Introduction

2015 Burgundy is going to be a big winner for lovers of rich and riper styles.

While not exactly like 2009, the wines I tasted at this event often seemed to approach that vintage’s characteristics – and for many readers there is much to cheer about.

And I agree with the general positive tone, that 2015 will be a (very) successful vintage. However, I do worry about some excessively overripe characteristics that I encountered – and not just from the village level, but all the way to the grand cru level. Several tasters felt the same way about it, from Sweden to Croatia, by way of the US. I met wine writer Elke Jung from Sweden, for example, who very much liked the 2015s but also remarked, the next day "It seems that I am in the minority to think in terms of excess ripeness." No, she was not. But consumer demand will depend on taste, and what one wants from Burgundy.

Although such observations/critiques may amount to more than just a hill of beans, they do not really constitute a mountain, either. Thank goodness for vintages!

When I tasted some other 2015s and 2014s at another event in Beaune, the next day, at the Palais de Congres, I noticed how many of the 2014 red wine aromatics conveyed greater freshness and lift, while the 2015s were more opulent and evidently ripe, but lacking the same level of freshness that the 2014s expressed. Acclaimed Burgundy critic John Gilman, for example, tweeted today (19 November): "In my book, I'm not certain that '15 will be more famous than '14 in 20 years."

On the other hand, 2014s sometimes have harder palates and are not as “giving” as the 2015s, as I experienced tasting both a Volnay and a (red) Chassagne Montrachet with Gouttes & Gouts author Stefanie Koehler at a restaurant in Beaune.

On a third hand (sorry, but I want to keep the hand metaphor going), the 2015s are likely to be more expensive. To cut to the chase: you pays your money, you takes your choice.

The positives?

Much quality tannin, concentration, structure – and lots of smoothness. As experienced critics like Bernard Burtschy (Le Figaro, in France) stress: even for many of the more opulent styles, terroir aspects should shine through with bottle aging, given requisite dry extract, quality of tannin and … quality of careful winemaking.

Flight 1 - The grands crus (15 notes)

Flight 2 - The premiers crus (8 notes)

Flight 3 - The villages (9 notes)

Closing

As usual it was a great tasting organized by Fabienne Nicot. It was great to see so many people show up, making new friends as well as seeing old friends like Amanda Regan, Niko Dukan, Bill Nanson, Michael Apstein and Bernard Burtschy among others.

One caveat on the ambiance of the tasting: the room temperature, while not quite boiling, was far too hot, and I think that accentuated the sensation of alcohol in the wines; coming from a solar vintage, the room temperature did not serve the wines very well. Otherwise a fantastic evening followed by dinner with only 2005 wines, and I will post notes on those as well.

The village of Gevrey (later to be called "Gevrey-Chambertin") may have been the first place vines were planted in Burgundy, although this is not proven. The village AOC was created in 1936. Here a fine, quick fact view of the appellation.