unprofessional ‘professionals’ plus a few pics…

26.1.2011billn

“In January 2010, I had a good look at the 2008 Burgundies and decided that they were in the main thin, hollow and unappealing. What I didn’t know at the time was that most of them had still not undergone their malolactic fermentation. Retasting the wines in September 2010, I found that thinness has now transformed into elegance.”
Oz Clarke, Wine Spectator

I appreciate the candour of Oz Clarke in this instance, but frankly he has a well-known name in the UK, and his initial comments betray a lack of understanding (as a minimum they were clearly uninformed) so essentially were unprofessional – I hope he wasn’t paid to express them!

Anyway, more fun – I’m in Burgundy and the temperature is hovering above zero and there’s some rain – it’s not for mooching around outdoors. Yesterday was a mix of Pommard, Puligny, Nuits then Beaune (locations), today was a slightly more focused Gevrey and Marsannay, while tomorrow will be trek north from Savigny to Nuits to Chambolle eventually to Morey. I’m not even thinking of Friday.

Agree? Disagree? Anything you'd like to add?

There are 4 responses to “unprofessional ‘professionals’ plus a few pics…”

  1. Claude Kolm26th January 2011 at 9:27 pmPermalinkReply

    Hmm, the timing sounds a little fishy there — by January 2010, malos for the most part were finished or nearly so for the great majority of the wines.

    I wonder if he was judging them based on the London tastings? My UK friends in the trade say that half the wines shown at those tastings are spoiled.

  2. JT27th January 2011 at 2:50 amPermalinkReply

    Claude,
    I believe the 2008 vintage had extraordinarily long malos.

  3. Claude Kolm27th January 2011 at 7:09 pmPermalinkReply

    JT — They did, but most were finished or just finishing when I visited in October-November 2009. Major exceptions were Fourrier, Denis Mortet, and Domaine de la Pousse d’Or, but that’s only three out of maybe 60 or 70 visits that I made. Even at Mortet, when I saw Arnaud in San Francisco in March 2010, the malos were all done, which means that they may well have been done or nearly so by January 2010.

  4. Tom Blach27th January 2011 at 11:45 pmPermalinkReply

    Re spoiled samples, there were none that I tasted at the J&B tasting. The day after I attended one where it was impossible to taste any of the ‘unfinished’ wines-it turns out they had come by car from Burgundy the day before.

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