1995 vs 1996 Burgs

NYC
Tasted Saturday, December 5, 1998 by mdefreitas with 1,143 views

Introduction

The Burgundy Wine Company, in NYC, held an all day tasting of Burgundies, comparing the 1995 and the 1996 vintages. Whites were tasted in the morning, reds in the afternoon. Non-blind pairs of the same wine ('95 and '96) were presented. Then the pairs were presented without knowing which vintage was which. Finally, single wines were poured, and we were asked to guess the vintage.

Flight 1 - NON-BLIND PAIRED WHITES (10 Notes)

Flight 2 - BLIND PAIRED WHITES (10 Notes)

Flight 3 - BLIND SINGLE WHITES (5 Notes)

  • 1995 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    Tight, austere nose. Some chaulky and stoney character. Medium lemony finish. Nice wine, but not a blockbuster. 1995?

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  • 1996 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

    Uncharactreristic grapefruit nose, for a Meursault. Very nervy and acidic. A bit light for such a rich appelation. 1996?

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  • 1996 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne 88 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    Petroland lemon flavors. Good wine, but not as powerful as I would have expected from this appelation. Or maybe my palate was too fatigued, as this was tatsed near the end of all all day tasting. Will guess 1995. WRONG!

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  • 1995 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet 94 Points

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

    Wonderful nose! Barnyard and musky notes. Creamy and acidic at the same time. This is a great wine. Mind-boggling mouth feel. Almost floats in your mouth, but it has obvious power. Tough to tell the vintages at this high level. 1996? WRONG!

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  • 1995 Bouchard Père et Fils Montrachet 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

    Dark yellow. Heavy and leesy. Low in acid, and not all that complex. I never had a Montrachet, but this is rather a "let down". Perhaps it needs time? Not a great wine, IMHO. 1995?

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Flight 4 - NON-BLIND PAIRED REDS (8 Notes)

Flight 5 - BLIND PAIRED REDS (10 Notes)

Flight 6 - BLIND SINGLE REDS (6 Notes)

Closing

CONCLUSIONS ON WHITES:

I was amazed at how these two vintages really did have a "character" to them. The '95s tended to be darker in color and have more "honey" and oak flavors, but in some cases, the acidity was too soft. The '96s tended to be more citrus-like and minerally with wonderfull acidity... also, they were more closed but will definitly improve with cellar time. If you love crisp acicity in your white Burgundies (as I do), you really have to go to the '96s... Especially in Chablis (where the yields were lower than in '95 -- the reverse of typical Cote d' Or yields).

In general, it was pretty easy to detect the vintages when presented with a "side by side" comparison. Without a comparison wine, it was a bit more difficult (duh!). At the higher appelations, the wines could be so great as to make simple generalizations invalid.

CONCLUSIONS ON REDS:

The reds seemed to be more even in quality than the whites. It became very difficult to pick the vintage without a comparison wine. The one telling sign between the vintages was that the '96s were typically darker -- but not necessarily more intense in flavor. The '95s were perhaps a bit more riper, and the '96s had perhaps a bit more "pure", "focused" fruit. I know these are not concrete descriptors, but its the best I can do. The '95s also seemed like they would be ready sooner (lower acidity?).

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