2015 Domaine du Pavillon de Chavannes Côte de Brouilly Cuvée des Ambassades

Community Tasting Note

Billigan Does not like this wine:

Sunday, September 11, 2016 - Sorely disappointed in this showing. Deep purple in the glass, with strong, grapey aromas and a big whiff of alcohol. On the palate, more grapey flavors and an almost syrupy texture with a hot finish. No improvement on night #2. The snappy acids and stoniness I've long-loved in this wine are nowhere to be found, as it shows scarcely any expression of its terroir or varietal character. What happened here?

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7 comments have been posted

Comment posted by mid_palate:

9/12/2016 6:40:00 AM - Sorry to hear that the bottle was not enjoyable!

I'd guess that this will be much better after another year or so: this is really young for a red wine. I mean, it was grape juice not long ago.
Comment posted by Billigan:

9/12/2016 7:01:00 AM - For those who've bought this wine, I sure hope it turns around, but I have strong doubts. I've had over 200 bottles of Beaujolais in the past several years (at all levels of cellar age), and I can't recall one as dreadful as this. And given that I drank this over two nights and saw no improvement from being open, I don't imagine cellar time will help either. But who knows? If you've got a couple, crack one open and see if you like it.
Comment posted by joraesque:

9/23/2016 12:45:00 AM - If you have a bottle of this it sounds like you should wait till at least 2019.
Comment posted by WineGuyX:

11/19/2016 8:55:00 PM - Do you have more? I'd like to see your impression of another bottle. Read my review. I agree that this is NOTHING like the 2013 or 2014. Not nearly as concentrated or structured, but I thought it was delightful (but light. deLIGHTful!) It does seem to be getting lighter as the evening wears on...
Comment posted by tward:

12/19/2016 2:54:00 PM - Are you folks seeing disappointment generally in the 2015's? I'm seeing lots of hype about the 2015 vintage, but the wine press is... sometimes novel in its assessments...
Comment posted by Billigan:

12/20/2016 6:16:00 AM - People's reactions to 2015 Beaujolais seems quite variable, with some enjoying the ripeness while others passing on it because of its Rhone-like qualities. For my part, I think some producers really shone (Thivin, Lapierre, Sunier), while others had trouble handling the heat. For me, the defining characteristic of Beaujolais is freshness, which in most vintages comes naturally to these wines, but which in warm/hot vintages like 2015, can be a real challenge to achieve with many producers. I feel in 2015, many whom I typically enjoy (e.g., Pavil. de Chavan., Pierre Chermette, Chanrion) failed to walk that line successfully between ripe fruit and Bojo energy/freshness and ended up with some medicinal and/or ponderous examples that even showed a fair amount of alcohol. I think there are some real gems here (Lapierre in particular), but you need to be choosy with this vintage.
Comment posted by tward:

12/20/2016 6:47:00 AM - Thank you. I got more out of your comment than I did out of half a dozen semi-professional and professional reviews. I guess that's what happens when somebody actually pays for and drinks and appreciates the wine rather than being paid or attended to as a very favored guest by the producers and associations. I think I'll probe around a bit to see what's still available from the 2014s as well.