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| ==== News & Vintage Tastings ==== | ==== News & Vintage Tastings ==== | ||
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| + | === 2010 VINTAGE ASSESSMENT DINNERS – A SOMETIMES SENSATIONAL BUT UNEVEN VINTAGE === | ||
| + | \\ (September 14, 2018) The thirteenth annual white burgundy vintage assessment dinners were held in Los Angeles on February 7, February 20 and March 7, 2018. We tasted 80 wines from the 2010 vintage in three nights. All of the wines were served single blind (except for the ringers which are double blind) and all of the voting takes place completely blind (with individual written ballots) with the attendees ranking their top five wines by bottle number.\\ \\ | ||
| + | The 2010 vintage illustrates, perhaps better than most, the difficulty in making sweeping judgments about a vintage. The flight of 2010 Chablis (on night one) and the flight of Criots/Bienvenues Batard Montrachets (on night two) probably ranked as the best we’ve ever had from those appellations. The wines from Montrachet (night three) were at a similar very high overall level of quality -- along with the 2007 vintage, this was one of the top two "Mostly Montrachet" dinners of all time. The wines from Chevalier Montrachet (night two), which include a phenomenal ringer from Colin-Morey Chassagne En Remilly that was the overall No. 1 rated wine on night two, were a little bit more variable, but mostly performed at a similarly high level. But the wines from Meursault and Corton Charlemagne (night one), and Batard Montrachet (night two), when viewed as a group were not nearly so impressive. Even among the latter wines there were exceptions, like the Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne (night three) and the Dancer and Roulot Meursault Perrieres.\\ \\ | ||
| + | One of the problems that affects a number of 2010s is botrytis. There was virtually nothing written about it when the reviews came out, but most of the producers I’ve spoken with over the past few years acknowledge it was an issue – and for some, it was a significant issue.\\ \\ | ||
| + | On Night One [[https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2567677#p2567677]] we tasted 32 of the top wines from Chablis, Meursault and Corton Charlemagne at Valentino restaurant. On night two | ||
| + | [[https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2568656#p2568656]] we tasted 32 of the top wines from the hyphenated Montrachet vineyards again at Valentino. On Night three we tasted 16 wines in the dinner known as “Mostly Montrachet” [[https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2574707#p2574707]]\\ \\ | ||
| + | I hope you enjoy the notes and the photos.\\ \\ | ||
| === A POSTSCRIPT ON THE 2007 CHABLIS === | === A POSTSCRIPT ON THE 2007 CHABLIS === | ||
| - | \\ (November 2017) We tasted the 2007 Chablis on night one of 2007 vintage tasting in 2015. In my summary of the tasting below, I wrote: "We all agreed that the 2007 Chablis notably under-performed versus the early very laudatory reviews which suggested that 2007 is a classic vintage. The wines did not improve over the course of the evening either." I had purchased quite a stock of 2007 Dauvissat, Raveneau and Fevre in the expectation that they would be wonderful classic chablis. But after our tasting I was so underwhelmed that I resolved to send most of my stock off to auction.\\ \\ Luckily for me, I never got around to collecting those wines from their various storage locations in order to sell them. What I've discovered over the last six months is that the 2007 grand crus from Dauvissat and Raveneau (along with Dauvissat Forest and Raveneau MDT) have made the unexpected transition from ugly ducklings into graceful swans. Dauvissat Preuses and Forest and Raveneau Valmur and Blanchots are my favorites today, but all of the 2007s I've opened lately have been very enjoyable. I haven't re-tried any of the Fevre Chablis yet but they will be coming home next.\\ \\ | + | \\ (November 2017; updated September 14, 2018) We tasted the 2007 Chablis on night one of 2007 vintage tasting in 2015. In my summary of the tasting below, I wrote: "We all agreed that the 2007 Chablis notably under-performed versus the early very laudatory reviews which suggested that 2007 is a classic vintage. The wines did not improve over the course of the evening either." I had purchased quite a stock of 2007 Dauvissat, Raveneau and Fevre in the expectation that they would be wonderful classic chablis. But after our tasting I was so underwhelmed that I resolved to send most of my stock off to auction.\\ \\ Luckily for me, I never got around to collecting those wines from their various storage locations in order to sell them. What I've discovered over the last six months is that the 2007 grand crus from Dauvissat and Raveneau (along with Dauvissat Forest and Raveneau MDT) have made the unexpected transition from ugly ducklings into graceful swans. Dauvissat Preuses and Forest and Raveneau Valmur and Blanchots are my favorites today, but all of the 2007s I've opened lately have been very enjoyable. I also brought home my 2007 Fevre Chablis. Much to my surpise, the Fevre Clos is the clear Chablis of the vintage -- every bottle has been in fabulous condition and this wine is truly in classic Chablis style - oyster shell minerality in abundance and light, bright, refreshing fruit with great acidity. The 2007 Fevre Preuses and Valmur also rock. Out of about 15 bottles of 2007 Fevre consumed so far, I haven't had a single oxidized or advanced bottle.\\ \\ |
| === A SIGNIFICANT SHARE OF WHITE BURGUNDY IN 2014 IS NOW BEING BOTTLED UNDER DIAM CLOSURES; SOME PRODUCERS ARE INCREASING CORK DIAMETER AND USING LONGER CORKS === | === A SIGNIFICANT SHARE OF WHITE BURGUNDY IN 2014 IS NOW BEING BOTTLED UNDER DIAM CLOSURES; SOME PRODUCERS ARE INCREASING CORK DIAMETER AND USING LONGER CORKS === | ||
| \\ Beginning with the 2007 vintage, several producers have abandoned natural cork and switched to DIAM closures. With the 2014 whites now being released, switching to DIAM closures from natural cork has become a strong trend and there is now a significant amount of the white burgundy market where the bottles have DIAM cork closures.\\ \\ DIAM closures are considered "technical closures" and are made from agglomerated cork (which is ground into fine pellets, sifted to a uniform consistency and then glued with a food-grade binder.) Champagne corks are made in this way. DIAM has a patented process in which the cork pellets are treated with CO2 under temperature and pressure in order to remove TCA. DIAM has some sort of "guarantee" to the producers against cork taint, the mechanical details of which are unclear to me at this writing. DIAM also claims that its closures provide very tightly controlled long-term oxygen transmission rates which are far more uniform from bottle to bottle than natural cork. There is laboratory data which seems to support this claim.\\ \\ In Europe DIAM was initially marketing three grades of DIAM corks DIAM-5, DIAM-10 and DIAM-15. Starting with the 2013 vintage, there is a new DIAM-30 model. (It's not clear, but DIAM-15 is apparently no longer in the portfolio.) These numbers correlate with the time period for which the wines are allegedly guaranteed against premature oxidation. (Again the details of this "guarantee" are unclear to me. The guarantee supposedly runs only to the producer/brand owner.) DIAM is offering the corks in two lengths, a standard length and new longer "grand cru" cork.\\ \\ Domaine William Fevre began bottling a portion of its Chablis (the 1ers) with DIAM in 2007. Starting in 2009, all of the Fevre production except for the grand cru Chablis moved to Diam.\\ \\ Beginning withe the 2009 vintage, additional producers begin using DIAM closures. Bouchard Pere et Fils (Bouchard and Fevre have common ownership) moved all of their whites to DIAM beginning with the 2009 vintage. Domaine Montille, Deux Montille, and Domaine de Chateau de Puligny Montrachet (all related brands), along with Javillier and Roger Belland have bottled all of their white wines under DIAM starting with the 2009 vintage. \\ \\ F&L Pillot joined the DiAM parade with the 2010 vintage and Fevre began bottling all of their grand cru Chablis with DIAM corks.\\ \\ Jadot, Domaine de Bellene (and Roche de Bellene) and Droin (in Chablis) began using DIAM for all of their white wines in the 2011 vintage.\\ \\ Starting with the 2012 vintage, Olivier Leflaive and Jean-Marc Brocard in Chablis began bottling all of their whites under DIAM closures.\\ \\ Starting with the 2013 vintage, Lafon, Prieur and Chanson began using DIAM for all of their whites (except, in Lafon's case, the entry level Macon that is sold in Australia, which is bottled under screw cap). Lafon is using DIAM 30\\ (intended to be used for wines intended for 30 or more years of bottle age). Prieur is using DIAM 10 for the village and premier cru wines and DIAM 30 for the grand crus. Chanson began using the new DIAM 30 on all of Chanson's top wines. Bouchard Pere also immediately started using the new DIAM 30 for all of its whites when they became avaialble.\\ \\ Starting with the 2014 vintage, Domaine Leflaive is bottling all of their wines with the new DIAM 30 corks. Daniel Dampt is bottling 90% of their production under DIAM. According to Dampt, the remainder are being bottled either under screwcap or natural cork, depending on the importer's preference. There are likely several additional producers in 2014 who have not yet come to my attention.\\ \\ Both Sauzet and Roulot use DIAM closures on their Bourgogne Blanc wines. Raveneau bottled the 2013 Chablis AOC under DIAM.\\ \\ Another trend that seems to be occurring among producers that continue to use natural cork is the use of longer corks (with longer bottle necks to insure a tight seal along the full length of the cork) and slightly increasing the diameter of the corks. The standard cork diameter employed in burgundy is 24 mm. Some producers, such as Sauzet, Niellon and Colin-Morey, began using 25 mm diameter corks in the same bottles (starting with the 2010 vintage) as a means of obtaining a tighter seal. This requires both greater compression force to initially seal the bottles and greater extraction force to remove them..\\ \\ STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS....\\ \\ | \\ Beginning with the 2007 vintage, several producers have abandoned natural cork and switched to DIAM closures. With the 2014 whites now being released, switching to DIAM closures from natural cork has become a strong trend and there is now a significant amount of the white burgundy market where the bottles have DIAM cork closures.\\ \\ DIAM closures are considered "technical closures" and are made from agglomerated cork (which is ground into fine pellets, sifted to a uniform consistency and then glued with a food-grade binder.) Champagne corks are made in this way. DIAM has a patented process in which the cork pellets are treated with CO2 under temperature and pressure in order to remove TCA. DIAM has some sort of "guarantee" to the producers against cork taint, the mechanical details of which are unclear to me at this writing. DIAM also claims that its closures provide very tightly controlled long-term oxygen transmission rates which are far more uniform from bottle to bottle than natural cork. There is laboratory data which seems to support this claim.\\ \\ In Europe DIAM was initially marketing three grades of DIAM corks DIAM-5, DIAM-10 and DIAM-15. Starting with the 2013 vintage, there is a new DIAM-30 model. (It's not clear, but DIAM-15 is apparently no longer in the portfolio.) These numbers correlate with the time period for which the wines are allegedly guaranteed against premature oxidation. (Again the details of this "guarantee" are unclear to me. The guarantee supposedly runs only to the producer/brand owner.) DIAM is offering the corks in two lengths, a standard length and new longer "grand cru" cork.\\ \\ Domaine William Fevre began bottling a portion of its Chablis (the 1ers) with DIAM in 2007. Starting in 2009, all of the Fevre production except for the grand cru Chablis moved to Diam.\\ \\ Beginning withe the 2009 vintage, additional producers begin using DIAM closures. Bouchard Pere et Fils (Bouchard and Fevre have common ownership) moved all of their whites to DIAM beginning with the 2009 vintage. Domaine Montille, Deux Montille, and Domaine de Chateau de Puligny Montrachet (all related brands), along with Javillier and Roger Belland have bottled all of their white wines under DIAM starting with the 2009 vintage. \\ \\ F&L Pillot joined the DiAM parade with the 2010 vintage and Fevre began bottling all of their grand cru Chablis with DIAM corks.\\ \\ Jadot, Domaine de Bellene (and Roche de Bellene) and Droin (in Chablis) began using DIAM for all of their white wines in the 2011 vintage.\\ \\ Starting with the 2012 vintage, Olivier Leflaive and Jean-Marc Brocard in Chablis began bottling all of their whites under DIAM closures.\\ \\ Starting with the 2013 vintage, Lafon, Prieur and Chanson began using DIAM for all of their whites (except, in Lafon's case, the entry level Macon that is sold in Australia, which is bottled under screw cap). Lafon is using DIAM 30\\ (intended to be used for wines intended for 30 or more years of bottle age). Prieur is using DIAM 10 for the village and premier cru wines and DIAM 30 for the grand crus. Chanson began using the new DIAM 30 on all of Chanson's top wines. Bouchard Pere also immediately started using the new DIAM 30 for all of its whites when they became avaialble.\\ \\ Starting with the 2014 vintage, Domaine Leflaive is bottling all of their wines with the new DIAM 30 corks. Daniel Dampt is bottling 90% of their production under DIAM. According to Dampt, the remainder are being bottled either under screwcap or natural cork, depending on the importer's preference. There are likely several additional producers in 2014 who have not yet come to my attention.\\ \\ Both Sauzet and Roulot use DIAM closures on their Bourgogne Blanc wines. Raveneau bottled the 2013 Chablis AOC under DIAM.\\ \\ Another trend that seems to be occurring among producers that continue to use natural cork is the use of longer corks (with longer bottle necks to insure a tight seal along the full length of the cork) and slightly increasing the diameter of the corks. The standard cork diameter employed in burgundy is 24 mm. Some producers, such as Sauzet, Niellon and Colin-Morey, began using 25 mm diameter corks in the same bottles (starting with the 2010 vintage) as a means of obtaining a tighter seal. This requires both greater compression force to initially seal the bottles and greater extraction force to remove them..\\ \\ STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS....\\ \\ | ||
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| === Notes from the annual White Burgundy Vintage Assessment/Oxidation Check Dinners held in Los Angeles === | === Notes from the annual White Burgundy Vintage Assessment/Oxidation Check Dinners held in Los Angeles === | ||
| \\ Each February or March for the past six years, the editor (Don Cornwell) has held a comprehensive tasting/oxidation check of a particular white burgundy vintage. The purpose of the tasting is to assess the top wines of the vintage all at the same time from ideal cellar conditions and to check for premature oxidation. The wines are usually tasted at 7.5 years after the vintage date. The wines are tasted and evaluated by a panel of serious burgundy drinkers. You will find a comprehensive tasting notes, premox statistics and comments about the wines tasted by clicking on the links below:\\ \\ | \\ Each February or March for the past six years, the editor (Don Cornwell) has held a comprehensive tasting/oxidation check of a particular white burgundy vintage. The purpose of the tasting is to assess the top wines of the vintage all at the same time from ideal cellar conditions and to check for premature oxidation. The wines are usually tasted at 7.5 years after the vintage date. The wines are tasted and evaluated by a panel of serious burgundy drinkers. You will find a comprehensive tasting notes, premox statistics and comments about the wines tasted by clicking on the links below:\\ \\ | ||
| - | == 1996 vintage assessment == | + | == **1996 vintage assessment** == |
| January 25, 2006: 28 wines in a single sitting. You'll find the the notes here: [[1996_vintage_assessment_dinner|1996 Vintage Tasting and Oxidation Check]].\\ \\ | January 25, 2006: 28 wines in a single sitting. You'll find the the notes here: [[1996_vintage_assessment_dinner|1996 Vintage Tasting and Oxidation Check]].\\ \\ | ||
| == 1999 vintage assessment == | == 1999 vintage assessment == | ||
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| [[2007_vintage_assessment_night_three|2007-Night 3]]\\ | [[2007_vintage_assessment_night_three|2007-Night 3]]\\ | ||
| \\ | \\ | ||
| - | ====== List of producers and wines ====== | + | ====== LIST OF PRODUCERS AND WINES ====== |
| \\ Here is a list of producers that might or not be affected by this problem. Each producer has its own page with information about winemaking techniques and a list of wines that have shown to be affected (or not).\\ \\ The list of producers is also available sorted by [[producers_by_appellation|appellations]].\\ | \\ Here is a list of producers that might or not be affected by this problem. Each producer has its own page with information about winemaking techniques and a list of wines that have shown to be affected (or not).\\ \\ The list of producers is also available sorted by [[producers_by_appellation|appellations]].\\ | ||
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