I addressed this observation to all the winemakers I met last week and culled the following information:

• Winemaker 1. “Yes I know exactly what you mean – it’s also there in some whites. We see this to a lower extent in many vintages, but I have to admit it’s on a much higher level since we bottled. I’m keeping my eye on it but fully expect it to fade – though for this vintage maybe not entirely – actually, there’s a good chance that this may give a very interesting component to those wines 5 years down the line.”
• Winemaker 2. Him: “Really? No I’m not aware of that”, me: “Well it’s kind of like we are tasting right now…” Hmmm – change of subject…
• Winemaker 3. Okay – to be fair this was a marketing guy: “Really! that’s very interesting, of course today we have much more control because we…”
• Winemaker 4. ” Yes we’ve seen exactly what you describe, thing is, it’s in this cuvée and that cuvée, but not in the others. I checked the analysis and I don’t see any meaningful differences. Just now I’ve no explanation, but given that it came from nowhere I’m hoping it will just be a phase.”

So, no insight, in the main some acceptance and the interesting observation that it could also be in the whites – I haven’t seen this.

That’s all for now.

I thought I would just let that initial comment hang there a while 🙂

Of-course that comment is aimed at the red wines of the vintage; whites are opulent and rich (2003 with acidity) – with the potential exception of Chablis they may not be everyone’s cup of tea – but don’t worry 2006 looks like being an even better 2004; perhaps these will define the whites for a generation, assuming they don’t oxidise…

The problem today is that it’s almost impossible to separate the annual hype from comments that may have some merit. From some producers there is much to validate such a suggestion; let’s take at a look at the competition for 2005:

• 1999 was a fantastic vintage but could have been even better if yields had been better managed
• 2002 was (in my opinion) not quite as good as 1999 – this time yields were no issue – but one problem was a less than ideal growing season that was only saved by September weather
• 2005 had a good growing season, was virtually problem free, has no more than an average yield and typically required little more than a cursary triage.

The only real negative I can see for the 2005’s is that today’s hype is based on the wines in cask – this has yet to be translated into bottles – many, many domaines will not make their final (and in some cases first) racking for another couple of weeks, afterwards making their assemblage and finally bottling (maybe) at the end of February. Typically they are looking to get the final polishing of their oak tannins, but you only have to look at the 2004’s to see that things don’t always develop as planned.

Just in case you wondered, that ‘generation’ comment can be attributed to the venerable house of Joseph Drouhin, who didn’t need any extra help selling their wines as they are close to sold-out even before the trucks start leaving Beaune…

There is always hype of some kind associated with the launch of each new vintage – but comments like the one above are not the norm. That the comment came today from someone who has already largely pre-sold all their 2005’s is telling – even internally at the domaine they are carving up their remaining bottles; “If I give you three bottles of this, I want 3 bottles of that in return…” – there will be almost no showings of their 2005’s – instead they will move direct to 2006’s for customer days!

I will add more info as I visit the domaines this week…

News on the Antonin Rodet website announces their acquisition of Maison Dufouleur Père & Fils including the addition of the large Nuits Monopole, the 1er Cru Clos de Thorey to the “Domaines Rodet family”:

The Mercurey-based Burgundy Wine group Antonin Rodet, founded in 1875, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sequana Capital, has announced the acquisition of Maison Dufouleur Père et Fils located in Nuits-Saint-Georges. The acquisition covers both the wine brokerage business and the 10.5-hectare Domaine Barbier estate. With a tradition of wine production and trading passed down from father to son over more than 400 years, Dufouleur Père et Fils, through its name, its experience and its constant quest for quality, is a very well-established name in the Burgundy wine industry.
Philippe Vidal, Chairman of Antonin Rodet, noted: “This strategic acquisition is a major development in the history of Antonin Rodet and marks our return to the leading group of Burgundy wine houses. The strong values shared by both houses will help drive their growth whilst respecting their individual strategies, and will also produce operational synergies.”

Xavier Dufouleur, who will continue to be involved in the commercial activities of Maison Dufouleur Père et Fils, added: “I am delighted to be joining the Rodet Group. This will open the way to expansion for our house that would not have been available to us on our own, particularly in export markets.”The Domaine Guy Dufouleur estate, which was not included in the scope of the acquisition, has signed a contract to supply the new Rodet-Dufouleur Group.

Le Clos de Thorey becomes a Domaine Rodet.

Le Clos de Thorey Monopole, a 3-hectare Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru estate, has joined the Domaines Antonin Rodet family. Other notable member estates include the 30-hectare Domaine du Château de Rully and the 48-hectare Domaine du Château de Mercey.In 2008, Antonin Rodet will start selling the 2006 vintage. Nadine Gublin, the House’s Cellar Master, was enthusiastic about Le Clos de Thorey: “This magnificent hillside land faces due east and is located in a perfectly ventilated area at the northern end of the Nuits-Saint-Georges region. This allowed us to produce a thoroughbred, refined wine with very pure fruit for the 2006 vintage.”

Whilst they are far from commonplace, some producers are looking to extract a little extra from the consumers for this vintage. I have already forward purchased from several producers with prices at, or below, 2004/2003 levels, but some are going the other way: I am exhorted by a swiss merchant ‘attention – quantities are low’, but to restore the universal balance I see just in time that the prices seem too high

1. Bourgogne Rouge @ 31 chf
2. Gevrey (village) @ 73 chf
3. 4 1er Crus @ 116 chf
4. Clos de Vougeot @ 232 chf

Oh, and I must add 7.6% tax…
For your background information these local prices are close to double what other good producers charge. This is a well-known domaine with a great reputation, but with new/untested viticulture and elevage. Frankly, a joke – no bottles will be purchased chez nanson…

Back to reality – Christmas is over – it seems in a flash!

Lots of friends were seen and surprisingly few bottles were drunk as I was mainly the chauffeur. My first disappointment is that I’ve finally given up trying to match red burgundy with the traditional Christmas meal – it doesn’t work – there are just too many sweet and salty elements on the traditional plate – white burgundy can continue, but next year I see something more cabernet-based!

My second disappointment was the sad case of UK wine prices. I will use the local (UK) Oddbins as my example, but note that I’m using them as a prime example of the UK wine trade and what (it appears) they can charge rather complaining specifically about them. I always liked Oddbins and even did a stint behind the counter at various branches in 1999 when I was on ‘gardening leave’ – it was great fun – though despite my staff discount, I always owed them money at the end of each month! The disappointment is that currently everything is overpriced, and even amplified when you want only one bottle – buying six will bring you a discount, but in the case of all their burgundy and most champagne even the ‘6-price’ is woeful. Berry Bros should also be in the firing line here – their ‘full-case’ prices are often reasonable, but just look at the price of anything less! Anyway, back to Oddbins, I won’t go into the list of burgundies that (as 6’s) are 50% more expensive than continental drinkers would pay – no value there – but a simple example was hammered home by an email from the swiss Co-Op the same day I visited Oddbins. ‘Oddies’ were offering Laurent-Perrier Rosé Champagne for well over £40 per bottle, but buy six and the price was (approx) £36.6. My local Co-Op had a Xmas reduction from 59 to 56 chf – that’s £24.3 per bottle – oh and I could just buy one if I wanted!

Oh, and please don’t anyone waste my time by blaming the higher level of tax and duty in the UK, that would simply bring the price of the swiss bottle to (less than) £27…

Anyway, tomorrow I’ll post my ‘highs’ of 2006 i.e the best wines and the best things I’ve read.

Happy new year

Apparently the ‘Brits’ like to name wines by their varietal. I’m not sure who came up with that statement, or how it applies to Chablis, Châteauneuf-du-Pape or ‘claret’ for instance, but someone was convinced enough to pay for a series of adverts in ‘lifestile magazines’ and the ‘colour supplements’ of the weekend newspapers in the UK and Ireland in the last months of 2006.

Apparently the campaign “helps to simplify the Burgundian appellation system and so makes the wines more accessible to the British, while serving as a reminder of the unique quality conferred by terroir.”

Perhaps the money spent by the BIVB would have found a better home researching a solution to the white burgundy premature oxidation syndrome…

Much more useful from our friends at the BIVB is their guide to the Burgundian wine festivals of 2007, detailing almost 80 wine-related events throughout wine-growing Burgundy in 2007. It’s bilingual (French and English) and can be found in the regions tourist offices, hotels etc., etc. The same information can also be accessed through the BIVB’s website.

Tha Fabian Cobb seems a very cynical chap when it comes to this stuff – much more so than me…
😉