taken too seriously. Because this was a consumer tasting,
we were given pretty small pours – in some cases these were so
small it was hard to gain a proper impression of the wine.
Prices in brackets are in bond per case. To get
final bottle price, add £14 duty and then add 17.5% VAT on top of
this, then divide by 12.
Domaine
Mark Colin
Bourgogne Blanc La Combe (£85)
Ripe and full with a spicy edge. 88/100
St Aubin Fontenotte (£115)
Minerally, spicy smoky edge to the rich fruit on the nose.
Lovely richness to the fruit and effective oaking on the palate.
91/100
St Aubin 1er Cru Charmois (£150)
Rich and toasty but with nice definition. Soft, open, rich
fruit. 90/100
Domaine
Morey Coffinet
Chassagne Montrachet (£170)
Rich, toasty, spicy, minerally nose. Soft, ripe and full on
the palate – a very rich style with lots of ripeness. 90/100
Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets (£260)
Toasty, spicy, slightly minerally. Rich fruit with good
definition and just about enough acidity. 91/100
Vincent
Girardin
Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Folatières (£325)
There’s a lemony freshness to the otherwise rich fruit on
the nose. Concentrated and dense on the palate. A modern stye.
89/100
Corton Charlemagne (£385)
Very nice nose – complex and aromatic with well judged oak.
Good concentration on the palate and nice definition. Tasty in a
rather modern style. 91/100
Nicolas
Potel
Potel says, ‘for me, this is a great vintage’. He
says that Burgundy
can do vintages like 2003, even though it was exceptionally warm.
Beaune Greves 1er Cru (£175)
Nicely defined rich fruit but with a good minerally, spicy
edge and good acidity. Structured. 90/100
Volnay Clos de la Chapelle (£290)
Taut, refined spicy nose. Palate is chewy, spicy and structured. There’s a hint of bitterness on the finish.
90/100
Nuits St Georges Chaignots (£220)
Spicy, structured, firm and tannin. Hard to tasted now.
Austere. 89/100
Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes (£250)
Full fruit. Again, hugely structured. Tight, spicy, dense and
savoury. 89/100
Gevrey Chambertin Les Champeaux (£245)
Quite aromatic, with clean, pure fruit. The palate is elegant
and full with tight spicy structure. Promising. 92/100
Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Combe aux Moines (£250)
Chocolatey, spicy richness to the nose. Palate is well
structured and quite elegant with good acidity. 91/100
Corton Les Renards (£290)
Appealing taut, spicy savoury fruit backed up with lots of
structure. Tannic and full. 88/100
Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru (£420)
Clean pure spicy fruit on the nose. Lovely elegance on the
palate with smooth but firm tannins and good acidity. 91/100
Clos de la Roche Grand Cru (£420)
Chocolatey, spicy edge to the clean, pure red fruit nose. Full
palate has lots of fruit with good structure. 90+/100
Domaine
Jean Chauvenet
Big wines but lovely expression. I was impressed by
these.
Nuits St Georges (£155)
Lovely pure aromatics on the nose. The palate is concentrated
and full, with rich, expressive fruit. Lovely stuff. 93/100
Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes (£265)
Nice pure, rich summer fruits nose. Voluptuous but well
defined. Concentrated, rich, elegant palate showing lovely fruit
and plenty of structure. 93/100
Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Rue de Chaux (£265)
Lovely elegance of fruit on the nose. The palate is ripe, full
and expressive with really fine definition and structure. 92/100
Domaine
David Duband
Quite silky, rich wines that are very generous, but there’s a
slightly bitter finish on all three.
Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers (£245)
Rich, ripe and spicy with very ripe fruit. There’s some
fruit sweetness here and grainy, spicy tannins. 89/100
Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Aux Thorey (£245)
Ripe, curranty nose is sweet, rich and spicy. Quite tannic and
full on the palate. A very rich style. 90/100
Echezeaux Grand Cru (£475)
Very dense, rich and spicy. Concentrated, full and quite
tannic on the palate with very ripe spicy fruit. Good density and
structure. 91/100
Domaine
Ghislaine Barthod
‘2003 was a wonderful, exceptional wine year’, says
Ghislaine, ‘because of the richness and concentration of the
wines’. I’m not so sure: I found these wines structured and a
little hard, to be honest.
Bourgogne Rouge (£99)
Rich spicy and well defined with a cherryish fruit character.
Savoury and quite structured with good acidity. 89/100
Chambolle Musigny (£245)
Quite firm and tannic with lovely concentration. Spicy,
chocolatey edge to the well defined fruit. Hint of plummy
bitterness, but nice acidity. 90/100
Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Beaux Bruns (£395)
Perfumed nose of cherry, spice and chocolate. Palate shows
good density. Quite firm and tannic with a slightly plummy,
damsony edge. A big wine and quite hard to judge. 92/100
Domaine
Drouhin Laroze
Gevrey Chambertin (£185)
Lovely purity of fruit with a minerally backbone and some nice
tannins. Good wine. 89/100
Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru (£225)
Quite structured, with savoury, spicy fruit backed up by good
acidity. 89/100
Latricières Chambertin Grand Cru (£395)
Perfumed, open nose. The palate is firmly tannic with spicy
structure stamping its mark on the bright fruit. Tough, but
promising, with lovely fruit quality. 91+/100
Chapelle Chambertin Grand Cru (£410)
Lovely ripe, rich perfumed nose: pretty stuff with nice
aromatics. Rich, ripe and dense on the palate with good
concentration and structure. Very promising. 92+/100
Bonnes Mares Grand Cru (£460)
Very ripe, full and perfumed, with lovely fruit purity. Firm,
spicy structure with bright fruit and a slight bitterness on the
finish (perhaps from high alcohol?). Nice though. 91+/100
Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru (£460)
Very pure, ripe blackcurrant and red fruit here. Elegant and
full. Lovely spicy, smooth silky structure on the palate. Very
ripe fruit, but firm tannic structure backing it up. 94+/100
Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru (£500)
Very rich and ripe with almost new world-style fruit. Backed
up with firm tannic structure and good acid. A little hard at the
moment but still classy. 92+/100
Domaine
Jean Grivot
Vosne Romanée (£225)
Traditional style with nice spicy structure and good acid.
88/100
Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brulees (£450)
Nice savoury, spicy, chocolatey richness to the nose, perhaps
with a slightly baked character. Rich fruit on the palate with a
spicy edge. Minerally, tannic but perhaps also a bit alcoholic.
89/100
Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru (£545)
Richly perfumed, spicy, chocolatey, oaky sheen to the pure
fruit on the nose. Refined and aromatic. Rich, ripe structured
palate is quite full – it’s firmly tannic but retains some
elegance. 91/100
Domaine
Rene Engel
Vosne Romanée
Herby, spicy edge to the savoury fruit. Midweight, expressive
and nicely balanced. 88/100
Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Les Brulées
Elegant, open, expressive nose, much more typical red Burgundy
than most of the others here. Palate is elegant and slightly
herby, with an undergrowthy edge. Traditional style. 89/100
Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru
Very pretty nose is ripe, open and perfumed. The palate is
soft, rich, ripe and expressive. Traditional style. 91/100
Domaine
Hubert de Montille
Volnay 1er Cru (£285)
Very ripe, expressive nose with lovely open, pure fruit. The
palate is impeccably balanced with ripe, open fruit and just
enough structure. An early drinker. 92/100
Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds (£455)
Ripe, aromatic, pure and expressive on the nose. The palate
shows a lovely elegance of soft fruit and impeccable balance –
more structure, but not too much. 93/100
Pommard 1er Cru Pezerolles (£430)
Pure, ripe, expressive with bright fruit. Perfumed and fine.
The palate shows good structure to the pure fruit with a savoury
edge. I like this a lot. 93/100
see also: tasting notes of Burgundy
wines; pictures of Burgundy
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