Goodfellow vs Burgs - Recap

WINE TALK
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I enjoyed the wine selection Shan set up.

Including some whole cluster Burgundy was one of those that was at the top of my mind as well. They are so many interesting iterations one can do with the wine selection it’s tough to pick one though.

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I also really enjoyed the selection Shan chose when he set this up.

But Megan and I also really enjoyed coming to New York this weekend. So we’re definitely motivated to come up with some ideas for next time!

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The thought process on the line up was something along the lines of:

  1. Marcus’s idea to vintage match in the flights, the idea being that the wines were to have equal time to develop/show similar levels of openness
  2. Getting known producers to comp against
  3. And staying within budget to compare wines across the range (Goodfellow Heritage/non Heritage against Bourgogne, Village, and 1er Cru). E.G. some asked for Hudelot Noellat Suchots 1er Cru, would have been great but would have needed to be gifted or cutting out many other wines.
  4. I first selected 2019 Hudelot Bourgogne as a popular QPR wine on the board, and when I visited Goodfellow earlier this year the '19 Lewman Heritage was also a red fruited wine that was less structured than the '19 Whistling Ridge heritage (at that time!)
  5. I then selected the 2017 Fourrier. I intended to do Fourrier Aux Eche per discussion on the Andrew K thread, but was told by a big Fourrier fan that Fourrier Gevrey VV was a much better wine than Aux Eche and I should pour the stronger wine. I originally had Fourrier pegged for the 2018 vintage, but if the Fourrier was overripe, I didn’t want to make it seem like I vintage stacked in Goodfellow’s favor for the 2018, and then also soft balled with an Aux Eche. So I put Fourrier Gevrey VV in 2017. I also considered back-to-back Fourrier in 2017 and 2018 vintage slots, but decided to get another producer in.
  6. I thought a Duroche would be a good comp to the Goodfellow Pommard expecting both to be darker fruited with some sauvage notes, but I didn’t anticipate it being as close as it was. Duroche Gevrey is another popular QPR wine (although it has risen in price in more recent vintages) and I thought would be another top tier producer people would enjoy seeing in the mix/trying (recognizing that his 2019/16 vintages are better than his 2018).
  7. For the 2012 I wanted to go to Pommard or Volnay. A couple different options here, but CT notes on the d’Angerville were positive so I went that route (and it was accessible at a reasonable price within budget). I debated going back to 2018 and slotting in a Lafarge in there (recalling WK comments Lafarge did well in 2018), but I was happy with the Duroche choice and left it there (and Duroche helped meet budget better than another Fourrier).
  8. For the 2008 it was really limiting. It was shockingly hard to find two bottles of any reasonably priced 2008 village wines. I was happy a WB sold me 2 bottles of '08 Volnay from a more generous producer (although they ended up flawed). Nothing really on Wine Searcher, from posting on Commerce Corner etc. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to backfill villages from a less prominent burg vintage. Was really eye opening to me how tough it is to backfill burgs at reasonable prices.
  9. I would definitely redo the white. I went with Bouchard Mersault as a well regarded Mersault producer that would be pretty good, but didn’t expect it to be as ripe as it was.
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[wow.gif]

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FWIW, I wasn’t complaining about the wine selection, just noting that it would have been equally interesting if other wines were selected and we were to look at the wines through a different lens. It’s certainly tough to do things within a limited budget. Sorting out the wines and then divvying cost per person rather than work backwards from a budget is definitely seems like it’d make life a bit easier.

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46

I think the tasting was very successful in establishing that the Goodfellow wines are qualitatively at the very least on par with high quality burgundies, often present higher QPR, despite being generally distinct from burgundy which is an appropriate expression of place.

I do think that as a blind tasting it could have been more challenging by selecting somewhat different wines.

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Y’all are just going to have to organize another dinner, it sounds like.

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The ones who came to the first one get right of first refusal though. That’s just how it works. Right?

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I am pretty sure that’s in the rules…

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Couple of quick thoughts from the peanut gallery:

  1. I expect I was (or was one of 2) people who said not to use the aux Echezeaux for the Fourrier choice. There’s nothing especially unique about it in the Fourrier lineup that compares better or worse to Goodfellow, it’s a smaller production (.5 hectares to 3 hectares iirc) so is harder to find and, frankly, is usually not quite as good. I would also not suggest the 2018 Fourrier, which I think is an unrepresentative year for him. Given Marcus’ comment regarding reduction, I would suggest giving the Fourrier bottles a bit of a shake next time :slight_smile:
  2. I don’t think the 2008 Bouchard that was served was flawed (I did try those) - it had some green notes and VA. It’s just not a great wine, and one bottle was a bit worse than the other. 2008 is a tough vintage in Burgundy, which I suspect is why not too many people kept village wines. I have other 08s, but they wouldn’t have fit the budget.
  3. Meursault is traditionally a fairly rich appellation - no reason it can’t be ripe. I quite like the Bouchard Meursaults, and so long as there’s enough acidity, ripeness isn’t a problem. 2015 whites are a lot like that at the moment.
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A yearly Oregon wine blowout in NYC with Berserkers and several Oregon producers is certainly something that crossed my mind after this event. I may do that in 2023, seems like a fun event to organise.

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I think that would be a great idea, and had been noodling that option as well.

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We’ll be in touch. Thinking spring 2023?

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Spring should be good timing. Though organizing winemakers is definitely like herding cats.

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Pssst. When Covid subsides. Them Seattle neighbours to the north are still awaiting that Goodfella visit :heart_eyes:

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Pssst. When Covid subsides. Them Seattle neighbours to the north are still awaiting that Goodfella visit [drinkers.gif]

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I wish I came up with a better thread title. Goodfellow vs Burgs - Judgment of Noreetuh

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As luck would have it, we are heading to Seattle end of the month…

I emailed Peter Hickner tonight.

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This makes me wonder what I’d have to do to get you and Megan to come to Tulsa. Maybe convince a few of the Dallas folks to come up?

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PeterH