I was surprised to find that the Robardelles was a Volnay. Though I didn’t put it in my notes, i had thought the Luissant was going to be the Volnay.
[edit: Is there a way to format this with fixed width?
didn't work for me.]
I have the full results from Scott and he mentioned that there were a few issues.
Here's the scoring. Flight #1 was a little flawed in that we had only 7 people rank a wine as #1, 9 rank a wine as #2, 7 rank a wine as #4 and 9 rank a wine as #9. Also, there was previously a math error on wine 2 (Mont Luisants) which resulted in it being our fourth favorite wine rather than third favorite wine.
Flight #1
Rank
Wine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Rank
1 3 2 2 1 30 5 O-C MSD La Riotte
2 1 1 3 1 2 29 4 MSD Mont Luisants
3 3 1 2 1 1 25 2 Le Grappin SLB
4 2 2 3 1 20 1 MSD Chaffots
5 3 3 2 28 3 Volnay
6 1 1 1 5 39 6 Chambolle
Flight #2
Rank
Wine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Rank
A 4 1 2 1 32 6 Charmes
B 1 1 1 3 2 28 2 Mazoyeres
C 1 2 1 3 1 32 5 Chevillon Pruliers
D 1 3 1 3 30 4 Corbeaux
E 4 2 1 1 17 1 Pacalet Lavaux
F 1 2 3 2 29 3 Le Chambertin
I don’t think we needed this tasting to figure out that Savigny is a better value than CDN. It’s not going to stop people from buying CDN wines. Anyway, the people who ranked the SLB higher would have to speak to why. I had all the MSDs at the top in that flight.
A few pictures from the evening
And Fondue to finish the night
Y’all know he is one of the featured wineries at IPNC this year, yes? Anyone? Anyone?
Did not know. This would be an excellent time to get his act together.
Curious to get the feelings of those in attendance about some of the wider questions so far mostly undiscussed, as I know the group has some experience with the region.
Does anyone feel the wines deliver something unique in the Burgundian firmament? Do the wines deliver good value, particularly if, moving forward, Maison Ilan appears to be pursuing a more traditional path as a negociant selling to the USA? I get Mr. Beck’s feelings, but curious about some others (Craig and Alan?).
Thanks guys for this.
Jim,
I’m a little unsure how to answer the first question. Look across Burgundy (or Sonoma, for that matter), and you’ll find wines from the same commune/region in all sorts of styles. Terroir, of course, is real. But so are growing and winemaking choices. If the criterion for being in the business of producing wine was delivering something unique, a lot of producers would be out of business 
I guess the uniqueness is in having wines made by a guy with the story he has to tell, just as we all have an attachment to our favorite winemakers around the world.
As for the second question, I’ll amplify on what I said earlier: to me, these wines (for the most part) did a good job of representing the region (and in this case, the vintage). They were at least as strong as many 2011s I’ve tasted from a wide range of well respected producers. I think at the original futures pricing, they do indeed deliver reasonably good value, though I haven’t kept up with the pricing of the 12s or 13s, and don’t have any knowledge of what the 14s will go for.
Alan,
Thanks for that. My questions stem from the frame that MI’s winemaking was such a throwback to “forgotten” techniques and a more romantic era. If it all turns out to be nothing more than “Ancienne Methode” on a label, that seems…disappointing?
A couple people expressed that the MI wines in the first flight were good enough to drink, but not worth the tariff. The whole flight was light in body and the only stand out for me was the Le Grappin. Some of the other wines had minor issues for me, and I found the Luissants unpleasantly sour.
All six wines in the second flight had good body and a lot of good stuff going on. All quite good to impressive. That was a nice surprise, considering the vintage. The quality is what you’d expect from a better producer.
I had lunch with five other burg-heads last week and served the 2010 MI Chaffots blind. Guesses ranged from Rousseau GC village to Fourrier Combe Aux Moines. It was well received by all. I’m glad to see the 2011’s are showing reasonably well, too. I’m still struggling with that vintage with most producers.
Thanks for the notes guys, and for organizing the tasting. It is good to know that the wines are showing ok. It is my hope for all involved that the delivery of the '12s and '13s provides little drama. I have no skin in the game after '12.
I’m not going to rush out and buy more of these based on the tasting, but I think that’s more about 2011 than anything else. At release price, there are probably few 11’s that are really good value.
The 10’s might be a different thing. They were very good in barrel and most notes I’ve seen (other than Corbeaux) seem promising. I’m interested to see how the 12’s turn out.
As far as the technique, I remarked at the tasting that Ray had a lot of good will early on and he probably could have spent some of it to engage some really good winemaking mentoring and assistance. I wish he had done it from the start. I hope he will still do it. I don’t know if our Feusselottes was a bad bottle, but if it was representative, there are two wines in three years that are sort of partly-failed homebrew experiments - not undrinkable but not really professional efforts (10 Corbeaux being the other). It’s no tragedy but I’d expect a really seasoned winemaker could have provided better options.
Overall I was quite satisfied with the wines, though. I’ve had the Le Grappin before and I found it pleasant but not exciting. For me the Volnay and MSDs were ahead of it and more interesting. In the second flight I ranked Chevillon first and Pacalet last but I liked both, and all the MI Gevreys were in between. I think it’s a pretty good showing.
I’d like to repeat this with the 12’s. From the wines I’ve had I’m a lot more excited about 12 than 11. I would love to try it with 10 but I don’t have those.
Jim, I always felt that Ray was sincere about his looking back at the “ancient methods”, but never took it too seriously myself. There are only so many things you can do to grapes, and there really isn’t much new under the sun. Most fine wine we drink today from small producers is made essentially as it was 100 years ago, just more cleanly and with more efficient tools. Many, many wineries talk about their practices in all sorts of glowing terms of non-intervention, Ray was/is not at all unique in this aspect. Open almost any Napa or Sonoma producer’s web page and you’ll see some weasel words like this.
Yeah, I suppose it was just that it was pushed really hard in all the marketing that no one else was making wines this way. If nothing else, it’s good that most of the wines are enjoyable.
Thanks to the participants for reporting on this thorough and well planned tasting. I’ll let my two bottles of Mazoyères rest for a few years.
Can’t say I really remember him promoting this all that hard, but could be my memory. What I do remember is Russell Bevan’s first report from making wine, where he spent all destemming by picking every berry by hand. I think he learned pretty quickly that wasn’t a very practical way to make wine. Point being that lots of winemakers first starting out try something they think is unique, or think they are promoting some method they are using that sets them apart; but after 100s of years, and hundreds of thousands of winemakers, there probably isn’t very much that someone else hasn’t done or promoted
Im happy to hear that the wines showed generally well. Im really hoping Ray can get his customer service act together and move forward successfully.
Unfortunately with my work schedule I’m really late to the party to put in my reviews. Figured they should be added for posterity either way. I’ve listed the wines in the order we drank them in for each flight.
First flight: Overall everything was drinkable and outside of the Chambolle Feusselottes I would have been happy to own any of them. Nothing really jumped out as amazing but it did seem like a pretty fair showing for 2011.
2011 Odoul Coquard MSD Clos La Riotte - For the first bit this wine seemed really simple and candied. On the nose cherry cough drops, menthol/mint and sweetness. Palate was really simple with candied cherry and good acidity. I ignored this one pretty quickly and didn’t come back to it until the end. I was sure are the start I had a clear #6 pick. WOW - big change with air. It lost the cough drop and almost all the candied sweetness. It picked up lavender and floral on the nose. It picked up body and showed some tannin but was still quite light. Medium finish overall and had good acidity throughout its evolution. I completely changed my mind about this wine in that short period and think it could age it something really nice in the short term. Not sure its a long term drinker. I think the initial showing through people off. That said I didn’t get MSD clearly here. My #2, groups #5.
2011 Maison Ilan MSD Mont Luisants - Earth, Mushroom, little herbal note and some cherry on the nose. Good palate weight despite lightness, earth, tart cherry, some silky tannin, good acidity, medium finish. I guessed MSD and was sure it was the MI Mont Luisants as I’ve had this once before. This was my #1 and group’s #3.
2011 Le Grappin Savigny Les Beaune - Quite a shy nose on this one, very tight. Light palate, hint of cherry and raspberry, at first I noticed a little oak but it receded with time, smooth tannins, quite good balance overall with good acidity and a medium finish. There was bitterness on the finish for the first 20+ mins but it went away with air. This was my #3 and group’s #2. I knew this one wasn’t an MSD but I couldn’t figure out if it was the Chambolle, Volnay or Savigny.
2011 Maison Ilan MSD Chaffots - Little earthy on the nose, bit of red fruit but definitely a strong funky note. Was trying to figure out if the wine was flawed for awhile but it got better. Earthy palate with a little sweetness but was hard for me to pick up fruit clearly, its definitely in the background. Slightly more rustic tannins than the other wines, little herbal/green. Pretty good acidity, medium- finish, quite light. The funkiness cleared up a bit with time (reduction?). I was sure this was an MSD. My #5, group’s #1.
2011 Maison Ilan Volnay Robardelles - This had a fair amount of funkiness on the nose as well, little sweetness but as the funk blew of a bit it was pretty tight. This wine seemed slightly bigger boned than the rest, there was some slightly ripe cherry, pretty tight overall. Decent acidity but slightly clipped med- finish. Wasn’t sure what this wine was. My #4, groups #5
2011 Maison Ilan Chambolle Feusselottes - This was really funky and green on the nose and took me awhile to get past. On the palate sweet red fruit, earth, green, light tannin, good acidity. On the finish there is some sweet raspberry, medium- finish. This wine was cloudy compared to the other wines of the night and while drinkable I lean more to the flawed camp. My #6, group’s #6.
Second flight: Every wine served was something I was happy to drink and the difference in quality between the flights was very clear. Just taking a quick sniff of each of the glasses you could see it was a step up. This was a tough flight to rank and I even held up the final tally trying to figure out where I thought things should go. In my rush I actually messed things up a bit but I’m fine where things stand.
2011 Maison Ilan Charmes Chambertin - Nice ripe but not sweet/candied red fruit (cherry, raspberry) on the nose, along with a slight green/herbal note. Sweet cherry and raspberry on the palate, some earth and mushroom, smooth tanning, good acidity and balance. Medium+ finish. I found a hint of oak on the finish. My #6, groups #6.
2011 Maison Ilan Mazoyeres Chambertin - Big nose of ripe red fruit. Palate of red fruit (maybe tart raspberry and some cherry), good weight but light, nice texture. Silky tannins, medium+ finish that lingered. Good acidity. I did notice a little green on the finish. My #1, group’s #2. I have to admit the nose biased me.
2011 Chevillon NSG Pruliers - Little funky with sweet red fruit at the start but it went away and left a nice nose of stems and cherry. On the palate tart red cherry, cranberry, iron, earth, some drying tannin they seemed slightly rustic. Medium finish with good acidity. Little bigger on the finish (lingering oak). This was clearly the NSG to me and was clearly different in style than most of the other wines. My #5, group’s #5. My first Chevillon and based on this I’d like to try more of this producers wines.
2011 Maison Ilan Gevrey Chambertin Les Corbeaux - Ripe red fruit on the nose. Raspberry, cherry, earth. Fine but slightly drying tannin. Nice palate feel. Good balance and acidity. Medium finish. Drinking pretty well now, which is what I rated it on but probably not as much upside as the other wines. My #2, group’s #4
2011 Pacalet Lavaux St. Jacques - Tart red fruit on the nose and it seems be getting shyer as time progresses. Tart red fruit on the palate, earth, supple but light with nice structure. Good acidity but a little green on the medium finish. Felt thinner then the other wines. Producer style was clearly different and since I guessed NSG elsewhere, guessed this was the Pacalet. My #3, group’s #1.
2011 Maison Ilan Le Chambertin - This was cleared reduced at first but it showed ripe red fruit and a little mustiness. Overall the nose was pretty tight through the night. Raspberry, tart cherry, cranberry and loads of sweet tannin. It was clear this wine had good balance and structure. Good acidity. It was the most shut down wine of the evening though. Based on where it is right now, I ranked this #4 and the group #3. Obviously has upside but wasn’t the best drinking wine of the flight right now.
And once again, I have to thank our hosts, Andrew and Chiara, for a great evening. And I really enjoyed tasting with this group. Thanks for having me. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}