And the programme:
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Beethoven in Beaune?
And the programme:
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gratuitous 2021 grape images…
The weather has cooled a little today and we’ve seen just a few drops of rain this afternoon – but practically nothing so far – certainly none of the heavy rain and flooding seen in some parts of France this week. There’s rain forecast for both overnight and daytime tomorrow but then the nice weather returns until Tuesday when storms are forecast – but they were also forecast for this week too – and it doesn’t look like we will be getting any of that.
I spoke to Jean-Pierre Tournier today, of the decently sized red/white Domaine François Gaunoux of Meursault and he said they were planning to start harvesting around the 25th – the traditionally earlier harvesters might be 5-6 days sooner. I also shortly chatted with Stephane Follin-Arbelet of the Château de Meursault – he told me that after the frost and some further challenges from mildew and oïdium, he was anticipating yields of about 5 hl/ha in his Meursault-Perrières. Lastly, Antoine Olivier of that domaine in Santenay told me that he won’t be waiting too long – he’ll probably start on the 18th of September.
My photographic tour of vines in the Côte de Nuits yesterday and the southern Côte de Beaune today, show that for the first time since 2016, triage will be an integral part of the harvest 2021. Yields in reds are all over the place – some vines with nothing and others with plenty of clusters – my very first image taken in Marsannay even shows some green harvesting – but this was on the lower slopes – on the higher and hillside slopes they have, on average, about 50% losses. Puligny was interesting as the edges of vineyards often showed plenty of fruit, but as you went deeper into the vines fewer and fewer bunches could be found – maybe some airflow at the edges disrupted the frost but not within the vineyard(?)
In Beaujolais the early chardonnay pickers may already be underway about the 11th and the early gamays from around the 13th – but the crus will largely mirror the timing of the reds of the Côte d’Or this year.
Enjoy:
Marsannay (the bottom)
Clos St.Denis
Clos St.Denis
Morey Monts Luisants
Morey Monts Luisants
Aligoté
Lalou’s Clos de la Roche
Soon to be rejected (I hope) Clos de la Roche
Puligny Villages – plenty here
Puligny Villages – plenty here too
Lalou’s Criots
New…
Puligny 1er Les Caillerets
This week in the côtes…
Last week was a full week in the côtes for me, starting to accumulate some 2020-vintage visits prior to the start of harvesting – but I think the topic of harvesting, and what may be harvested, remains the most requested subject of queries to me – so let’s do that…
2021 is a vintage that currently lies on a knife-edge of quality – on one side potentially really excellent or on the other side, definitely not!
We’ve had nice stable weather and good light for the last 10 days, or so, and this combination has brought the maturity nicely forward and halted the rot in its tracks. But from the end of this week, the weather is forecast to be more changeable and this could play into the hands of the various maladies of the vine – all is still to play for. Of course, my knife-edge comment refers mainly to the reds where there are plenty of losses but at least 70% of a normal crop, rather than the whites, which may struggle to deliver 25% of a normal crop – these whites could still be very good but will be scarce and if only for that will forever be described as a ‘small’ vintage, regardless of their intrinsic quality.
The ongoing analyses of the BIVB (above right, published today) indicate the movement of these three important analytical aspects since the 30th of August. For those of you who are interested in how many grams per litre of sugar indicates (roughly) ripe, then 230 g/l would indicate somewhere between 13 and 14% alcohol depending on the rate of the sugar’s conversion. Based on the current progression, pinots will certainly be harvested first and that could start before the 20th of September if there’s not much rain and plenty of sun – if there is plenty of rain then the first picks will likely be after the 20th.
As noted, there’s still much to play for, for the producers of reds.
a couple of swift ones…
2019 Cyril Gautheron, Chablis 1er Montmains Vieilles-Vignes
One of this year’s house wines…
This has a nice stony/rocky impression to the nose with just a twist of citrus – that’s a fine invitation. In the mouth this is broad over the palate, missing some of extra ‘chiselled’ impression that it gave me at the domaine pre-bottling. This slightly fatter style than I expected doesn’t detract from the delicious flavours but it does make for a wine that doesn’t challenge me as much as I’d been looking forward to. Yum – and, of course, with a lot of time on its side…
Rebuy – Maybe
2010 Joseph Roty, Gevrey-Chambertin La Brunelle
My first from this 6-pack. Talking of not be challenged…
Medium colour – but still a young-looking colour. Round, easy red fruit on the nose – very primary. Hmm, it’s Roty and it’s Gevrey but where’s the challenge? This is round, simple and red-fruited – almost a kids’ cordial fruit style – hardly any structure, certainly silky and with a little undertow of creamy oak. Far too easy to drink! Actually, I think their 2010 BGO (and I haven’t finished my 12-pack of that yet) to be a more interesting drink at the moment. Easy but also primary, delicious but with hardly any visible structure – for this combination of producer and place I’m amazed. I hope it gains a bit of ‘oomph’ with time, as such I probably won’t return for at least 3-4 years…
Rebuy – Maybe
Barthod’s 1999 Chambolle…
The village Chambolle. Another case rescued from solitary confinement in the UK. Way back when – this was an en-primeur purchase – I don’t think I paid more than £23-24 a bottle; peanuts in a modern context but not inexpensive when you consider that Engel’s Grands Echézeaux cost £40.50 and some of Fred Esmonin’s grand crus were under £30 in the same EP campaign!
1999 Ghislaine Barthod, Chambolle-Musigny
Another nicely robust cork that needs energy to remove but comes out in one piece – hardly any ingress of wine colour along its length.
A shade more depth of colour versus the 1999 Bourgogne today – but only marginally. This nose starts both deeper and fuller – almost a velour texture to it – but any purity of fruit is lacking for the first 20 minutes after opening – slowly but surely it comes into focus though and is more floral in character than that of the 99 Bourgogne – there’s the merest, and only occasional, accent of brett too but it’s significantly below any threshold of displeasure on my part. An hour in and the nose has a bit of beef-broth going on. Ooh, that a big wine in the mouth – not seamless but powerful – full of detail and complexity. This is still a bit of a baby but with so many positive aspects. I forgive the youth because I’m too busy with the next little note of complexity that comes along. There is a bit of brett which begins to add some frustration – though all the bottles will be different. The now modest tannin still has a drying accent too but parts of this wine are beguiling. Better than a Curate’s Egg but still far from perfect.
Rebuy – Maybe
another short update on the 2021 vintage
Crushing a grape sample to test the analytics
Two bite-sized snippets that afford plenty of perspective:
“With the potential harvest parameters of % veraison & vine health being heterogeneous from one plot to another it is, for the moment, very difficult to precisely project the optimal dates for the onset of the harvest. In terms of the stages of vine growth and summer rainfall (125mm in July-August in Beaune, which would be classed as ‘historically normal’), 2021 can be compared to 2012. These trends, to date, indicate starting points of 18-20 September but the evolution of the state of health in the first half of September (notably any development of botrytis) will come into play in the decision.”
Chambre d’Agriculture, Côte d’Or – 24 August 2021
“For the white grape varieties, due to excessive frost damage, only 2/3 of the data points will be available this year. Two-thirds of the sampled plots of chardonnay have passed the mid-veraison stage, however, maturity is not very advanced from an analytical perspective. The plots of aligoté, severely impacted by frost, cannot be sampled this year. For the black grape varieties, samples from a little more than 3/4 of the plots could be collected. These black grape varieties are the most advanced in maturity, particularly the pinot noir where most of the sampled plots are close to full veraison. The sugar contents vary from 145 to 150 g/l, except in the Yonne. The acidities are currently high, in particular, due to a significant presence of both tartaric and high levels of malic acids.”
BIVB Infos – 24 August 2021
weekend 33 2021 – two bottles
Including another Barthod from my (previous) UK storage – there are more…
2018 Auvigue, Pouilly-Fuissé La Frérie
Cork sealed – the climat name used here.
A forward, slightly round nose – there’s fresh intent but framed with a lemon-custard impression. A wine that, like the nose, starts round but then comes to a more intense point of flavour – here at the end, along with a suggestion of salinity, before that the lemon-custard style of the nose. Delicious it is, and that’s despite a lot of flavour having an origin in the barrels.
Rebuy – Maybe
1999 Ghislaine Barthod, Bourgogne
Nearly a full case of this ‘rescued’ from the UK. Cork-sealed, still robust too.
Medium, medium-plus colour. The nose starts a little tight but then bursts into action with a very high-quality, purity of, red fruit – thats very lovely and it has some depth too. Aromatically this seems rather younger than its 22 years – just adding a slightly mineral and graphitic quality with time. In the mouth, this is lithe, direct too. There’s a small fur of tannin but it’s largely bereft of dryness. I love the line and fine acidity here. The finishing flavours recollect the mineral style that became evident on the nose. Overall good sweetness yet this remains a wine of indeterminate age, drinking well despite no overt age-related sous-bois / dried leaves. Not the extra – complete – ripeness of recent vintage Bourgognes but with a clarity of fruit that is different. Lovely wine…
On day two the mineral aspects are more to the fore and there’s a little extra bitters creeping into the finish – it was finer on day 1.
Rebuy – Yes
a couple more bottles from last week…
Whilst in the UK last week, I took the opportunity to take delivery of ‘stocks’ of wines that I’d kept in different locations. I’d anyway not visited the UK for three years so it seemed silly to keep paying storage charges for wines that I wasn’t drinking. Delivery duly received, I just had the matter of navigating the post-Brexit customs when I returned home via France. Fortunately being one of the first off the boat meant that they were not ready to ask questions as I sped home on Saturday 🙂
Here are just some thoughts on two that I opened midweek without taking any notes – spot the generic similarity of the labels:
2004 Ghislaine Barthod, Chambolle-Musigny: There’s a long and boring story behind the reason for having a case from this vintage but given that 9 bottles remained I thought I’d make a quick raincheck on how bad they could be! Though the pyrazine taint remains obvious to me, the wine is round and has good flavour too. I even took a second glass which means I liked the wine more than I expected to – clearly I wouldn’t rebuy though!
1998 Denis Mortet, Gevrey-Chambertin:
Previously, this was always a good wine aromatically spoiled by a very ashy oak treatment. There remains more than a hint of cigarette ash on the nose even at close to 25 years of age but the fruit has become rounder and the wine generally more accommodating. The ash is hardly visible in the flavours and I must say, this is rather atypically round and sweetly fruited for the vintage – the acidity is fine though – there were no obvious tannic references to the vintage either. A smooth, supple and delicious wine – only 3 or 4 remain from this case but I will be enjoying them over the next few years.
Rebuy – Yes today. Due to the aromatic oak, I know I was less positive in the wine’s first 15 years!
Becky Wasserman Hone 1937-2021
On Friday evening, on the US forum wineberserkers, I saw the notice of Becky’s departure from this place. I checked in on another UK forum that I visit and there was no mention. I started to type the news but having known her for over 20 years, I felt a little like an ambulance chaser and decided to let the weekend pass and write my thoughts here.
Becky began her Burgundian journey in the 1960s; at that time with a different husband to the Russell Hone that we all know and love today. Becky began by selling barrels from Burgundy to customers in the US – consolidating multiple orders and shipping full containers to the States. With her two sons, Peter and Paul, the family lived in Saint Romain near the barrel-maker François. When I got to know her, Becky had only the slightest of accents when speaking French but the boys, brought up in St.Romain had none, switching effortlessly between the two languages depending on their company.
It soon dawned on Becky that the contents of those French barrels could be a much better product to sell than the barrels themselves – and, over time, she was proven right. There were some downs as well as ups – particularly during one credit crunch when a customer failed to pay for a large consignment of wine after delivery. Then there was the time that her office roof caved in and it took many months to be fixed – the whole team de-camped, nextdoor, to what had been the wine cellar of Ma Cuisine until the work was completed. But her business weathered the storms and grew stronger for it.
Becky began by selling the wines of hand-picked producers that she had come to know and, as she tasted more widely, the range grew too. It is without a hint of consideration that you can describe her as the most pioneering, important, importer of burgundy wine into the US for the last 50 years – her portfolio only lacked a little DRC/Leroy magic – but she still counted those producers as friends. Becky once told me that in her early days she’d invited Aubert de Villaine to a tasting of the wines she was starting to export but was unsure if he would actually attend; attend he did and took a little extra time to compliment her on the quality and cleanliness of her glassware for the tasting – good tasting glasses being a rarity in the 1970s – Aubert and Becky always kept in touch after that!
Soon a new house was to beckon – above Savigny-lès-Beaune in the hamlet of Bouilland. Becky confided that although the wine business was thriving at the time, the banks needed a lot of convincing to lend the money – eventually they accepted when Becky included in her business plan the Bouilland Symposia. These symposia being week-long tasting and dining experiences with producers and critics – originally with Clive Coates but other ‘hosts’ were to follow. Bouilland later becoming the home of Clive Coates’ 10 years-on burgundy tastings – all under the various outbuilding rooves of the Wasserman-Hones with dinner prepared by Russell. I only visited one of these tastings – the 1997s – as one year later ‘the press’ were banned as there were more of them coming to taste than producers.
When it comes to the critics, Becky knew them all – not only knew – she also opened doors for very many. Her office kitchen – just across from Ma Cuisine in the centre of Beaune – saw generations of writers and would-be writers, young and already established, joining her and her team for lunch. “It’s the only rule I have for the people that work for me – we have to eat lunch together – but it’s cooked here.” Becky knew that it was a symbiotic relationship, selling wine and knowing the people who wrote about wine, and she was most happy sending people to what she thought good addresses though often had to be stoic – ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink!‘
Of course, you also met winemakers at Becky’s table. I remember the day that Dominique Lafon (who for a time before joining the family domaine had worked for Becky) came and sat down, eating his sandwich and berating what one (or more!) of his neighbours in Montrachet had done. We hadn’t previously met and Becky shot me one of those stares that said – ‘say nothing’ – and after Dominique left Becky’s stare was reinforced with a ‘and write nothing too!‘ Of course, 20 years ago, Becky had overestimated the level of my French language skills, so I was anyway 50% clueless 🙂
I was often welcomed at Becky’s table and really can’t remember who made the introduction for me but she was happy to write a small piece in the first issue of Burgundy Report in 2003. I’m sorry that I fell out of visiting the team at Le Serbet – the name of her business – but it largely mirrored Becky being less often in Beaune in the last years. I still look back at the day when I asked her what she really thought about the book I’d written about the region – her answer inscrutable, perhaps enigmatic but still a great answer “What I can tell you, is that a lot of people are green with envy and would be very happy just replacing your name on the cover with theirs!” Thanks Becky.
I suppose that Becky was doing a similar job with (budding) journalists that the BIVB do now but actually within the trade of wine nobody did it as she did – or at all, before she did it! It is such an understatement to say that she will be missed. My thoughts extend to Russell, Peter and Paul but I know that her whole team in Beaune will be equally devastated…