Travels in Burgundy 2015

bonnes-mares…

By billn on May 15, 2015 #travels in burgundy 2015#vintage 2015

Well, mainly…

A visit in Morey on Thursday afternoon, and unusually, I was early! So I stopped off for a wander around the vines of a particular part of Bonnes-Mares, just outside the centre of Morey. The ground was very dry, though today’s rain – luckily without storms – should have helped in that department.

Thursday’s weather was still hot in the sun but cooler with a strong wind. Today, the rain and cold hit. I suppose we needed a bit of balance, as 30°C for three days running is a bit unusual for the first half of May. Before the heat the vines were basically ‘average’ versus a normal growth cycle – but the heat had the vines growing incredibly fast – the cold (About 10° and wet) may have just kept them in the ‘average.’

early starts…

By billn on May 13, 2015 #travels in burgundy 2015#vintage 2015

The days are long for some.

Such is the heat (& sunburn) this week, that many are already starting their day in the vines at 06h00. Some balancing with a long siesta, others not.

Today was ‘second treatment day’ for some, though given the forecast for storms tomorrow or Friday, I’m not sure if it will have been worth the effort – but let’s see who’s right, them or the forecasters…

Two tastings this morning that were a world apart – Felettig and Le Moine – the traditional and the new, yet both characterised by a myriad of small parcels and/or cuvées.

A small collection today – from Chambolle and Beaune:

hot in the côtes…

By billn on May 12, 2015 #travels in burgundy 2015

Hot, hot, hot today – my car’s aircon can hardly keep up. Definitely not a time to be smooching around town with bottles in the car!

After what seems like months of not visiting, I was yet-again back in Vosne-Romanée today. So I’ll apologise up-front for the photo-monotony 😉

But first a bit of Boisset (new) cuverie action:

Then a little Vosne selection:

2013s… (and a bit of gevrey!)

By billn on May 06, 2015 #travels in burgundy 2015#vintage appraisal

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Gevrey-Chambertin Les Evocelles today…

The 2013 whites were rather accurately reported I think, but I really felt that the reporting on the 2013 reds was all over the place – more-so than the wines themselves.

Of-course I’m talking about good addresses, and, in the main, Côte de Nuits domaines (which I’m visiting this month), but the wines where I’ve re-tasted (as much as any new wines tasted) show that the 2013s have put on more weight and richness versus the November-December tasting jamboree. The end of 2014 had more dissolved CO2, more forward acidity (emphasised by the gas) and less richness than the wines show today.

I keep telling myself “November is a great time to taste, but that’s not what gets bottled…” – it seems that others (erroneously imho) think that they can be more definitive without any attempt to extrapolate.

Effectively, the problem with many reports I saw was that they described only the wines (ergo the vintage) at that moment in time, to say that this vintage is ‘x’ without using other vintages as reference points – with those reference points in place, you can reasonably say that a vintage should be x or y in character once (maybe in more than 6 months) it’s bottled – this was largely absent from any critique. Oh-well…

And for Dan, as I’ve written elsewhere, today those wines show more like a blend of 2010 and 2009, than the hypothetical 2010/2008 impression they gave in November.

Anyway, a bit of Gevrey-Chambertin today:

floral vosne-romanée…

By billn on May 05, 2015 #travels in burgundy 2015

I really can’t remember the last time I aimlessly wandered around Vosne with my camera, but today, either side of an appointment at René Cacheux I did just that. The vines really look in fine shape, and not just the vines either…

french rainstorms & fear of frost in chablis…

By billn on April 27, 2015 #travels in burgundy 2015

my chainThe lovely weather of last week(+) is now taking something of a pause – today it’s largely kept to about 10°C.

Yesterday I managed to drive to Beaune avoiding all but a few drops of rain, despite storms roving across both France and Switzerland – indeed Chablis already had thunder and lightning on Saturday.

On the subject of Chablis, that was my location today (tasting a selection of 2013s from Saint Bris and Irancy) and it’s certainly rained plenty today, in fact it began during the night. The locals of Chablis have more than a little concern because there’s frost forecast for Tuesday night – they would much rather that it kept raining! It’s meant to become cold at night in the Côte d’Or too, but the forecasts, at least so-far, deem that it should stay safely above zero.

On the subject of thunder and lightning, a bottle of Chablis I’d ordered for a tasting had to be paid for in hard cash, as the seller claimed that Saturday’s lightning had put paid to his card payment terminal – and they still weren’t cured.

Oh-well!

snakes and sheep in the mâconnais…

By billn on April 23, 2015 #travels in burgundy 2015

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Not the only thing on the roads in the Mâconnais today, I saw a metre-long snake zip across the road, gleaming in the sun – they really are fast!

Another day of fine and warm weather – my second day in the Mâconnais, today visiting four solid producers – but cold and wet is forecast for Sunday-Monday; I’d best make the most of it now!

a warm day in the mâconnais

By billn on April 22, 2015 #travels in burgundy 2015

I saw 26°C registered today – maybe it was warmer – it was certainly picturesque! Lots of visits today and I learnt a lot!

Burgundy Report

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