TNs: I think I underestimated the quality of the '17 red Burg vintage

After an excellent '17 Jean Fournier Marsannay last week, I thought it time to try a few more from the vintage. Yummy wines.

2017 Domaine Marc Roy Gevrey-Chambertin 'La Justice’
This is a stunning youngster. Dark, brooding, perfectly ripe satsuma plums. There’s a lick of classy oak, some earth but the quality of wine making and the perfect ripeness and density of the fruit makes this a knock out.
2017 Domaine Lucien Jacob Gevrey-Chambertin
This is more in the red fruit spectrum, pared back, finer, precise with good acidity. Very different to the Marc Roy, but equally as enjoyable. Not a showy in its youth but will benefit greatly from some cellar time.

Nice. Thanks for the TNs. I’ve had good experiences with the '17 Burgs and have been stocking up on both red and white.

Thanks Andrew, and yes the whites are terrific too.

I’m all in on 2017.

I think, from what I’ve tasted, it may be one of the last “classic” vintages we may see for some time in our new climate change-influenced world. It seems the best of many worlds; the village and commune-level stuff is beautiful and ready to drink and the things further up the ladder still have the stuff to go the distance. Terroir expression seems to shine through.

I think the people that damn it with faint praise as “charming” or “easy” are being too dismissive.

Every Burgundy vintage save a rare few has its naysayers. Too light, too ripe, too something…

I just like surfing the variations. Each vintage has a tale to tell. The tale of 2017 is generally written with a fine point pen, elegant and beautiful.

I had a 2017 Bourgogne from Guillemont yesterday that I found indeed lacking in ripeness and substance. Maybe 2017 is not a vintage for the entry level wines. Old wisdom is: buy lesser wines in great vintages and the bigger wines in lesser vintages.

I agree. The more I taste 2017 reds, the more I like them. But, from barrel, many did taste a little “fluid”. They gained immensely with the end of élevage. I was very glad I revisited as many as I did from bottle, as almost invariably I found myself upgrading the wines.

It might be about Guillemot 2017s. I’ve only had the Serpentieres, but it’s the only disappointing 2017 I’ve tasted: Light and somewhat watery compared to its recent counterparts as well as other 2017s. It still has pretty aromatics but reminded me more of the structure of a 2011.

Me too. When I first tasted the 2017s in barrel in the summer of 2018, I thought the vintage was very pleasant but without enough stuffing - sort of like a better 2007. I was impressed a couple of months ago when I tasted a whole bunch at the Paulee in NYC at how much better the wines had become. It reminds me of how much better the 2001s got over the year or so after they were first released and now I wonder if 2017 could be another 2001.

This happens from time to time in Burgundy where the wines gain in body somehow in the first couple of years or so. I think of vintages like 1980, 2000, 2001 and 2008 where I think this happened.

And, yes, the whites are excellent as well, perhaps even better than the reds. Unfortunately, they tend to be really expensive.

Light and somewhat watery nails it. This is what the Bourgogne offered. I was surprised because I had some very fine wines from Guillemot in the past. Sure – it was only the Bourgogne. But the entry level wine of a producer should be convincing. This is not.

I recommend tasting more broadly before writing off a vintage. Generalizing off of one producer does not seem wise.

I did not write off the vintage. I said that it is maybe not that good for entry level wines. And this is true for most if not any vintages that are not superior like 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016 …

I really like 17 as well. Try barthod or hudelot Bourgogne; they’re plenty convincing.

I will.

I have had Hudelot-Noellat Bourgogne as well. Very nice.

Marc Roy is a very good producer and Alexandrines 17s are outstanding.

I obviously don’t get the opportunity to taste from barrel, but I’m glad someone as experienced as you found that to be true. It seems that what you’ve described might be the original, somewhat-forgotten goal of elevage!

On another note, looking forward to your Arnoux-Lachaux spotlight on IG - I had their '17 Pinot Fin for the first time last year and it converted me, and I bought as many - which is to say not many - of their Hautes-Maizières as I could afford. I hope the 2018s are just as good.

I think that 2017 is a vintage where lesser producers were tempted to let yields run wild, especially after the extremely small crops of the last two seasons. But every year is a year where lesser producers make decisions that negatively affect their wines; just seems like in 2017 there was no innate concentration they could fall back on.

I think you might be underestimating it. Since it isn’t built around tannin or extract, when a wine like this is shut down there simply isn’t much to see. But it was more than creditable from barrel, and again from bottle just after bottling. And the Serpentières was persuasive enough for me to buy a few bottles. The track record here in off vintages and for lesser appellations is strong: 1987 Serpentieres for example is still a very nice drink, and 1990 Bourgogne tastes great. So I might be tempted to give it the benefit of the doubt.

William,

it might be that it was not the best time to taste the 2017 Guillemot Bourgogne. That said I had several wines from this producer at a similar age and was never as underwhelmed as I was with this specific wine. I opened the bottle 3 days ago and tasted it every evening. I can not say more than I was disappointed every time.

BTW: Wasn´t 2017 described as a vintage with lots of early charm and appeal? If so this wine must be the antithesis.

due to actuarial reality I try and avoid young reds but I did buy some 17 Guillemot and a case of Alexandrine’s wine (Marc Roy) because I wanted to see her style.