The Official Wine Thread - Page 972

Hopefully it will pan out, Piob, as '98 in Chateauneuf was stellar. We opened a Ch de Beaucastel '98 on Saturday and it was sublime.

Dinner on Saturday stretched out over seven hours with some wine loving friends. We had a few interesting bottles...

Started off with an Albert Mann Gewurztraminer which was all spice and lychee



Followed by an '05 riesling grand cru from Ostertag - medium dry with beautiful florals and a hint of petrol



Reds began with an '04 Cote Rotie from Jamet which, while still young, was starting to sing with an earthy pepperiness



Moved south to the Beaucastel which was wine-of-the-night - great garrigue



Took a spin up to Burgundy with a bit of a clunker - Laurent Chambolle-Musigny les Charmes from '05



Finally killed a baby: '03 Heitz Martha's. It was great after a long decant but really didn't start to come together until the evening was almost over. Glad I have more of these...

2005 - my official "not ready" Burg vintage

Tat =

Likely never. A bit of a waste of time to hold '05. Drink, complain and move on.

???

This really is so unbelievably sad. One of my desert island producers down the drain. Such a tragedy. I honestly don't even want to talk about it.

'05 Burg is the most overrated vintage I have seen. Have rarely encountered one I believe is worth the $ or praise. '02 is really the star, '00 the superstar. I believe '10 will end up being gold. Note, this is based on the '05 I have drunk, maybe 20 different selections so it limited but I personally don't rate it.

2005 just needs time. The wines are the real deal. They generally just taste flat these days. 2000, 2001 and 2002 are all much better to drink these days. Burgundy can go through distinct shut down phases sometimes especially the more structured vintages like 2005.

Considering Burgundy's aversion to age, I disagree. The best Burgundy always loved to be drunk young. I vividly recall '02 and '00 back near those years that were well beyond what they should have been. Its possible, but not worth the risk in buying it today. If you are sitting on '05 what the hell, but to spend $ on one today? Fuck that, pretend with a '10.

Anyway, I am presenting some pretty sick value wines and nobody comments. WTF, are you all rich? I used to work as a sommelier, no love? Buy my shit, blind taste and fool your friends. You could buy a case of that Alentejo for a bottle of '05 Corton.

I don't know if any of you have tried the burgs from Dominque Laurent - he's a negoce with a very heavy hand when it comes to oak that tends to obliterate what I find so charming about burgundy wines, their elegance. I bought a few bottles from different vintages and appelations before I knew any better and this was the last one in my cellar. Maybe it was the vintage, maybe the vinification just that I won't buy this dude's wine anymore as it's been clunker after clunker.

I've got a number of Chambolles from Ghislaine Barthod and from Mugnier which are much more feminine, supple and elegant and much better "value" than Laurent. I also don't doubt that these will age nicely.

Audio - I've not had the '99 Beaucastel but if you can get your paws on the '98, I recommend it. My guess is it's easily got another decade to go.

thank GOD we have somebody with industry experience here. Finally.

You trying for comedy?

i was just trying to be realistic and honest, not funny.

Ok. I was only a sommelier for 3 years in school, but (ehm) have a wealth of personal experience :-) My feedback on the thread is to do more value seeking. I'm averse to spend $500 on a case of wine. I like to bottom feed for stars, buy a few cases and impress friends as they peak. You can't do that for most French, although Loire red is so under-appreciated, even red Sancerre. My uncle happens to live in the region and luckily he has a 1/2 dozen taste buds.