18 2005 Red Burgundies (Mongeard-Mugneret, J-M Boillot, B. Clair, Matrot and more)
Vin Vino Wines, Palo Alto, California
Tasted Saturday, May 19, 2007 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 861 views
Introduction
This was a preview tasting hosted by Daniel Haas, of Vineyard Brands, organized by Vin Vino Wine in Palo Alto. We tasted through eighteen 2005 red Burgs from Vineyard Brands' portfolio, including offerings from Mongeard-Mugneret, Jean-Marc Boillot, Bruno Clair, Matrot and Liger-Belair. (I have a separate event report on part 1 of this tasting, which featured 10 '05 red Burgs from Vincent Girardin.)
Because of the popularity of the vintage, Vin Vino organized three tasting sessions this year for Saturday. With a setup of 18 glasses for over 30 people at each session, that meant that those of us tasting at first session, at 12:30 pm, needed to be finished by about 1:45, and to leave no later than 2 pm, to clear out in time for set up for the 3:00 pm tasting. At about 1 pm, when Victor reminded us we had less than an hour left to sample the 12 or more wines remaining for most of us, Jake joked it was just like "speed dating." Others commented ruefully, however, that the commitment involved, in both dollars and years (of cellaring), was much greater than what usually results from speed dating.
From the generally deep red color in our glasses alone, one could tell that this was a vintage of ripeness and good extraction. My favorite wine of the tasting was the Mongeard-Mugneret Grands Echezeaux, and I thought the Mongeard-Mugnerets in general showed very well. Daniel told us that Vincent Mongeard can be somewhat cranky and has been difficult with critics, so that Alan Meadows is basically the only one who bothers to review his wines anymore. Nonetheless, Daniel reported that Mongeard-Mugneret wines had been very popular in public tastings and are among the easiest for him to sell. The Henri Gouges wines in the tasting, by contrast, did not show well at all, and the other tasters in my area were likewise finding them green, stemmy and tannic. I also enjoyed the Jean-Marc Boillot and Bruno Clair offerings, and Boillot's Volnay "Les Pitures" struck me as one of the best "values" of the tasting.Thibaud Liger-Belair is also clearly a new talent worth keeping an eye on.
Daniel Haas
Flight 1 - My TNs (18 Notes)
Closing
Mark, Dave and Jake
2005 Domaine Bruno Clair Marsannay Les Longeroies 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Marsannay
Deep garnet red color; nice focused cherry and violet nose; young, very tart red fruit and firm tannins, rustic; short-medium finish (50 cases for the U.S.) (bottled in February)(Clair is working to get this site classified as a premier cru)($35 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Domaine Matrot Monthélie 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Monthélie
Light raspberry nose; medium cherry color; good tart red fruit, with silky texture and good acid; medium finish (150 cases for the U.S.) (includes 5-10% Pinot Beurot that is planted in with the Pinot Noir vines)($29 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Mongeard-Mugneret Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Narbantons 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru
Deep cherry red color; violets and black cherry on the nose; tasty sous bois and tart cherry palate with depth, silkiness and sweet tannins; medium finish 89+ pts. (140 cases for the U.S.)($42 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Domaine Matrot Blagny 1er Cru La Pièce-sous-le-Bois Rouge 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Blagny 1er Cru
Dark cherry red color; rose hips and strawberry preserves nose; tasty, good tart and sweet red fruit with good acidity and structure; medium finish (150 cases for the U.S.) (a lieu dit, not a 1er cru) (Daniel told us it was becoming a Burg "cult wine," due to its being unusually ageable for this Cotes de Beaune village. It's a slope surrounded on three sides by woods, with limestone at the top and clay toward the bottom. It was the first bottled of the wines we tasted, all the way back in September.)($50 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Domaine Bruno Clair Chambolle-Musigny Les Véroilles 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny
Deep red color; nice cherry nose with a floral quality; tasty, silky, tart cherry, with some sap and good structure; medium finish 89+ pts. (100 cases for the U.S.)($55 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 84 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges
Deep red color; green, weedy nose; tight, herbaceous, stemmy and weedy palate with dusty tannins; short-medium finish 84 pts. (from four different parcels above and below the 1er crus)($65 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 J.M. Boillot Volnay 1er Cru Pitures 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Dark cherry red color; lovely cherry, caramel and violet nose; creamy, plush, sappy red fruit and roses palate; medium finish 90+ pts. (50 cases for the U.S.)($59 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Domaine Bruno Clair Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru La Dominode 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru
Very dark cherry red color; roses and strawberry on the palate with oak edges and sweet tannins; medium finish (from vines planted in 1902)($76 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 J.M. Boillot Pommard 1er Cru Les Jarollières 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard 1er Cru
Dark red violet color; floral nose with roses, caramel and coffee; tasty, high-pitched tart red fruit palate with coffee and caramel oak and good structure, though a little too oaky for my taste; medium finish (40 cases for the U.S.)($68 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Clos des Porrets St. Georges 86 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru
Deep garnet red color; light, tart cherry nose; tight, with tart red fruit, tart raspberry and a little stemminess and big tannins; short-medium finish (300 cases for the U.S.) (a monopole of 3.5 hectares)($98 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Mongeard-Mugneret Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Orveaux 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
Medium dark cherry red color; bubblegum, cherry, violet and floral nose; very nice, sweet cherry entry, with structured, silky palate of focused tart cherry; medium finish 91+ pts. (50 cases for the U.S.)($85 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Thibault Liger-Belair Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru
Dark cherry red color; roses and hint of strawberry on the nose; balanced palate of roses, tart strawberry, well integrated tannins and oak; medium-plus finish (210 cases for the U.S.)(Thibault Liger-Belair owns 30% of "Les Saint Georges," which Daniel claims is the best vineyard in N-S-G)($92 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Deep dark red violet color; lovely big roses and black cherry nose; rich, luscious palate of tart black cherry, rose hips with sweet tannins; medium finish 91+ pts. (45 cases for the U.S.)($118 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Thibault Liger-Belair Corton-Les Renardes 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
Deep red color; sweet cherry nose; tasty, sweet cherry with vanilla oak edges; sweet medium-plus finish (40 cases for the U.S.)($130 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Mongeard-Mugneret Echezeaux 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
Medium cherry color; floral, sweet cherry and violet nose; delicious, sappy cherry palate with sweet tannins; medium finish (140 cases for the U.S.)($91 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Thibault Liger-Belair Clos Vougeot 89 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
Dark cherry red color; light roses and cherry nose; tart, a little tannic on cherry palate; medium finish (65 cases for the U.S.)($160 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Mongeard-Mugneret Grands-Echezeaux 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru
Dark cherry red color; floral, strawberry, roses, violets and raspberries on the nose; tasty, silky palate of gorgeous raspberry, black cherry and rose flavors; medium-plus finish 94 pts. (90 cases for the U.S.)($160 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Thibault Liger-Belair Richebourg 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
Very dark red violet color; sappy cherry and black cherry nose with violet, pain grille and bacon; concentrated, tart cherry and black cherry palate with depth; long finish ($395 pre-arrival)
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No