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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2013 and 2023 (based on 5 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.4 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 33 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by drwine2001 on 12/10/2023: Aged Cru Beaujolais (San Francisco): Dull red. Complex aromas of ripe fruit, herbs, and mint. Light, secondary mature red fruit, great acidity, and more tannin than the 2010. Very much alive and kicking at age 18. These Descombes VV wines age magnificently and deliver terrific complexity and interest. (634 views) | | | Tasted by drwine2001 on 5/16/2021: A Tasting of Chambolle-Musigny Village Wines from the 2005 Vintage (San Francisco): Inserted as a ringer in a flight of 2005 Chambolle-Musigny. Light red. Aromatic red fruit with some brettanomyces showing. Lighter weight, briary, saline, chewy tannins. Several tasters picked it as out of place but did not identify it as Gamay. (1144 views) | | | Tasted by gordoyflaca on 2/23/2020 & rated 92 points: Needs an hour to open, but then ready to go, with strong cherry fruit and nuce acidity. (553 views) | | | Tasted by drwine2001 on 5/21/2019: Even, primary ruby. More than a little brett. Solid medium weight. Still fairly stern and tannic with an earthy tart cherry core. Very much unevolved, not terribly generous Gamay. I did not love it, and it doesn't seem terribly likely to flesh out over time. (1036 views) | | | Tasted by Guy Des Rosiers on 10/9/2018 & rated 90 points: Very consistent with last note -- including the slight funk, which blew off after a few minutes and was not distracting on the palate. Let this breathe for an hour or so and enjoy. It's in a very good place. (783 views) | | | Tasted by Guy Des Rosiers on 9/26/2018 & rated 90 points: Quite barnyardy upon opening, but not in a bad way (though reasonable minds will no doubt differ on this). Still loads of cherry and cranberry on the nose. Silky smooth and lithe on the palate, with bright red fruit and a solid backbone of acidity. The barnyard notes thankfully do not carry over to the palate, which is very Burgundian in structure, but with heart and soul firmly planted in Morgon. Which is precisely as things should be. (746 views) | | | Tasted by Guy Des Rosiers on 9/28/2017 & rated 92 points: Fairly dark garnet core. Sour cherry, violets, bacon, and a bit of volatility (ink) on the nose. Finally beginning to show a bit of maturity. Medium-bodied. The sweet cherry fruit is still primary and intense on the palate, the acidity is bracing (without being harsh), and the tannins are almost fully resolved. Still one of the very best Beaujolais I ever had; if anything, this continues to improve, finally gaining some complexity without losing any of its vibrancy. What a beauty. (896 views) | | | Tasted by d'Artagnan on 6/16/2017 & rated 93 points: Dégustation Beaujolais 2005 et 2009 (Au Petit Resto): Wow, quelle belle bouche fine et équilibrée! Celui-ci n'est pas le plus long, mais il me charme avec une finesse admirable, minérale et délicate. Un magnifique vin qui me semble à son apogée. Voilà un vin qui s'est bonifié avec le temps, gagnant en subtilité, sans perdre ses parfums. Un grand charmeur. 93 pts
p.s.: intéressant de noter qu'en 2014 il était dans une phase ingrate, laissant planer un doute sur son avenir. (1710 views) | | | Tasted by Guy Des Rosiers on 11/14/2016 & rated 91 points: Very consistent with my last note. Right out of the box, the wine displays stunningly pure, bright cherry fruit on the nose. Light to medium-bodied, with solid (but balanced) acidity, and a hint of cranberry bitterness on the finish just to remind you that this is Gamay. The only missing ingredient at this point is a bit of complexity, but I'm confident this will come given a bit more time. However, it's really hard to resist drinking this now. (1058 views) | | | Tasted by Guy Des Rosiers on 9/19/2016 & rated 91 points: Fairly dark, ruby-garnet core. Soaring nose of pure cherry fruit, showing little or no oak. Dry on the attack, with a wonderful mix of tart acidity, sweet cherry fruit, and no discernible tannins. The length is long. The fruit is still as fresh as the day it was bottled, and while the wine is now much more approachable and exuberant, I think there is still plenty of upside potential. Wow. (1136 views) | | | Tasted by drwine2001 on 3/11/2016: Medium ruby up to the extreme rim. Mint and blackberry. Wow, there is a lot going on the mouth including a touch of brettanomyces, cinnamon spice, boysenberry/blackberry, herbs, and earth. Medium weight, quite incredible texture for Gamay, then boom, the typical vibrant acidity and tartness. Soil/mineral finish. Absolutely dynamite cru Beaujolais that will keep for another decade. This is at the level of top Premier Cru red Burgundy and endlessly interesting and satisfying. (1679 views) | | | Tasted by cubswinws on 3/8/2016 & rated 92 points: Ruby red with good fruit and touch of earthyness. Really enjoyable and great for 10 year old gamay. (1747 views) | | | Tasted by drwine2001 on 6/13/2015: Medium ruby with little fading. A trace of funk, but mostly quite vivid, tart morello cherries and intriguing spice on the nose. Quite dense for Gamay but not at all heavy. Black cherry fruit, cranberry acidity, and a mineral finish. Not one of those Beaujolais that transformed into Pinot Noir with time; this is still very much Gamay, and my sense is that it is not yet at its peak. Quite a remarkable cru Beaujolais at age 10. (1650 views) | | | Tasted by cubswinws on 3/23/2015 & rated 92 points: Nice wine with good fruit and fresh strawberry flavors. Touch of spice and good acidity. Really nice at this point. (1353 views) | | | Tasted by fitzi on 11/28/2014: From magnum, double decanted for about an hour before serving. This wine showed very nicely, with pleasantly fleshy fruit, but not fat, medium body heft, characteristically assertive cru Beaujolais acidity, robust tannins in proportion, and just a hint of sauvagité adding to its authority. A brilliant Thanksgiving wine, and a pleasure to pour for the family. (1428 views) | | | Tasted by d'Artagnan on 7/16/2014: À l'ouverture, ce vin me laissait perplexe.
L'acidité domine et le fruit s'est effacé. Il est d'un bloc, avec du tonus, mais bsans l'éclat du fruit de sa jeunesse. Pente descendante ou phase ingrate? Une tentative de vieillissement qui a échoué, ou est-ce plutôt qu'il aurait fallut l'attendre davantage?
Rebouché et pris le lendemain, il est plus équilibré, dense et assez large, d'une longueur étonnante. J'en conclue qu'il est dans une phase ingrate et qu'il vaut mieux l'attemdre deux ou trois ans pour voir ce que ça va donner. Dommage, c'était ma dernière.
(1632 views) | | | Tasted by fitzi on 7/7/2014: From magnum, difficult and testy right out of the bottle, with a prominent bite - perhaps from brett - similar to what I've observed in 2005 Tete prestige Jullienas from the same vintage. With ample time, the wine smooths more and more, the 'bite' persisting but diminishing my last glass was almost completely smooth. Flavors are vivid raspberry and cherry. A good wine; unfortunately I missed the chance to taste the day-2 remainder. (1492 views) | | | Tasted by brooklynguy on 5/15/2014 flawed bottle: All messed up. Not corked though. Re-fermented maybe? Fizzy and muddy and just a shame. (3043 views) | | | Tasted by MJHDC on 12/16/2012: Truly a beautiful bottle. Still young but nevertheless very enjoyable. Cranberry, spice, medium body, tangy and crunchy. Aromatic and elegant, easy at the table. I could drink this again and again. (1607 views) | | | Tasted by Junior on 4/8/2012: Oh, golly. With lamb. (1923 views) | | | Tasted by Junior on 11/24/2011: A fantastic bottle, beautifully proportioned, just turning the corner into adolescence without losing any of its youthful exuberance. Fine, full fruit with a graceful touch of spice and dirt and a clean, gravelly minerality. (2123 views) | | | Tasted by oolah on 8/27/2011 & rated 92 points: Fantastic Morgon. Pinot-esque with the complexity you might find in a mid-level Burgundy. Wish I had a few more bottles. Cherries, spice, earth and leather. Well integrated. Very smooth, but powerful with good structure. Drinking well now and pretty much guaranteed to hold out for a few more years. (1889 views) | | | Tasted by BillB656 on 7/20/2011: Truly wonderful wine. Explosive aromatics of dark fruit and forest floor, fully integrated structure, plenty of fruit left along with bright acidity. What I love most, besides the aroma, is the super balance. That said, this is still pretty primary. So much life ahead (1750 views) | | | Tasted by brooklynguy on 6/25/2011: Still primary, essentially. The aromatics are dark fruit and hard spices, earth undertones too. This is what the wine tasted like when it was released, to my memory anyway. It's delicious, but on day two it harmonized and revealed a seamlessness which was appealing. I have no idea how to figure how long it will take before this starts to show some secondary characteristics. (1826 views) | | | Tasted by drwine2001 on 1/16/2011: Talk about stacking the deck against a wine. This followed an absolutely astounding bottle of Montrachet, but incredibly, the lowly Beaujolais acquitted itself exceptionally well. Clear, deep ruby. Intoxicating nose enlivened by a touch of brett with spice, anise, and black fruit. Focused palate with powerful acidity and some remaining tannins. Since I last tasted it almost 3 years ago, it has lost its initial burst of fruit. Serious wine which is a Vosne Romanee look alike. Seemingly lots of time in hand. Bravo! (1610 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Nov/Dec 2008, Issue #18, Recently Tasted Beaujolais
(Morgon “Vieilles Vignes”- Georges Descombes) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Lyle Fass
Rockss and Fruit (4/21/2008)
(Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes) This showed lovely but don't remember much of that one. It was rich, sappy, ripe and very Pinot-esque. Elegant and juicy. Was not real analytical at this point of the night. | By Lyle Fass
Rockss and Fruit (3/12/2008)
(George Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes) This seems like it is finally closing down after being wide open since it landed stateside months ago. Still very ripe and floral and the most Pinot-esque of all the Descombes wines. Check back in five years and I bet this will be in its prime drinking window. | By Lyle Fass
Rockss and Fruit (11/5/2007)
(Georges Descombes Morgon Vieilles Vignes) As soon as I poured this wine I knew it was something special. Deep aromas of berry fruit, earth, mineral and some mint. But then it changed again and became more floral, and then changed again with darker fruit accents, and then changed again . . .you get the point. The palate had the structure of a Grand Cru from Gevrey Chambertin. Thoroughly ripe and juicy with ripe (yes it was that friggin ripe!), sweet and noble tannin this had amazing concentration, purity and character. This was hard to define as complex as it kept changing over and over again and something that is complex is defined as stable. So I guess this was not a complex wine (tongue firmly planted in cheek.) This has the structure to age and improve for 20-25 years I would boldly say. This is one of these rare wine that has actually delivered, and actually gone above and beyond the hype that was strewn upon it. A profound bottle of Beaujolais and easily the best one I have ever had. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of View From the Cellar and Rockss and Fruit. (manage subscription channels) |
| GamayPlant RobezVieilles Vignes Old Vine/Vieilles Vignes (Wikipedia)France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBurgundy Les vins de Bourgogne (Bureau interprofessionnel des vins de Bourgogne) (and in English)
Burgundy - The province of eastern France, famous for its red wines produced from Pinot Noir and its whites produced from Chardonnay. (Small of amounts of Gamay and Aligoté are still grown, although these have to be labeled differently.) The most famous part of the region is known as the Cote d'Or (the Golden Slope). It is divided into the Cote de Beaune, south of the town of Beaune (famous principally for its whites), and the Cote de Nuits, North of Beaune (home of the most famous reds). In addition, the Cote Chalonnaise and the Maconnais are important wine growing regions, although historically a clear level (or more) below the Cote d'Or. Also included by some are the regions of Chablis and Auxerrois, farther north.
Burgundy Report | Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne - na stejné téma od Heleny Baker
# 2013 Vintage Notes:
* "2013 is a vintage that 20 years ago would have been a disaster." - Will Lyons
* "low yields and highly variable reds, much better whites." - Bill Nanson
* "Virtually all wines were chaptalised, with a bit of sugar added before fermentation to increase the final alcohol level." - Jancis Robinson
# 2014 Vintage Notes:
"We have not had such splendid harvest weather for many years. This will ensure high quality (fragrant, classy and succulent are words already being used) across the board, up and down the hierarchy and well as consistently from south to north geographically apart from those vineyards ravaged by the hail at the end of June." - Clive Coates
# 2015 Vintage Notes:
"Low yields and warm weather allowed for ample ripeness, small berries and an early harvest. Quality is looking extremely fine, with some people whispering comparisons with the outstanding 2005 vintage. Acid levels in individual wines may be crucial." - Jancis Robinson
# 2017 Vintage Notes:
"Chablis suffered greatly from frost in 2017, resulting in very reduced volumes. As ever, the irony seems to be that what remains is very good quality, as it is in the Côte d’Or. Cooler nights across the region have resulted in higher-than-usual acidity, with good conditions throughout the harvest season allowing for ripe, healthy fruit." - Jancis Robinson
# 2018 Vintage Notes:
"The most successful region for red Burgundy in 2018 was the Côte de Beaune. The weather was ideal in this area, with just enough sunlight and rain to produce perfectly balanced wines naturally." - Vinfolio
Beaujolais Vins du Beaujolais (L’Union des Vignerons du Beaujolais)
The vineyards on weinlagen-info
Wine Scholar Guild Vintage Chart & Ratings
# 2009 Vintage Notes:
"There will be a lot of absolutely delicious Beaujolais to try in 2009, as it is indeed a very good, atypically ripe and opulent vintage for Beaujolais. As others here have mentioned, the Louis-Dressner and Kermit Lynch portfolios cover many of the very best estates (with an honorable mention for importer Weygandt-Metzler), and just choosing from their strip labels is a very good jumping off point. As a quick primer, the three best Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages producers that I regularly cross paths with are the aformentioned Jean-Paul Brun and his Domaine Terres Dorées, Pierre Chermette of Domaine du Vissoux and Domaine Dupeuble from the Kermit Lynch's portfolio. I also find the Beaujolais-Villages from Joseph Drouhin consistently excellent and very classic in style and like all of this firm's Beaujolais, a completely underrated source for very top drawer Crus and B-Villages.
Amongst the Cru Beaujolais, it is important to keep in mind(again as folks have mentioned already) that certain villages tend to produce much more structured wines, and this will be very evident in a powerful vintage like 2009. In general terms, the wines from Moulin-a-Vent, Morgon and Cote de Brouilly are going to demand a bit of bottle age to really start to drink well in 2009, and these may not be the best growers to focus on when tasting through the vintage to draw your own conclusions. But in these appellations, if you keep in mind that what you are tasting is likely going to need five years of bottle age to really blossom from these crus, you cannot go wrong with Kermit Lynch's "Gang of Five" producers- Thevenet, Lapierre, Foillard, Breton are four of the five- as well as Georges Descombes and Louis et Claude Desvignes from Louis-Dressner. I also like very much the Morgons made by Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin for the big houses, and Jean-Paul Brun also makes a very good example of Morgon.
In Moulin-a-Vent, Louis Jadot's Chateau des Jacques makes a very good range- though always structured when young- and Bernard Diochon is excellent year in and year out. Pierre Chermette also makes superb Moulin-a-Vent and the Drouhin version is consistently exceptional. In Cote de Brouilly, the two most exciting producers are Nicole Chanrion and Chateau Thivin (both represented by Kermit Lynch). The Chanrion is usually very accessible out of the blocks for this very stony terroir (it is an extinct volcano), while the Chateau Thivin bottlings demand time and are usually tight and structured when young. Better to try the delicious straight Brouilly from Chateau Thivin if you want to drink one of their wines out of the blocks, as that never demands patience and is lovely.
In the less structured Cru villages, wines I particularly like are the aformentioned Clos de la Roilette in Fleurie (they are the Chateau Yquem of the village- though their vines are right on the Moulin-a-Vent border and the wine used to be sold as Moulin-a-Vent before the AOC went into effect, so they are a bit more structured than most Fleuries), Cedric Chignard, Jean-Paul Brun and Pierre Chermette are all very, very good sources. Domaine Diochon in Moulin-a-Vent also makes a good Fleurie, as does Joseph Drouhin. In general these will be more floral, open and sappy bottles of Beaujolais out of the blocks and they will be delicious from the get-go.
In St. Amour, Domaine des Billards makes absolutely brilliant wines and is one of my favorite producers in all of Beaujolais. In Julienas, Michel Tete is the star producer, but I also like the Drouhin bottling from here very well indeed. There are many more outstanding bottlings to be found scattered thorughout the crus and I am sure that I am forgetting several worthy estates, but this at least will give you a good "to do" list to get started with the vintage. The only '09s I have tasted thus far are the Joseph Drouhin wines, which I tasted through in Beaune in March, and they are deep, sappy and beautifully soil-driven. If all the other top estates have made wines in this style, then this is indeed going to be a very special vintage for the region. But with the wines from Morgon and Moulin-a-Vent, you may do better trying a few bottles from either the 2006 or 2007 vintage if you can find them well-stored, as these are less structured vintages and both are beginning to really drink well from these villages." - John Gilman
# 2014 Vintage Notes:
"The 2014 vintage in Beaujolais is absolutely terrific and probably, along with 2011, the best vintage in the region since 2005. The region has had a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the last few years, with an absolutely phenomenal vintage in 2011 (particularly for those of us who like to age our Beaujolais for several years prior to serving), one of the most difficult growing seasons in recent memory in 2012, a good, solid classic vintage in 2013, and now, again, another truly outstanding vintage in 2014." - John Gilman
"2014 [...] vintage is a return to the mineral-cracked freshness and explosive low-alcohol red fruit the cru level wines of this region are famous for but have lacked since 2010/2011 (without the potentially hard/green/diffuse/underripe character found in many 2012/2013's)." - Jon Rimmerman
"the 2014s exhibit lively berry and floral character punctuated by zesty minerality. The wines are concentrated yet not heavy, and show good structure without coming off as outsized. Many producers I visited in June described the wines as a hybrid of the 2010s and 2011s, combining the structure of the earlier vintage and the fruit intensity of the latter. As such, the 2014s, as a group, are hugely appealing right now but I have no doubt that they will reward another three to five years of aging. Many of the brawniest 2014s have the material to see them through a decade or more of life but by that point they’ll have little resemblance to most peoples’ notion of Beaujolais, so I’d advise drinking almost all of the ‘14s before they hit their tenth birthday." - Josh Raynolds
# 2015 Vintage Notes:
"Vinification will not be straightforward and the 2015 vintage will be a reflection of the quality of the winemaker." - Jean Loron
"the wines have the potential to age and evolve beautifully" - Michael Apstein
# 2016 Vintage Notes:
"a harvest of soft, amply fruity wines, though without the depth and density of the outstanding 2015 harvest." - Wine Scholar Guild
# 2017 Vintage Notes:
"Trade body InterBeaujolais has said the 2018 harvest in the region will “go down in history as a legendary vintage” alongside the likes of 2017, 2015 and 2009." - Rupert Millar
#2018 Vintage Notes:
"The heatwave of July and August led growers to anticipate rich, high-alcohol wines akin to the excellent, but atypical, 2015s. However, probably due to the reserves of groundwater accumulated prior to June 20th, the 2018s are, as a rule, fresher, with slightly higher acidity and considerably lower alcohol than their counterparts from 2015. There is, nonetheless, an appealing fleshiness or rondeur to many 2018s, which suggests they won’t keep for as long as the more mineral 2017s – which are really hitting their stride now – but makes them highly seductive from the word go.
Another interesting theme, which we encountered in wines from various domaines across different crus, is a Cabernet Franc-like leafy character towards the back of the palate, which contributes an extra degree of freshness and buvabilité." Will Heslop Morgon The vineyards on weinlagen-info
With 1100 ha of vines, Morgon is the second largest Cru after Brouilly, producing wines that are only marginally less powerful than those of Moulin-à-Vent. Certainly Morgon’s are the firmest in the region, with a bouquet of great purity and compact Gamay fruit. Morgon needs more time than other Crus before it can be broached - normally 2-3 years for its most serious exponents – and develop its rich, savoury flavours which lead to a Pinot Noir-like maturity. The ‘Classico’ heart of the Morgon region is the Mont du Py, just south of the commune of Villié-Morgon. The finest wines almost exclusively come from its Côte de Py slope, whose aspect and rich schistous soil contribute to greater ripeness, and yield wines that are denser than anywhere else in the appellation. As you would expect from a region of this size the character and quality of Morgon can vary considerably, but the best are as good, and as sturdy and long-lived, as any other Beaujolais you will find. Recommended Producers: François Calot, Maurice Gaget, Louis-Claude Desvignes.
See also Morgon Details |
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