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THE WINE PRESS
ESSEX
COUNTY WINE SOCIETY
February 19, 2008
Dear Friends and Fellow Wine Lovers:
Our February tasting of red wines from the 1985
vintage in Bordeaux led by Bob Erickson was a huge success. The
turnout was the highest we have seen in probably 10 years and we had a
waiting list as well. Those individuals who attended thought the wines
were showing well and most of the wines still had some years ahead of
them. Thus, as it relates to the wines we tasted, we disagreed with
Robert M. Parker Jr. who feels that some 1985 wines are peaking, and
that many are past their prime.
The wines were broken down into three flights. We
decanted and poured the wines as we were ready for each new flight. We
had one flight from each of the regions of Margaux, St Julian and
Pauillac. The favorites of each flight were as follows:
Margaux and Southern Medoc
1985 Rauzan-Segla 2nd growth, a truly
delicious wine that also did well in the overall voting for the
evening.
St.-Julian
1985 Gruaud Larose 2nd growth. The
1985 Saint-Pierre 4th growth was also quite good. As Parker
had suggested in his writings, possibly underestimated. It provided a
very high quality/price ratio.
Pauillac
1985 Lynch Bages 5th growth in the
1855 classification and the 1988 Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year was
clearly the favorite Pauillac and the favorite wine of the evening.
Unfortunately, it was also the second most expensive wine that we
tasted.
Our next tasting on March 6 will be the red wines
of Burgundy from the 2005 vintage led by Howard Menaker. As many of
you know, the 2005 vintage produced some exceptional wines in many
area of the world and probably none more so than the Cote de Nuits in
Burgundy. Allen Meadows, a/k/a Burghound, who is one of the leading
experts on Burgundy stated in his newsletter, “2005 is quite simply
the best top to bottom vintage that I have ever seen, period, full
stop.” (Issue 25, Jan 2007) He goes on to say “2005 is a brilliant
vintage with virtually nothing to dislike (except perhaps the prices)
and here is the key point, it is also great from top to bottom.
Moreover, in terms of regional and villages wines, 2005 is so good
that it blows the next closest recent contender, 1999, right out of
the water.”
David Schildknecht in The Wine Advocate (issue
#170) says “2005 is one of Burgundy’s great red vintages. It is the
finest fruit we have seen since 1999.” If further reinforcement is
necessary, Stephen Tanzer in International Wine Cellar (issue #131)
says “2005 is potentially the greatest red Burgundy vintage I’ve yet
tasted from barrel and I have been sampling these wines in depth every
year since the 1987 vintage.”
The problem is, that as a result of these
incredible reviews plus the issue of the dollar–euro conversion rate,
the prices of these wines have increased substantially as Allen
Meadows alluded to above. Nevertheless in a vintage like 2005,
sticking with good producers, one can purchase great wines at the
village level rather than spend exorbitant amounts of money on Grand
Cru or Premier Cru wines. We will test this proposition at our
tasting.
Howard will lead us through a tasting of 2005
village Burgundy from five different communes in the Cote de Nuits
(Northern portion of Burgundy which did especially well in 2005). We
will go from a Nuits St Georges by Robert Chevillon, to two Vosne
Romanees by Etienne Grivot and Sylvan Cathiard. A Chambolle Musigny by
Drouhin and a Morey St Denis by Taupelet will be followed by five
wines, from Howard’s favorite commune, Gevrey Chambertin, by such
producers as Potel, Gallois and Vougeraie. All these wines have been
unusually highly rated for village wines by the professional wine
reviewers. It should prove to be a fascinating tasting.
At our next meeting we will also hold the annual
business meeting of the society The nominating committee presented the
slate of officers at the last meeting and the membership will be asked
to vote on the slate on March 6. The slate is:
President: Gil Bauer
First Vice-President: Woody
Waga
Second Vice-President: David
Byrne
Treasurer: Dennis Roland
Secretary: Stacey Rudbart
Trustee: Dick Appert
In addition we can discuss any other business
that any member may wish to present.
The following tasting will be on April 10, 2008
of old vintage Burgundy.
The cost of the 2005 Burgundy tasting will be $65
for members and $79 for guests.
In vino veritas and a votre sante
Bob and Howard |