TN: 2015 White Burg Premox? Say it ain't so!

WINE TALK
1

2015 Domaine Vincent et Francois Jouard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain

Surprised to find a regular cork in a recent 1er Cru White Burg. As soon as I cut the foil and saw the cork, I said uh oh and sure enough, the beginnings of premox. Clearly too dark and very nutty. Popped open a second one and it was much lighter in color. Still not sure what’s going on here. Seemed way too ripe and lacked the acidity and minerality I’d expect from this parcel.

2015 Domaine Vincent et Francois Jouard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru (9/9/2020)
Nose is ripe. Showing lots of butter and very round on the palate albeit a bit flabby. Mild acidity and minerality. Needs time, but unsure if it will hold out.

2

It ain’t so.
And 2015 was a ripe year, so I would expect it to be flabby.

3

About two months ago this wine showed pretty ripe. It was easily identifiable as the sole 2015 among many 2017’s. I remember notes of yellow plums and caramel. Champs-Gains is a warm site in Chassagne and the vintage didn’t do anything to cool it down a bit. But it was not weird or off. Just on the ripe side of the spectrum.
But premox, ouch that would be bad news. I had a premoxed 2014 Ramonet Chassagne village blanc last month. That made me uneasy. Your 2015 does’t sound reassuring.

4

I had a premoxed 2016 Copain Tidal Break chardonnay a few weeks ago. You’re never really safe, at least not with regular cork.

5

i can’t think of any reason why it still wouldn’t be a thing. seemingly not as prevalent, but i’ve had young white burgs that looked like apple juice.

6

I had a premoxed 2012 Jouard some time ago so can’t consider this in any way surprising. The retailer replaced the bottle but even the replacement was heading that way, even if it was actually enjoyable still. The retailer of course claimed that he had never heard of a premoxed bottle of Jouard before.

7

The Jouard wines I’ve had have all had a tendency toward premox so I stay clear of them now.

8

I agree. I would never again buy whites from Jouard or Fontaine-Gagnard and have not bought any in many, many years (I think my last vintage of Jouard about 2002 or so). They premox faster than any other white Burgundy I have ever had. I would not judge all white Burgundies by a Jouard wine.

9

Ooof tough to hear. I have a recent Batard and Monty from them that I was excited about.

Do you also mean Blain Gagnard?

10
11

Can’t be any worse than the bottle in your avatar with the destroyed cork. Honestly, did you not think that bottle was cooked either?

12

Blain Gagnard is still, to my knowledge, high on the premox list. A friend and I went in on a case of their extremely rare (and extremely good) Montrachet at release and the entire case went bad. Have not been back since. A real shame too- their Criots is also quite exceptional.

13

Not sure what that has to do with premox, but actually that was my least favorite bottle of LT I’ve had. As far as whether the bottle was cooked, I don’t have enough experience with older Burgs to know. Seemed reasonable for a 30 year old bottle. But maybe not? Maybe I would have liked a proper bottle of 85 LT.