Saturday, January 17, 2009

2005 Jean Michel Guillon Bourgogne Rouge

Had this wine first today at a tasting at CoolVines Princeton, and it just didn't stand a chance in comparison to the other Burgundy they were tasting. This was wine number one, and it seemed very closed down on the nose. Some classic hints of Burgundy, but now WOW FACTOR, but this could also be a very young wine, and might still need time to settle down. Regardless, if you are going to pop one now, I would suggest a 3-4 hour decant, at cellar temp is possible, then allow it to warm up in the glass. I don't remember much about the nose other than some strawberry and cigar box, but I do remember some strawberry on the palate. The finish was smooth, but nothing to write home about, and had nicely integrated tannin. In my opinion, this wine might be in a weird closed phase, and could benefit from a few years in the bottle. Drink 2012 plus, or decant for a few hours. 85 points. Cheers!

5 comments:

WineGuyMark said...

It's an '05 - a BIG year for Burgundy, so even this regional (non-appellation) has some serious age-worthiness. some of the bottles we've opened seem ready sooner than others, but i don't disagree in the benefits of aerating.

NJFoodies said...

2005 is definitely a great year for Burgundy, and more than likely the "vintage of the decade," but you never know what the rest of the vintages will be like. '02 was a great year as well. Next time we stop in I'll have to pick a few of these up to cellar as I'd be curious to see how this wine develops over time. It really is amazing what a little time in a decanter can do for a young wine. And has hokie as it might be, I think that the Vinturi might actually help some too! Thanks for the comments on here thus far Mark, and keep them coming! Love what you guys are doing over there at CoolVines! Awesome store, with great stuff that you won't find anywhere else! Love it!

Unknown said...

I used this wine for a Food and Wine of France tasting dinner on Friday and the wine was great- it was a bit closed down when I opened it, but an hour and a half later it was singing and it exploded with an unusual pairing of a warm red cabbage salad with bacon, dried cherries and goat cheese. Everyone loved it and to me it was the wine pairing of the night! Cheers!

NJFoodies said...

Thanks for the comments Lee Ann, and that is what is hard about going to tastings. The pours are limited, as expected, and you just don't have that rest of the bottle to give it time, and to revisit over the course of a few hours. Regardless, we're thankful that CoolVines is so generous, and features such great wines at their tastings. It gives us an opportunity to try wines, and makes you wonder enough how they are going to develop to buy them. Great business strategy for them, as well as a great opportunity for us to try some great vino before we buy. Their philospohy has definitely worked with us as we have picked up quite a few bottles that we have tried in store. Just another reason this is such a great hobby! We definitely look forward to revisiting this wine in a few years, and thanks to CellarTracker, we'll be able to compare notes from the first time we had this wine. What a fun hobby!

NJFoodies said...

Well, I picked up 2 of these on Friday night, and we'll cellar one for 3 years, and who knows how long we'll let the other one sit. This will be yet another fun experiment, and I had to document it here to remember when I should pop a cork on one of these. We'll see!