We have an Anniversary and birthday coming up, and I had a thought to maybe try one of the big guns to celebrate…Montrachet, Batard Montrachet, Chevalier Montrachet etc…
I see a few readily available 2010’s…yes, expensive…
But my question is, would these be worth opening now?
I have very little experience with wines of this caliber but thought it’d be fun to buy then pop one.
I’m not interested in hearing if they are ‘worth’ the price but rather whether they’d be pleasurable at this juncture.
Producer has to factor in, but generally, unless you have significant quantity, or are buying a bottle to see if you want to buy significant quantity, don’t do it. Grand Cru white burgs need 10-15 years of age to show their stuff. Tonight at dinner, for example, we drank a 2007 Raveneau Clos that was PAINFULLY young and tight. And we had a gorgeous 1989 Leflaive Batard, fully mature and singing. Guess which got finished.
2009 seems to be drinking well right now, if you like the style of the vintage. At least a Ramonet BM and Chassagne villages were drinking well in December. Had a 2010 Clos de la Mouchère (Boillot) as well and it was definitely good, but not sure you’d get much out of the Grands Crus at this stage.
I don’t have nearly the experience of some of these people, but having tasted some of these wines young, and recently having one mature, I would definitely opt to go the latter route. If you get one from a “lesser” GC from a good (but not absolute top) producer from before the premox epidemic, you might not have to spend any more than you would for something like a Montrachet from a young vintage.
Dan, I don’t know what price you are seeing for the Boillot, as W-S doesn’t show any in the US, but there are some in Europe for around $200, so let’s say $250 here in the US. For not much more, there is a bottle of 1988 Leflaive Bienvenue at $340 on W-S. Assuming good storage and sound bottles, I would think the Leflaive would give you a MUCH better idea of what a GC white burg can be.
I’m with Chuck. Opening GC white burgs this young is a waste of potential. If you want a great wine experience you’re more likely to get that with a 10-15 year old 1er cru than a 2 year old GC. Now, if you just really want to try a GC… fine, go for it.
Before people get their hackles up, I’m not saying the wine won’t be good… it’s likely to be VERY good. But the difference between a good 1er and a GC that young isn’t that pronounced.
Personally I don’t really rate '88 Leflaives that highly (I had 6 Chevaliers and some 1’ers in a mixed case), and think they are not really such great drinking now.
A Boillot '08 C/C a few months ago was exceptional (white of the day against several Montrachets and a Chevalier), and I would much rather drink that any day, young as it may be…
Paul, you may be right re: '88 Leflaive, it was just an example, and I picked Leflaive Bienvenue because Dan was
looking at Boillot Bienvenue. I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to find better examples, or mature wines that might blow one’s mind, as some might be very expensive. But frankly, you can find mature white burgs out there, often at not dramatically higher prices than new releases of the same wine.
The only problem I guess with more mature Burgs are the storage, which tends to make them a bit of a crap shoot, hence the often lower prices seen on the secondary market.
Then from '96 on you start to get the period where premox becomes an issue, so you also have to be careful there.
Maybe it is just me, but I am enjoying my whites burgs more now younger (or maybe because we have had to learn to…).
2 stunning white Burgs I’ve had are… 05 Henri Bolloit and 05 Bonneau Du Matray Corton Charlemagnes. For me, I love them every bit as much as grand cru Montrachets. For Puligny Montrachets I’m a much bigger fan of Louis Carillon than LeFlaive. I’d love to try Louis Carillon Bienvenues Batard Montrachet but the Referts rocks too.
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