Just retasting tonight a 2017 Lapierre Morgon. Clearly a wine in the hands of a master(s), but while this struck me as layered and even nuanced for its ripe style initially, gradually it was hard to avoid the impression that that was verging on overripe. Maybe a case where a master winemaker and the best vineyards in Beaujolais allowed one to dance along the edge of overripeness(?), but finally the impression is a bit hard to avoid. I would put this as more ripe than the 15, in contrast to some recent statements.
Maybe more obvious was the 2017 Joseph Graillot St Joseph, not actually so far to the south, which in contrast to the beautifully balanced and structured 2016, struck me as completely overripe. I poured the last 5th of the bottle down the drain.
Yup. Just had a 2017 Foillard Corcelette. Quite ripe, nearly as ripe as the '15. I haven’t had any 2017 Rhones, but do find some vintage similarity between the two regions (not surprising given their proximity/soil).
Beaujolais has had a lot of really ripe vintages lately. I’m hoping for a nice, classic vintage like 2011 soon. Even some of the classics (like Lapierre) have been too ripe for my taste in multiple recent years. I now understand why some people say they are Rhone-like in these years.
Yeah, I think we would all like to see a cooler, later vintage in the Beaujolais…
I think if you re-taste the 15 side by side with the 17, making allowances for age, you’ll think the '15 is more ripe - though chez Lapierre there isn’t much in it. I drank a couple of good bottles, but then my '15s from Lapierre had major brett bloom, and likely some refermentation, too, so I don’t have any in my cellar needless to say.
I saw that too. Some bottles were so bad that corks started to push out. I think the CO2 came from a bacterial issue. At least, there was a bacterial issue in the bottles I opened.
Get used to it…It’s climate change in action. Sure there will be some cooler vintages and some hotter vintages, but the frequency of the ripe ones is increasing.
I can check these side by side for sure. Maybe the 15 was riper than I recall (been some time since I have tried the 15), I just don’t recall it going monolithic ripe towards the end.
For the northern Rhone (admittedly changing topics somewhat, although the distance ain’t all that great), the 17 is way over the top IMO. One of those wines that got poured down the drain (no easy way to use in cooking)…
Why not! Report back, I would be interested. Of course, anyone who picked in a timely fashion in '15 but too late in '17 would make a riper '17, even if '17 was inherently less ripe (which, in terms of sunlight hours and temperature summation, I believe it was).
Haven’t tasted many '17 Northern Rhônes, though bought Clape magnums thanks to a good friend since it’s my daughter’s birth year. Really liked the style of '16 Northern Rhônes so happy to have plenty of those.