Different year on label and cork

I opened a Pierre Gelin Gevrey Chambertin Clos de Meixvelle tonight. The label said 2011, but the cork said 2009. I assume that the cork is the correct vintage, but is it ever the case that the cork is wrong? How can one tell? The flavor profile seemed to match other 2011s I have had. Odd and confusing. Maybe it wasn’t even a Clos de Meixvelle?

If it was a domestic wine, I would say they used old corks (hopefully reconditioned) and have a legal label for the correct vintage. Maybe things are different in France, but I can’t imagine a 2009 wine with a 2011 label, honestly, under any circumstances.

I agree with Merrill. I’ve seen older vintage corks. Label should be the most accurate

Thanks. I’ll just assume that sometimes old corks are used and the label was accurate. I guess I just assumed such things would not be permitted. Maybe just an accident.

This has come up a couple times here. Yeah, leftover. Being two vintages off, I’d guess they ran a little short and dipped into some old ones sitting around to complete the run. Maybe something was wrong with some of the proper ('11) ones, or they miscalculated on the order, or were shorted on the order, or they knew they were ordering slightly short, but chose to dip into a hundred old ones rather than pay for another thousand, 900 of which wouldn’t be used, etc. If they’re good cork soakers, you should have a happy ending.

Alternatively, since in France, where many cellars are damp, they often store bottles unlabeled and apply labels only when they get ready to ship the wine. So it’s at least conceivable that there was a mistake in labeling.

So the answer is we don’t know!

Split the difference and call it 2010

Check the glass for an etched lot number. Most of the time I see this on the label but occasionally on the glass, and in that case the winery could decipher. In fact I’d probably email the winery anyway, they could clear this up pretty quickly - Domaine Pierre Gelin - Contact and access.

Burgundy producers are sticklers, believe it or not. So, you must have the better vintage, as explanation.

Also, outing the producer was not nice. (j.k.)

Unless they do multiple releases of the same vintage over several years, I doubt they would even have 2011 labels printed up at the time they were bottling 2009s. So my vote is 2011 wine with correct label and wrong cork.

It’s not uncommon for properties to hold back some inventory. In the cellars, you’ll often see bins with unlabeled bottles from a number of vintages. So it certainly is possible that they would have unsold '09s when the '11 was being labeled and sold.

I`ve had a few over a number of decades where that has been the case. In every instance, the label accurately identified the vintage. I just assumed it was left over inventory and never had an issue with it.

Using two year old corks?

Now that would be an explanation for the premox problem!

as long as the wine was good, then I’d be cool with either! haha

Thanks everyone, it’s nice to get some consensus on the issue.
Stan, I’ll reach out to the Domaine and see what they say.
Victor, you are probably right. I just wanted everyone to know what I drink and show off a bit.
Matt, the wine was good. It is what is in the bottle that is important.( I am not a label drinker. )

I was kidding, for once.

I wouldn’t get one foot out the door of the winery with a mis-labeled wine. These things are reported, here in the states, to the government. I mean, the accuracy of what is bottled and sent out the door - in bond or tax paid - is taken very seriously by some of us. Even at small production levels.

I don’t think anyone would care if I put a cork in my wines that did not match the label. As far as I know, that is not regulated.

I heard back from the Domaine. John’s explanation is correct. The wines are stored in pallets in the cellar and it may be that the 2011 was next to 2009 and some bottles were taken from the wrong container. They said it was the 2009 vintage as the cork indicated since they buy the exact number of corks based on the harvest quantities.

It was very nice of them to reply.