Goodfellow vs Burgs - Recap

Last night’s Goodfellow and Burgundy tasting was a blast! Marcus and Meghan flying in from Oregon just made it very special, in addition to the 30+ WB in attendance, great service at Noreetuh (thank you Rodrigo for organizing), and generous wine shares (thank you all for the hangover this AM). Amazing how this was all spawned by Andrew K’s original question posted only just a few weeks ago. I hope others organize similar events!

What I enjoyed most of the event was not the wines, but the Goodfellow story. 20 years ago, as I understand it, Marcus was a bartender taking a shot in relatively unknown region. Today Marcus/Megan’s wines were being poured against the top 2% of Burgundy producers (all with much more vintage experience) with the toughest crowd (WB in NYC). Tasting a Matello, Goodfellow #1 and his most recent release made me feel part of the journey. It made me better appreciate what winemakers do - all of them - including the top notch Burgundy producers also poured today. This isn’t just juice, but a growing body of work compressed into every single vintage that we are lucky to taste every new vintage.

In all the fun, I managed to lose my tasting notes. I hope others share theirs. I shared my thoughts below off memory (to keep the post shorter, I hid my amateur notes in the spoiler tag).

My personal takeaway is that the Goodfellow wines showed very well. The Goodfellow wines were noticably cooler fruited than the burgundies. They seemed harder/more austere requiring more cellar time to soften and unfurl (also influenced by the particular burgundies chosen as comparisons which were very open). The ‘tells’ for me in identifying the burgs were (i) more prominent aromatics and (ii) more supple textures. Just focusing on the fruit ripeness profile would confound, as the burgundies were often the warmer fruited wines (I imagine this is a function of both climate change in Burgundy and the Goodfellow winemaking style).

Another takeaway: are 2019 burgundies that good right now or what!?
Flight 1
2017 Goodfellow Richard’s Cuvee Chardonnay $50
2017 Bouchard Meursault 1er Cru Charmes $116

One wine was white/pale yellow fruited, a bit of seashell, and being of much less weight. The other was voluptuous with full fruit, a streak of ripe fruit, much more weight, a rounded mouthfeel, supple textures and big aromatics. Having had the Goodfellow wine just two weeks ago, it was easy to call Goodfellow as the first wine. It was a little suprising how much more fruit was in the burgundy, although I really liked the ‘charming’ Bouchard.

Flight 2
2019 Goodfellow Lewman Heritage No. 16 ($60)
2019 Hudelot Noellat Bourgogne ($60)

One wine was very shut down, structured, with cool dark red fruit and a healthy dose of tannin. I don’t associate this much tannin/structure with Oregon, so I assumed this would be the burgundy. The other wine was open knit, gobs of deep red fruit, and really delicious. I quickly told Marcus ‘kudos’ for creating this really delicious open knit wine. But this second wine again had supple textures that I don’t associate with Oregon, so I later reversed and called the bigger fruited wine as the Burgundy. That proved to be the correct call.

A very informative flight for me. That 2019 Goodfellow struck me as the more age worthy wine that will need another 5-10 years to (start?) showing its potential. Marcus said 2019 was a cooler year in Oregon, especially versus the warm year in Burgundy, which would explain why it was the Burgundy seemed to be the one with the warmer, new world fruit. That said, the 2019 Hudelot Noellat was downright delicious! I am cellaring a couple Hudelot Noellat 1er/Grand Cru and made a mistake not going deeper into the range! Kudos to both winemakers!

Flight 3
2018 Goodfellow Old Vine Pommard ($50)
2018 Duroche Gevrey Chambertin ($66)

These two wines were right on top of each other. The crowd did not call a hot 2018 vintage for either wine (I recall calls for 2016 and 2012). Upon tasting and retasting, the wines were literally on top of each other. One wine had slightly softer texture, slightly deeper fruit, and slightly better aromatics - I called that as the Burgundy and was proven correct.

Duroche is one of my favorite producers, and seeing a non-heritage Goodfellow keep up really surprised me. The pricing for Goodfellow was a bit lower on release, but Marcus said they didn’t make too much of it (did he say ?55 cases?) and its mostly sold out at this point. I vaguely recall WB saying how good that wine was, and they are in for a treat.

Flight 4
2017 Goodfellow Heritage No. 10, Whistling Ridge $65
2017 Fourrier Gevrey VV $125

Another informative flight. On the palate, without taking in any information from the nose, I thought these wines were also right on top of each other. Very, very similar - with one wine having slightly deeper fruit. Others near me agreed, although one other taster on another table disagreed (without having a chance to explain their views). The one with the slightly deeper fruit had great aromatics, while the other had very little aromatics. I called the wine with the aromatics the burgundy and was proven correct. At this point, aromatics seemed to be a key factor for identifying the burgundies versus the Goodfellows.

Flight 5
2012 Goodfellow Heritage No.1, Whistling Ridge $65
2012 D’Angerville 1er Cru Fremiets, Volnay $115

This was Goodfellow Heritage No. 1, the first wine produced under the Goodfellow label. I think this was his ?7th? vintage after quitting his bartending job. Can see how the Goodfellow wine style needs 5+ years to soften up. This wine made me very optimistic on where Marcus’s more recent vintages are headed as they get more time in bottle.
I recall the D’Angerville showing excellently and being the best red of all the flights - a complete wine with body, elegance and nose. Unfortunately, I cannot recall much about this flight.

Flight 6
2008 Goodfellow Whistling Ridge $45
2008 Bouchard Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chenes $90

Both wines were flawed, eg the Goodfellow was corked and the Bouchard seemingly oxidized. One was cheaper than the other, so Goodfellow won this round!

Sh@n has much better notes than I did for the blind part of the tasting because I didn’t write down or take pictures do what the reveals were.

My general impressions were very similar, though, that:

1. The goodfellow wines were fantastic and in many cases were better than the comparable burgundy. I think in general it was pretty easy to tell where the wines were from, except for the 19, for me at least.

2. We talked about this a bit during the tasting but the burgundies were quite accessible and drinking well despite in many cases relatively young age.

I’m super envious of everybody that was able to attend this event. What a great blind tasting lineup and excellent tasting notes!

Shan, thank you for inviting Megan and I to this event. It was an exceptional evening all around. We really have not traveled since 2019, so this was a real treat.

The food at Noreetuh was fabulous, first course to the last. I really enjoyed the caviar (and the Krug, thank you Rodrigo!), the snapper crudo, the gnocchi with cuttlefish, and the ibirico but everything was delightful. Thank you Rodrigo for setting up the menu.

Thank you to everyone for coming, and for everyone traveling in from out of town it is very, very appreciated. Also thank you to everyone for their generosity in bringing extra wines. The two Champagnes were delicious and I could have just drank those and been pretty happy. The 97 Lignier MSD was exceptional and probably my favorite red wine for the evening, alongside the 2012 d’Angerville.

I’ll try to add a couple of thoughts once I’ve had a second to process the evening. It was a lot of great wines.

We spent today at the MET, without cell service, so my apologies for this taking so long for me to get posted.

I thought the tasting was a very good experience. Seeing the fruit weight and power in the younger Burgundies is a sea change from 20 years ago.

Great evening! Sad I had to rush out early to catch a train. Thank you Sh@n for setting it all up, and Rodrigo for Noreetuh, Marcus & Megan for making great wines, and everyone else for making great conversation!

The event itself:

As I said in the other thread, this was an amazing event. Thank you Sh@n A and Rodrigo B. And thank you to Marcus Goodfellow and Megan Joy for coming and sharing and being so nice and open about everything.

And thank you to everyone who shared all of the amazing wines. There was stuff there I’d never thought I’d drink. And I just wish I had more time with each. Special shout out on that score to Mich@el Ch@ng who not only brought great stuff but also made sure we tasted it with frequent visits to our table.

Meeting so many of you in person was a treat. And, since I hope to see you all again soon, I’ll just say I haven’t forgotten what you said about coming back, Dinesh Goyal! (I will also forever wonder about what fatherly advice you were about to dispense before you asked me how old I am.)

Everyone at my table were great dining companions as well. I had long conversations with Joseph Grassa, Robert Ferguson and Marcus. I’m glad to know you all better.

The After-After Party was also a lot of fun. According to Megan, beer’s what winemakers drink, after all. Thanks to all who joined that as well, Rodrigo, Marcus, Megan, Mike C. (we agree on Tequila styles) and Andrew K. (I hope you found that pizza after the burrito we had at 1:30am and that it hit the spot).


The non-flight wines:

Note to self for future crazy wine dinners: TAKE PICTURES OF THE LABELS. I didn’t take a single picture of anything. Does anyone have a list of the wines we drank that were not part of the official tasting and haven’t been mentioned?

I tried to pay special attention to the 2002 Jadot Ursules I brought (just in case it sucked) and it seemed to be showing well with some red fruits and spiced forest floor. It was probably wine number 25 in terms of the order I drank it (not of showing) so I couldn’t tell you much more than that. I don’t think most people had it because there was probably half a bottle left at the end if I recall (or maybe most didn’t like it?). I do remember thinking it seemed well balanced with well-integrated tannins. I wish I had thought to taste it side by side with the 2002 Rossignol Trapet Chambertin and the 2002 Mugneret Gibourg Clos Vougeot because all the 2002s seem to be in the zone right now.

Whatever anyone with more Krug experience than I may say, that Krug 166 changed my mind about oxidative Champagne and I’ll be forever grateful (and broke!) because of it. Thanks Rodrigo (I think)! There was a ton of marzipan (with a sweetness on the nose but not the palate) in a magical way that demanded another sip; like drinking Christmas in June. I normally hate marzipan notes but this was so heavy on it that it made it somehow good. It’s like amber notes in perfume for me. Go all in or just don’t do it.

The Keller Riesling and the Walter Scott chard were also very good and a welcome break from all the Pinot.

Go read Michael Chang’s notes on the other non-flight wines which are better than anything I could write.


The blind tasting:

I’ll say here what I stated in the other thread about the blind tasting itself. The “regions” were distinguishable, even for a self-confessed amateur like me. I think the key, which I mentioned early on to Marcus, was that this wasn’t Burgundy vs Oregon; it was Burgundy vs Marcus and Megan. I kept in mind that they could stylistically out-Burgundy the Burgundians, and that recent vintages in both regions have pretty much been in sync (except 2019?). So I felt the palates could throw me off and my strategy was mostly going with the nose.

Even if we discount Flight 6 because both wines were called as flawed (though I don’t think they were that flawed and in fact would have called other burgs more flawed), Goodfellow wines showed better on all but one of the flights (including that one).

Special shout out to Juliec for being the bravest among us.
The whites:
Flight 1
Left → 2017 Goodfellow Richard’s Cuvee Chardonnay
Right → 2017 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Charmes
My note on the Richard’s Cuvée highlights its citrus notes. My note on the Bouchard Charmes mentions incense and chili peppers on the nose with big question marks because I was having trouble placing the scents. I also noted it seemed riper and more alcoholic than the Richard’s. Point Goodfellow.

The reds:
Flight 2
Left → 2019 Goodfellow Lewman Heritage No. 16
Right → 2019 Hudelot Noellat Bourgogne
The Goodfellow Heritage No. 16 was shut down and structured as Shan mentioned. My notes say cherries, pine and turpentine. I wouldn’t touch this wine in 5 years at least. And I stress, at least, could be 10. Conversely, the Hudelot Noellat had a metallic tomato nose (my note says canned tomatoes and by that I mean the can itself after you empty the tomatoes) that I associate with very ripe wines (but I guess it could be a sulphur issue that could blow off). I looked at Marcus and I was like, no way he’s releasing a wine this ripe.

Flight 3 - The revelation flight
Left → 2018 Goodfellow Old Vine Pommard
Right → 2018 Duroché Gevrey-Chambertin
This was the most revelatory moment of the evening for me. My notes say “same,” as in same nose as the previous flight for each side. Yet bear in mind, I could be wrong but, while 2018 was warmer than 2019 in both regions, the difference in Burgundy was less than the difference in Willamette, and yet, on the nose, they were strikingly similar year-to-year. So, Goodfellow OV Pommard had cherries, pine and turpentine. Structure to age. Maybe not as much as the 2019 so I’m gonna say wait five years on it (not at least). Duroché Gevrey had the same ripe metallic tomato nose as the 2019 Hudelot Noellat Bourgogne – again I associate it with ripeness but it could be a sulphur issue that can blow off – but some more structure than the Hudelot, but not than the Goodfellow OV Pommard it was set against. So 3-5 years on that one. I guess after having the wines revealed it makes sense that the Bourgogne is less precise than the Gevrey and thus doesn’t benefit as much from the vintage. I’d love to taste the 2018 and 2019 Duroché Gevreys side-by-side to see if the 19 is less ripe.

Flight 4 - Most striking flight
Left → 2017 Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin Vieille Vigne
Right → 2017 Goodfellow Heritage No. 10
This was really a no-contest flight. The 2017 Heritage No. 10 was clearly the better wine for me. Seems incredible it was half the price. I agree with Shan that the Fourrier was the more aromatic of the two, but I disagree that it was so in a good way. My notes say “smoky,” but I don’t know if that’s a sulphur issue or a wood (young age) issue or Gevrey-Chambertin terroir (but I doubt it because the Duroché Gevrey didn’t have that) or what it was from. I’m not sure how you guys handled these but I’m presuming none were decanted, so I will concede that maybe if given more air or several years in cellar the smokiness could have blown off or integrated. But as it was, for me, it distracted from anything else. At this point the quality of my notes decreases markedly. No taste notes on the Goodfellow or any of the following wines, except the calls I made on them.

Flight 5 - Burgundy scores
Left → 2012 Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Les Fremiets
Right → 2012 Goodfellow Heritage No. 1
Sorry, no tasting notes. I was too busy enjoying the D’Angerville, which, for me, was the only Burgundy in the blind tasting that showed better than the the corresponding Goodfellow.

It was my pleasure to Amtrak in. One of the benefits of the Acela corridor.

Was that cuttlefish on the gnocchi? I could have eaten a serving bowl of that stuff. It was amazing.

Was the snapper crudo the one with the brown gel on the side? If so, I agree, really good stuff. Sad to see nobody took the last piece.

The porterhouse was also very good as well.

All in all, Noreetuh impressed, especially given the place itself doesn’t look like much. Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Was an incredibly fun event. Thank you so much to Shan and Rodrigo for organizing. It was a blast meeting everyone.

nice to see the super Goodfellow wines so appreciated.

Great to meet everyone. Thanks to Sh@n A for taking the impetus to put this event together and also for working around my schedule.

It was a great learning experience for me to understand much deeper about the Goodfellow style. I really like what they are doing to elevate Willamette wines to where they should be given the potential of the terrior. I also really appreciated the conversation with Marcus and Megan. They are such a wealth of knowledge about vines and terrior and clearly have a passion for wine making.

This thread is awesome. Thanks for all the data points.

Great note Guillermo M would be great to catch up on your next trip.

For someone like me who is fairly new to purchasing and enjoying the Goodfellow wines, I appreciate all of the notes and perspectives. Thank you!

All I can say, and I wasn’t there, is that I feel bad for the Burgs! Great idea and great wines.

Goodfellow rocks so much. I drank 2017 #9 last night. Wowsers it is so good!

really interesting notes so far. sounds like its kind of toss-up-ish in almost every pairing.

one thing to keep in mind for sure is that in almost every one of these cases (except the Hudelot flight) the Goodfellow is up against a wine thats probably about 2-3x its price point, and holding its own. that just blows my mind.

Well, actually every flight but one, the concensus was the Goodfellow was the clear winner. The other flight both wines were flawed.

WTF?!?!

Fourrier famously doesn’t use much sulfur and the village sees maybe 10% new oak, if that. Smoke isn’t generally a marker* of Gevrey or Fourrier in general.


*Clarification re: smoke added.

Andrew, do you really think that was consensus? In retrospect, I should have done a poll right then and there. I think the Goodfellows held their own, but I don’t think they were the clear winner on every flight for everyone? I do think personal preferences skew things. I definitely remember at least 3-4 people that preferred the Goodfellow’s cooler fruit/harder profile. But there were definitely 1-2 others that enjoyed the warmer fruit and aromatics of the burgundies. There was indeed consensus bullishness on Marcus’s recent vintages and how they may show with 10 years on them.