We had Lapierre MMIX earlier this year and loved it.
Was ‘09 the ‘breakout vintage’ almost Beaujolais 2.0? I had always liked top Beaujolais Cru and reckoned they lasted longer than most people realise but somehow lost touch since moving across the pond. Then I began reading a whole bunch of race comments, including Jancis’. Have been buying 09 and on but the top wines are harder to find here. Wondering about pre-09.
This is one of a few regions possibly helped by global warming. Or local warming anyway.
Had the 2009 Thevenet Morgon VV tonight. Still young.
Well, it’s what I think of from a great Chambolle. There’s a willowy, lacy, airy kind of mouthfeel.
Working on a Thivin 2009 basic cuvee right now and it just seems more straightfoward, dense and less pleasant texture.
Well, I’m glad it isn’t candied, but I fail to see how “tons of acid” is a great quality. The best Beaujolais I’ve had this year was a 2013 Thibault Liger-Belair Moulin a Vent Les Vielles Vignes.
I certainly think tons of acid is a great quality in a rich, ripe vintage. Lots of acidity to carry lots of structure and body is good. Admittedly, too much acidity without anything to buffer it is bad (in a red wine, not necessarily in a white wine). What one considers to be sufficient body or excessive acidity is something of a personal preference.
I think tons of acid is a great quality in most vintages. I really can’t recall a wine I thought had too much natural acid.
I tend to be on the high acid bandwagon but have definitely had screechy Bourgogne rouge and Oregon pinots which don’t have the body to buffer the acids. Or I caught them at the wrong time…
Hard to say without knowing the specific wines, but I may just like some of those wines you find screechy. Lots of folks would call the Teutonic pinots screechy, but I like them quite a bit.
Lee, I have no reason to doubt it. As I say in my first post “What one considers to be sufficient body or excessive acidity is something of a personal preference.” I’ve often heard those who prefer CA pinot noirs refer to Burgundy and Oregon pinots as generally being “thin” and too acidic. For my part I have rarely met a CA pinot that is not too heavy and insufficiently acidic. I’d imagine balance of acid and other structural components (fruit, tannin, maybe dry extract, possibly wood components) is the key component of personal preference in red wine.
However, I often find Gamay and Pinot noir, more so than other varieties, overly acidic when they are in a closed stage between their youthful fruit period and a more balanced mature period. Using 2009 Beaujolais as an example, I really enjoyed the Jean Paul Brun Terres Dorees Fleurie upon release. In 2011 I thought it was extravagantly fruity but with great complexity and good depth. Having revisited in 2014 and 2015 (per CT) these tended to show very much like a closed pinot noir based Burgundy, too thin and all angular acidity; all knees and elbows. Then upon trying a bottle late last year I noted that it was much improving, and other CT tasters posted similar notes. I have four bottles left and will check in over the next few years, but it illustrates for me how a wine can seem to have deep and ample fruit in its youth, show shrill and acidic in its awkward adolescence, and come around to show more balance again. Having only seriously paid attention to wine and actually followed a decent quantity of a particular wines for about ten years now this is still something I am finding interesting to observe, and to predict which will reemerge and which are just headed downward with no hope of improvement with additional cellaring.
I’m hyper sensitive to wines with too much acidity, particularly reds. However, I can tolerate more acidity in white wines. In reds I find that too much acidity puts the wine out of balance, inhibits palate complexity and reduces the ability of fruit and other important characteristics to fully shine through. For me it’s about structural balance - the right levels of both acid and tannins! Now I realize many people need high acid to wake up their palate… that’s okay - in the end it’s about personal preference.
Michael if you’ve never tried a Rhys Pinot, then you should. They’re definitely Burgundian in style with plenty of acid. IMO they require a lot of bottle age to reach their potential, probably a characteristic you’d appreciate. FWIW, I really enjoy Oregon Pinots as well as some hedonistic CA PNs (ex. Wren Hop). I do not; however, appreciate Jolly Rancher Mommy Crack Pinots from CA.