All is newly plumbed and wired – it will take a few days to be sure that everything’s working. Take a look, let me know if something’s wrong – I’ll get onto it!
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Site Updates
the march 2019 burgundy report
I really ought to publicise that the March report is online – so here you go!
- With 8 new names from Chablis – so already bringing to you 70 domaines and their 2017s from that region this year – coverage like no other!
- Visits to ‘older’ names to catch-up on their 2017s…
- 100 wines from 2017 tasted blind – from Irancy and Beaujolais Blanc – I’m thinking of your bank balance here. Particularly the Beaujolais was interesting, because I generally find only about 1 in 10 wines that I would open with relish – here you will find 6 great wines – from over 60 tasted!
- Screw-cap versus cork – comparing the seals back to 2004 with one winemaker – intriguing, if unsurprising results!
Online for subscribers here. Note that for my coverage of the 2017 vintage, that’s already 2,890 wines from 235 producers. This month I’ve even started tasting a few domaines’ 2018s!
NB: This is the last Burgundy Report on my old server before a big site update. ‘Architecturally’ – i.e. behind the scenes – it will be a major step forward in both speed and stability. I’ll probably have to revisit the design in 6-12 months to make it prettier, but function and content rules – eh? Particularly now that a touch more than 50% of you visit only using your tablets and (i)phones!
Enjoy…
‘bourgogne vs. burgundy – what’s in a name?’
I dismissed the BIVB‘s press release about this last year, probably because I had better things to do around the time of the harvest – actually it was the 12th September, so I’m sure I’d probably finished by then – but I digress!
In essence, they want to change the way that others speak:
“To re-affirm its identity as one of the most iconic vineyard of France, the region and its producers are reverting back to the original French iteration of its name: Bourgogne.”
They say that if we all revert to ‘Bourgogne’ then it will aid them in “maintaining one true identity.” It’s not just a swipe at Anglo-Saxons like me, but also Germans and any number of other ‘non-French translations’ of Bourgogne. It sounds like the first step on the road to ‘Frexit’ to me!
To be honest, I’d completely forgotten about this, until last week, when a stalwart of the BIVB asked me why I don’t ‘change to using the word Bourgogne instead?’ Whilst not fully prepared for an in-depth rebuttal, I did manage to muster that when the French officially stop referring to Angleterre or États-Unis d’Amérique or Londres, and adopt local usage, I would begin to think about it!
It seems to me a silly thing to spend time on, particularly in a region where many of its rules and classifications derive from what are described as traditions that are ‘loyaux et constants‘ i.e. they are trustworthy, established practice.
I know that I’m going through a site update – online, hopefully, by the first week in April – but I’m still not planning to rename the site to Bourgogne Reportage! Not yet, anyway 😉
my updated burgundy vintage charts – v.1.8
Updated to include, among other things, my early thoughts on the 2016s.
Here.
The ‘other things’ include:
- Tada! Chablis!
- Tada! Beaujolais!
- A small increase in the average score for 2004 reds – rare bottles of-course 🙂
- Increasing the number of ‘red flagged’ white vintages in the Côte d’Or – i.e. ones to drink up to minimise your exposure to oxidised bottles.
- Lastly a small reduction in score for the ‘worst’ 2014 reds – I’ve ‘enjoyed’ some quite weedier, ‘meagre’ bottles.
updated vintage chart – v.1.7
Updated to include, among other things, my early thoughts on the 2015s.
Here.
The ‘other things’ include:
- A small increase in the average score for 2007 reds – a nod to their opening out
- Increasing the number of ‘red flagged’ white vintages – i.e. ones to drink up to minimise your exposure to oxidised bottles.
- Lastly a small reduction in score for the ‘best’ 2013 whites. I still enjoy them very much, but they are clearly not as good as the same from 2011, 2012 and 2014…
And that’s about it!
4 million…
december’s burgundy report
My third Côte d’Or report is now online. Altogether the ‘whites,’ ‘reds’ and ‘grands maisons’ issues include commentary about 2016 and 2015 from over 80 producers and 1,300 wines.
Now comes a relative (report writing) pause for Christmas, then the 5th of January – is Chablis time!
next week – the 2015 white burgundy report
Above, a bunch of happy smiley faces, visited since the harvest. There are just a few more to add, but October 2016’s Burgundy Report will be online by next Friday.
October 2016 = 2015 White Burgundy.
The wines and thoughts of important domaines, plus the information on the vintage and its best wines.
Coming soon…
new burgundy report online
After the summer pause, when the whole of France decides to go on holiday, September is about harvesting. Well usually! The harvest was a late one this year, with most of the Côte de Nuits finishing in October.
So, a report with plenty of 2016 vintage info, plus a more in-depth look at what the harvest delivered and its potential. Given the late harvest, some producer visits to taste were possible before the harvest this year – normally that doesn’t work – so you will find a little Beaujolais and much more Côte d’Or – the first 2015s ‘officially’ tasted. Officially? Well I get to taste all year, but I wait until they are well down the route of elevage (12 months) before I consider actually writing a note for others to see.
There is also an open (i.e. not just for subscribers) piece on Maison Ilan – open because it’s important from a consumer perspective.