1997 Burgundy Grand Cru Dinner

This was a great dinner, with great company, a fun theme and a lovely selection of (mostly blind) wines.

1997 red Burgundies were almost universally panned as a weak vintage upon harvest, and continued to have a rather poor reputation upon release and into their early years - this was seen as a ripe, fruity vintage with too little in the way of structure and longevity. Over the last decade and a half though, the wines have gone from strength to strength, starting to put on more backbone. A lot of the top wines I have had in the last year or so are now giving a lot of pleasure, long after they were supposed to have died. So when WK put together this dinner, it was a great opportunity to taste some of the best wines Burgundy offers in an interesting horizontal across the different villages.

So, the verdict - all nine wines we had, save the corked Jadot Musigny, were very impressive in their own right. A lot are drinking really well now, with the lovely, lush aromatics and a surprising number of wines showing a real sense structure and freshness, with little in the way of cooked or stewed fruit that sometimes afflicted poorer examples from the vintage. In fact, quite a few of the wines are now showing a little austerity at the back-end, something that I have been noticing about 1997s in recent times, with the fruit mellowing and structure coming out. We had really great stuff though, and this tasting just affirmed how the vintage has really come around.

Add to these a couple of lovely Champagnes and a pair of great white wines and we had a night to savour.

• 1990 Bollinger Champagne R.D. Extra Brut 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  An excellent Champagne, but a little put in the shade by an exuberantly young 2002 Cristal that was served alongside. Nevertheless, this was really good in its own right. The nose clearly had some maturity on its, with white meat and oxidative notes on it, a little earthy mineral and deep wafts of yellow fruit, kumquats, and then some bread and yeast and hints of spice. Very nicely deep and complex. With time, some floral notes started showing up as well. I thought the palate lacked a bit of the varied expressiveness of the nose, but it was very impressive too. This was a Champagne with some obvious size and girth to it, with a rich, powerful attack of white fruited apple flesh spiked with some lemon and lime notes. The mousse had mellowed significantly, but the Extra Brut character of the wine still gave it quite a kick, with some austerity in its firm structrue of acid and mineral and spice in the midst of its fleshy weight. Given its character, it unsurprisingly did much better with food than without - I thought it was especially nice with some deep-fried prawns in their shell. Very good indeed, and about time to start drinking I would say. It will last for some time yet, but I am not sure how much it will improve.

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• 2002 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 94 Points

  France, Champagne

  Brilliant stuff. I had quite forgotten having had this before - it has certainly come a long way from the shy, quietly elegant bottle that we had shortly after release. This was just vibrant and expressive and exciting to drink - a real testament to how quickly the 2002 vintage has developed. It had a lovely nose, full of expressive aromas of cream and flowers and red apples all wafting out of the glass - really pretty. The palate still had that tremendous finesse and elegance that made it very approachable and easy to drink, but it has also opened up and rounded-up significantly over the past few years to show a fleshily delicious body of red apples and stone fruit wed to a nice nice counterpoint of structure and minerality. Above all though, it was the energy and vibrancy of the wine that I really liked, with beautifully fresh acidity and a fine mousse making it both a joy to drink on its own or with food. It had a nicely interesting finish too, good and long, with some sweet apple fruit speared through with a linger of slightly bittersweet mineral notes. A lovely wine - the shy, refined young lady of two years ago has bloomed into a precociously vivacious beauty. I do not think it will be one of the longer lasting Cristals, but it is very good indeed.

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• 1998 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Once again, I found this very good without being great, especially when served next to an absolutely overperforming 1998 Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet on the same flight. the nose was classic Leflaive, and we did not need a little peek of yellow foil on the top the blinded bottle for us to guess this correctly. It had drifts of gunflint and slate, ripe red apples and some stone fruit, with fragrant side-notes of flowers and toasted vanilla and smoked hazelnuts. Nice. The palate had a rich ripeness on the attack - red apples at the fore once more, with sweet lemons chasing behind - but there was also a nice purity to it, with gentle acidity and good structure lending the fruit a sense of focus and balance. I thought it was maybe missing some oomph, but this was a wine of great elegance and finesse with a gentle depth to it. It quiet length on the finish as well, with a little twist of spice nestling amongst some sweet white fruit. Maybe a tad better than the last bottle I had, but still not the most exciting Leflaive, especially given the quality of the plot. It is drinking nicely though.

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• 1998 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Wow, this was a surprise - a Bâtard that really punched quite above its weight. It more or less socked its sibling on the same flight, a1998 Leflaive BBM, good and proper. This had a beautiful nose on it, with layers of butter and cream, ripe yellow fruit and toasted nuts, and a little line of mineral, all coming together in a lovely, characterful bouquet. It was on the palate where the wine really shone though. It had palate-staining power and intensity, with deep, rich layers of red apples and yellow fruited nectarines traced by little nuances of spice and mineral. This really filled every crevice of the mouth and refused to let go, showing a reservoir of depth. Yet for all that, it was the stunning sense of purity and energy on the wine that really won me over. While the power and depth were clearly Bâtard, there was almost a clarion clarity to it, along with a focus and litheness that belied the vineyard. In fact, when presented a choice in our guesses, most people thought this was the Bienvenue or even a Chevalier-Montrachet instead. It just got better and better in the glass as well, revealing a nice complexity with time, with a little honeyed overture and bits of mineral, spice and earth pulling away in a long, creamy finish. A superlative wine that, like its flight-mate, is starting to drink very nicely indeed.

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• 1997 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  A really nice way to start off the reds - this was a very good Bonnes Mares at a nice place, where it still seemed youthful, but was already very rewarding to drink. It had a lovely, lush nose, with sweet notes of blueberries and violets wed to a nice touch of earth and spice. Very pretty. The palate still had a good bit of structure to it, with slightly powdery tannins that seem to be in the process of smoothing out into a more velvety feel. In fact, I thought this had a nicely effortlessly elegance for a Jadot. There was some extraction and an underlying strength that was befitting of the terroir, but the wine was certainly very controlled, showing a nice purity to its dark cherries and sappy blueberry tones, along with a nice earthiness on the midpalate and a strong finish that married sweet blueberry fruit to a nice dose of Morey spice. Lovely stuff, and while drinking nicely, I think it will be even better in say 4-5 years' time.

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• 1997 Domaine Trapet Chambertin 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  This showed really well on the night. It had a beautiful nose, pure Gevrey with its generous aromas os earth and meat and lush toned of dark cherries and red berries laced with some spice. The palate was still very much marked by its fine tannins; still a little austere, a bit grippy. But above that structure, this really had very attractive fruit, with a red cherry expression that showed a lot of purity, almost glowingly clean and transperant in the mouth, to go along with a muscular strength that was very much in keeping with the terroir. Very good indeed. It was beautifully balanced too, with fresh but unobtrusive acidity giving the midpalate a nice sense of life and energy. The finish showed the wine to be clearly a child of its vintage, with a spine of lean structure coming out as the fruit petered away, leaving behing a little kiss of spice and menthol. Not perfect, but very good indeed - this was a wine with a lot of character. Although I am not sure how much it will improve in the bottle, it certainly has the chops to stay at least at this level for quite a few years yet.

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• 1997 Domaine de Montille Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Third of three bottles, and this was probably the tightest of the lot. In fact, it was even tighter than the two 1997 Grand Crus on the same flight. Again though, this was a very strong 1997 1er Cru. This bottle had a very deep set nose, with a tighter expression of cherries and dark berries along with a damp undergrowth, violets and some spice. A nice mix of feminine Volnay notes with a more masculine, earthy, meaty aromas. The palate was very structured and solid, with firm tannins and some lovely fresh acidity winding their way through dark cherries and blackberry flavours, all still tightly coiled at the core. This was certainly a broad-shouldered wine, with a depth and strength that would be pretty impressive in any vintage, let alone a 1997. This actually had as much depth and structure as either of the Grand Crus on the same flight, if not quite the same effortless way they had of carrying their frame. The structure was almost Cote de Nuits-like in fact, with most people guessing it as a Vosne. The finish was just a bit reticent, only opening up with some time to show some spice and flowers. On this bottle at least, a few more years would certainly have helped. Very good though.

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• 1997 Domaine Jacques Prieur Musigny 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  What started out very sweet and rather stalky ended up growing into a very good wine over the course of the evening. I particularly liked the nose on this. It was just a touch awkward at first, showing very sweet red fruit tones and a clear streak of green stems. Served blind, the stemminess on the nose and the rather overweight glass bottle made us think this may have been a DRC. However, with time, it all toned down and came together into a lush, pretty bouquet of bluberries and cherries, still sweet, but nicely shaded with a bit of sous bois and meat, some spice, and a stalky, fresh flower tone. The palate suffered the same strengths and deficiencies as the nose. There was always something rather sweet about it, and it was perhaps a bit too obvious in its power and richness, coming across rather over-the-top for a Musigny. However, with time, this too toned down a little to show a nice purity beneath its deep blueberry and cherry flavours. In fact, there was something quite effortless in the way the power was carried, so that the wine even took on a semblance of elegance as it would its way into a more complex midpalate of herbs and fresh-cut flowers, and then into a long finish, where the sweet fruit was kissed by notes of spice and a lift of bright acidity. There was still a good sense of structure at the back-end as well. Not my favourite style of Burgundy with all its sweetness and power, but there is a very complete quality to the wine. Give it another 6-8 years too mellow even more and put on some complexity and I think this will be very good.

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• 1997 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Quite delightful - much more a classic Musigny than the full-blown Jacques Prieur that was served together. While it may have lacked the vintage-defying power and richness of the Prieur, this was a beautifully elegant charmer that I enjoyed all the more. It had a lovely Musginy nose, with lush aromas of earth and underbrush, bluberries and flowers, all melded together into a lovely, full bouquet. The palate had a lovely clean purity to it, so that it showed an almost deceptively lightness in its high-toned flavours of blueberries and blackberries laced with a twist of fresh-cut flowers and some lovely acidities. It was really all about elegance and finesse, with an almost restrained feel to it, especially when compared with the Prieur and an expressive Leroy Clos de la Roche that was also on the same flight. This certainly did not have the depth of a great Vogüé Musigny, but it was no light-weight either - pay attention and there was substance without weight, and a quiet intensity without overt power. It had a beautiful finish too, really charming, with a bloom of flowers and spice wrapped up in silky tannins and a lovely sense of balance and poise - quite without a single hint of that little 1997 austerity that haunted even some of the strongest wines on the night. A real charmer, starting to drink nicely now.

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• 1997 Domaine Leroy Clos de la Roche 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

  Seriously good, this was perhaps my favourite wine of the night after a smashing Dujac Echezeaux. It had a wonderful nose, full of spicy nuances dancing around a core of bluberries and flowers, with shades of orange peel and still a little smack of sweet oak trailing away somewhere in there. Really lovely. The palate was just about perfectly put together. While not tremendously complex at this stage of its development - it was still dominated by deep tones of bluberries and mulberries on the attack and midpalate - this was wonderfully integrated and superbly balanced, with soft, lush tannins and fine acidity woven beautifully into the supple, luxuriant textures of the wine. Such a joy to drink. Past that and into the finish, lovely little notes of meat and spice and flowers drifted out to greet the subtly deepy fruited tones, just before a slightly more austere tail of tannins and acidity peeked out right at the end. Lovely, lovely stuff - a very complete wine in every sense of the word. It is drinking very nicely now, but I think a couple more years will actually see it developing even more.

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• 1997 Louis Jadot Musigny Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Tragically corked. This would have otherwise rounded up a trio of Musignies very nicely. It certainly had a great mouthfeel to it, very elegant and pure, with a good depth and fruit and a lovely velvety structured, but all that was scalped, with cradboardy TCA notes on the nose and a abrupt cut on the finish. Real pity.

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• 1997 Domaine Joseph Roty Griotte-Chambertin 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru

  A rare 1997 that is full of power and structure - this one clearly needed more time in the bottle. The nose was rather marked by an unusual whiff of burnt smoke BBQ - like kerosene and meat almost. It took awhile to get beyond that, but there were also clearly prettier note of dark cherries and wild lavender below the smoked meat. It was on the palate where this impressed more. This was a lush, large-scaled wine. While the smoky bacon twang was there again, it was underscored by a deep reservoir of cherries and berry notes pulled in an embrace of juicy acidity. There was a very broad-shouldered, well-built feel to the wine, but it was also very nicely balanced and structured, with slightly dry tannins sidling up to the juicy fruit as the wine strode into a long finish where whiffs of burnt tar jostled for attention alongside more of those subtle floral, lavender tones. I think this was a very well put-together wine, and it went quite nicely with the meats on the table, but given the depth and structure on this, it really needed a lot more time yet. This, at least, is one crazy example of a 1997 that will last well into its third decade.

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• 1997 Domaine Dujac Echezeaux 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

  Absolutely stunning. On paper, this really should not have been that good - it was a bit advanced, a bit green, certainly very stalky, yet it somehow all came together magically into a wonderfully delicious whole. My WOTN. The nose was entrancing, with a super-expressive melange of earth and meat and deep tones of dark berries and cherries and a little floral lift, all laced with a slightly herbal stalkiness. Somehow though, far from distracting from the attractiveness of the nose, that little greenness actually seemed to make it all the more interesting, even alluring. Same thing on the palate. This was beautifully integrated and complex, with pure, juicy expressions of cherries and berries wed to real meaty, spicy, earthy base. Again, there was an overtone of herbal, stalky notes, almost like a Cantonese double-boiled soup, but this was so nicely integrated into the wine that it seemed to add character rather than to distract - like a little naughty tatoo on a beautiful girl that gets you wanting to find out more. It was all so effortlessly balanced and nicely mellow too, rather advanced compared to most of the other wines on the night, but this helped to make the wine wonderfully delicious drink. It a great finish too end. Very pure, very long, with black cherries and plums seasoned with spice and earth, held up by a slightly more structured feel. Not one for those who are sensitive to greenness I think, but I thought this was a great wine, drinking beautifully on the night.

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