Chambers Street Wine Awards: Red Burgundy Edition
11/29/2007 -
What a year for Burgundy! With the great 2005 vintage upon us there have been a feast of fantastic vinous delights that have passed through CSW this year. With so many wines to choose that we have in stock and others that are long sold out this was extremely tough to come up with but we did it to the best of our ability.
The first award goes to the 2005 Bourgogne Rouge Of The Year and it is hands down the Sylvie Esmonin "Cuvèe Sylvie." This was a tough decision as the likes of Mugneret-Gibourg, Lignier-Michelot, Roumier, and Simone Bize have been through these doors. This is full of dark, rich and very ripe fruit with beautiful concentration, purity and exceptional delineation. Just an amazing wine and a testament to the brilliance of the 2005 vintage even at the entry level.
The next award is the 2005 Burgundy not from a major appellation and this was a tough one. There were again just so many values. The first wine, which is sold out but still deserves a mention, is the 2005 Jean et Gilles Lafouge Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru "La Chapelle." This was a lovely elegant and extremely pure wine with incredible spice aromas and small berry red fruits. Lovely concentration and seems like it will be a short-term ager so everybody who has them, hold them. The next award goes to the 2005 Burgundy not from a major appellation that we actually have in stock. It is the 2005 Domaine Collotte Marsannay Vieilles Vignes who is a new producer on our radar. An incredible wine with deep dark black fruits, great concentration and purity and really outdoes its humble appellation. Lovely. We have very little of this left but hopefully you will be one of the lucky few to latch onto a bottle. As I was writing this e-mail the Domaine Collotte has actually sold out so a new award will now go to the best 2005 Domaine Bart Marsannay as Martin Bart, I believe, makes a Marsannay from every climat in the village, or so it seems. Out of them all the best had to be the 2005 Domaine Bart Marsannay "Saints Jacques." The Marsannay "Saints Jacques" is from the top of the slope above Clos de Jeu. It's a bit lighter than the mid-slope wines, but has beautiful strawberry aromas and is well-balanced and supple. It showed particularly well at our visit last winter. This is lovely and the best Bart Marsanny of his 78 different Marsanny cuvèes.
The next category is the best 2005 Burgundy from a 1er Cru vineyard. This was very obvious from the moment I opened the bottle. The 2005 Joseph Voillot Volnay 1er Cru "Les Champans." The nose was vibrant, delicate and extremely layered with a potpourri of spices, red fruits, tea and balsam. The palate had energetic high-toned red fruits along with wonderful lift from the cleansing acidity. The freshness of this wine was uncanny. Obviously young but the length of the finish and the purity of the fruit were remarkable. The finish almost dissolved and never really left. The tannins are evident but right now the structure is buried under the fruit and acidity. This will go for a very long time. 30-40 years easy. Unfortunately this wine has been long sold out so now the award for best 2005 Burgundy from a 1er Cru Vineyard that we actually have in stock. Because the 2005's are wines with wings (they fly out the door) the best one we have in stock has to be the 2005 Jean et Gilles Lafouge Pommard 1er Cru "Les Chanlins." A big ripe wine with that unmistakable Lafouge finesse and gritty, dark Pommard character but as all Lafouge wines do, this remains bright and chippy. Wonderful structure and high-toned acids that keep this fresh as a daisy. Lovely wine.
The second to last category is best 2005 Grand Cru Regardless of Price. So many to choose from but if we had to choose it was easily the 2005 Frederick Mugnier Musigny. Jamie apparently tasted this wine and had a near religious experience. Now onto more sensibly priced wine. The 2005 Grand Cru With Price Consideration award goes to the 2005 Rapet Corton Pougets. Corton Pougets has always been my favorite amongst the various Corton cru's for its wonderful combination of power, finesse and ageability. This was a surprisingly accessible wine but had that wonderful solid structure that is common in the 2005's. The best thing about this wine is it is virtually a steal for the money. The best Grand Cru Burgundy QPR of the vintage by far.
