Domaine Les Perrières is based in Gevrey, and seemed to be appreciated by RMP Jr himself – including this particular wine – when he published his 1989 ‘Burgundy’ book. RMP noted that proprietor François Perrot made wine from a 2.77 acre parcel of Petit Chapelles – Matt Kramer’s book of the same year lists SC Les Perrières as owning just 1.6 acres, so he must have been farming additional parcels too. So what happened to the domaine? Well it still seems to exist, semi-anonymously, maybe it’s worth a visit…
Anyway, this wine is another auction purchase – I also got a coupe of bottles of ‘64 Clos de Bèze, but don’t expect to be opening those any time soon – given the bizarre performance of this bottle I may open another next week (I got 6) – at least they were cheap. Some you win, ….
1980 les Perrières, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Petites Chapelles
The cork comes out in one piece only with the intervention of an ‘Ah So’ two-pronged ‘corkscrew’ and is incredibly deeply coloured at the wine-facing side. This still has a high fill – only 1cm from the cork. Lots of fine sediment in the bottom of this bottle so it needs plenty of care pouring – it needed 4 days upright to clear. Medium mahogany-red/brown colour but red is still dominant. The nose – ah; sweaty socks, cheese, soil and maybe a hint of Madeira – I think it’s time to take a coffee and return at leisure. Okay, 3 hours later: if anything the nose is slightly worse with a dominant smell of sugary beef-stock. The palate is smoothly textured and shows some fat and good acidity – whatever’s in there has good concentration, but the nose is so overpowering that (whether the flavour is really in there or not) everything seems to be smothered by the beef-stock. Unusual, and not really what I might expect for heat damage. After 5 hours the nose is almost becoming bearable and the palate is rather fine – but that was as good as it got!
Rebuy – No
Bottle number two was exactly the same, 4 more remain…
There are 6 responses to “1980 domaine les perrières gevrey 1er petites chapelles”
I have often smelled that sweet beef stock or bovril note in older burgundy. To me it means the wine is finished.
Bovril indeed Ed – but I wasn’t sure that everyone would know what that was…
It is interesting to try the 1980s which was a difficult year but the only one that is consistently pleasant is the la Tache which I last tasted 4 yrs ago. The nose that you describe is characteristic of many wines from that year and can be quite unpleasant.
Maybe so Jeff – I tried another bottle today with the same result – shame because the texture and concentration/balance seem very good…
Bob Parker didn’t know his arse from a hole in the ground when it came to Burgundy. He never really got it. That said, hard to expect a whole lot from 40-year old bottle from a middle of the pack grower in a rather obscure vintage. Do I assume correctly that this domaine is unrelated to the Perrot-Minot domaine, Bill?
You dug this one out Dave. Note that the wine was only 28 when I opened it, so really should have been better. I do assume that it’s the same family – if distant.
Good point Bill. Somehow it appeared at the bottom of the page, so it would have helped to read the post date before I commented!