What 2018 Red Burgundies are you Buying?

WINE TALK
21

me as well! Spectacular wines.

22

2018 whites are defined by the high yields. That retarded ripening, despite the warm conditions, so alcohol levels are generally moderate (e.g. <2017). Acidities are a touch below average but more or less correct. What really differentiates the top wines from the rest is concentration: many 2018 whites are a bit soft, open-knit, fluid. Nature was so generous that people who generally crop high exceeded the AOC maximums, and those who are normally more restrained often attained them. The best producers made efforts to restrain their yields. And they did their classic press cycles, so the wines have a bit of extract. Some producers, by contrast, had so much fruit to process that they did extra short press cycles, resulting in very clear juice (no skin extract or solids), which exaggerates the perception of dilution. If you think back to the very high yielding great vintages of the past for white Burgundy such as 1979 and 1982, one of the real differences with 2018 (despite similar yields) is that today people have pneumatic presses than can work really quickly and extract almost nothing from the grapes. Back in the late 1970s, people were crushing the grapes and then pressing with vertical basket presses or vaslins, which took longer and resulted in a lot more extract to structure the wines. I think this is one of the reasons why there were more great 1982 white Burgundies than there are great 2018 white Burgundies. But we will see how they evolve. There are some very nice wines out there, including but not limited to those that I purchased. You just have to be selective - but what’s new about that!

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23

Duroche
Fourrier
PYCM
Jouan
Cathiard
Gibourg
Mugnier

24

Drouhin and Rousseau for sure.

Maybe some Mortet as well.

25

Thank you for the detailed answer and apologies for the thread drift into white territory.

26

I am buying my yearly allocations but not going beyond that - and only because where I am allocations are TIGHT and I need to keep buying to keep allocations - and am much more looking forward to 2019 (especially since its a birth year for my son):

Comte Liger-Belair (VR/NSG Aux Lav/NSG 1er/Chaumes)
Rousseau (if I get any)
Barthod (Fuees/Greunchers/Bourgogne) - including lots of Bourgogne here
Lafarge (CdC/Volnay VV/Bourgogne)
d’Angerville (CdD/Taillepieds/Volnay 1er)

27

I only bought from 2 producers so far for 2018, like you I am very concerned about the ripeness of the vintage. Miniscule amounts of Hudelot Noellat and Bertheau are the only 2018’s I bought. I have had multiple bottles of 2017 from various producers, and I am liking quite a lot the character of that vintage (prices too). Will plan to go very light on 2018 and maybe dip my toes a bit more for 2019 but right now, backfilling is what I am doing heavily.

2018 Arnoux prices are CRAZY! Will not be buying and this comes from someone who has more than a case of Arnoux Suchots stashed away


28

I bought a barrel of Hopspices de Beaune Volnay 1er cru General Muteau. I was able to taste it in 2019. I am trying to wait out the tariffs before shipping it but I might have to eat them if no resolution. [swearing.gif]

29

I think it’s a pity to generalize about an entire vintage like this. As I mentioned in another thread, Denis Bachelet’s Charmes-Chambertin is only 13.2% alcohol; most of Trapet’s are between 13 and 13.5%; the same is true of Dugat-Py and Claude Dugat; Charles Lachaux capped out at 13.2%. Just to give a few examples.

30

Absolutely agree, unfortunately all those producers you mentioned above I do not / have stopped buying (wish I could still afford Arnoux Suchoots, Trapet and Bachelet Charmes, I guess I will have to be content with what I already own). Out of the few 2018’s I tasted I found a more “solar” characteristic that I was not a fan of (some more than others). Of course my sampling is quite small and mostly in the bourgogne and village level only, but it was somewhat consistent. To be honest I am also not purchasing 2018’s due to their prices and lack of space. I literally have 2 empty 12 bottle cases spaces left in my lockers! (emphasis on the “s” in “lockers”). [wink.gif]

31

Arnoux-Lachaux
Rousseau
Mugneret-Gibourg
Mugnier
Roumier
Tremblay
Barthod
Leroux Cazetiers and Boudots
Faively Cazetiers
Jadot CSJ.

Most of these are to keep allocations

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32

Arnoux-Lachaux
Berthaut-Gerbet
Nicholas Faure
J-P Guyon
Lorenzon
And one bottle of Naudin-Ferrand CĂŽte de Nuits Villages Viola Odorata.

33

What reds are you buying from Moreau. I got a bit of his Chassagne (have not seen the premier cru) but really am not buying much 2018 because I have not tasted any, US tariffs likely to go away next year and my age.

34

Chassagne and Cardeuse. But, I confess I didn’t pay attention to the fact that this thread is limited to red wines when I posted [smileyvault-ban.gif]

35

Me too!

36

easy at ex-cellar pricing! But you deserve it.

37

You’re not loading up on Coche reds? newhere

38

Actually I did buy some red Meursault and some Volnay 1er Cru! Wish I could have had some MonthĂ©lie as well. RaphaĂ«l is really good with reds. I didn’t taste any of the 2018s yet except the Meursault AOC white, since the second French lockdown intervened and he wanted to postpone, but they are among the few wines that I am happy to buy before I try (if more wines fell into that category, I wouldn’t have had to become a wine critic).

39

I’m sure they’re good! They just wouldn’t be first on my list for red Burgundy :slight_smile:

40

Artist’s rendition of William Kelley and me: [drinkers.gif]