Your scribe continues to be amazed by the importance of knowing your Burgundy vintages. Yes we know wine is an agricultural product made from grapes with a variation in results from year to year. Of course there is the annual ritual hype of the brand new vintage but older ones tend to be forgotten. Yet lately we see more emphasis placed on two other important factors for top quality wine being the place and the producer. We are being “terroired” to death with detailed information from around the world of where the grapes are grown, the unique soils and the now ideal micro-climate with global change. Also you just have to check the recent wine auction results to see the continuing rise in successful very high bids for the famous name producers we all know. However vintage is a third most important consideration in finding yourself that amazing aged bottle. Our IWFS Vintage Card 2020 is a valuable resource rating vintages from 2018 back to 1998 with many wine regions included. Their highest rating is 7/7 with red Burgundy divided between Cote de Beaune (7’s: 2009, 2005) and Cote de Nuits (7’s: 2015, 2010, 2009, 2005, and 1999). Admire the work done by Allen D. Meadows and Douglas E. Barzelay in their impressive tome Burgundy Vintages A History from 1845 with an amazing Vintage Guide rating years up to 2015 with 1 to 5 stars. They awarded “Superb – among the best of the century” 5’s recently to only 2015, 2005,1999,1978 and 1962. Lots of 4’s for “Excellent -many very fine and even some great wines were made” plus a special 4 1/2 given for 2010. 
Vintage has been clearly focused in my mind this past month being fortunate to drink some older Burgundy cellar treasures from the eighties. Some tough difficult years in that decade including often moldy 1983s. 1988 seems to be ever improving if they have enough fruit left to match that more austere styling we don’t see with current vintages. Certainly the best are 1985 and 1990 both classic years. Finding 1985 more charming and consistent though 1990 has riper power. Tried several Domaine wines of Thomas-Moillard Nuits-St.-Georges Clos De Thorey 1990 & 1985 and Clos De Vougeot & Corton Clos du Roi both 1990. Also their Negociant ones of Bonnes-Mares 1990 &  Charmes-Chambertin 1990. All were quite good but the most enjoyable one of all with a surprisingly complex bouquet plus young fresh fruit structure was 1985 Echezeaux from “mis en bouteille par Moillard” (better even than the same 1990 wine tried last year). Nirvana of brilliant velvety texture you search for in a top Echezeaux paired perfectly with an organic fresh chicken dish plus sweet potatoes, fennel & freekeh. All this can be because of bottle variation but believe that the dependable 1985 vintage as well had lots to do with it!  

Another delight this week was an old bottle of 1990 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchere Monopole from Jean Boillot et Fils (Volnay). Another good vintage choice for whites but am having more dependable success generally with 1985 & 1986 without pre-mox. This bottle carried exciting nostalgic memories with it being invited by the late Michael Broadbent to join him for a wine tasting in London October 1993 for his selection of wines for British Airways. I admired Michael’s intense dedication and note taking while searching out the very best wines at the tasting. We both liked the young elegant steeliness and perfect balance of this wine – they kindly later gave me this bottle. Now opened perhaps too late some 27 years later it was stupendous nonetheless in a different way showing the glory of a rich ripe smooth honey flavoured yet still balanced beauty to match with fresh black cod (sablefish) course at dinner. Vintage was important here for white Burgundy too!

Question: Friends say never decant an old burgundy.  How old does a burgundy have to be so you do this, or do you never decant a burgundy, regardless of age?

Answer: Yes this continues to be a debatable question with strong views. Burgundy tends to be more delicate and fragile than most other wines. You don’t see a lot of decanting when you visit Burgundy but their normal routine is slowly changing. Chardonnay can be closed and often reductive at first so usually it helps to open them up with decanting – especially younger ones. Pinot Noir is an even more difficult decision – especially older ones. Certainly you don’t want to leave those best early impressions of your Burgundy wine for the decanter. On the other hand you don’t want to disturb any sediment with a repeated pouring action resulting in a cloudy hazy appearance in your wine with less velvety textures. Sometimes we pour all the wine out directly into all the glasses in one continuous pour which can work quite well too. Firmly believe you should be able to slowly pour an old red Burgundy (of any age) into a decanter just immediately before service without undue air exposure thereby obtaining the clearest bright true colour of the wine plus smoothest mouthfeel. You soon will be swirling that poured wine glass and getting the initial best first impression of the wine and also have the opportunity to see how it develops. Your scribe always decants all Burgundy immediately before service. However, this is a personal decision and you should decide what you prefer. Certainly different opinions are out there making for an interesting discussion.

During these stressful weeks of this continuing pandemic your scribe has been showing restaurant support with takeaway food orders. Fast staples like pizza are still popular as usual but top flight food choices are also available. The IWFS Vancouver Branch has scheduled on December 10th their Annual Holiday Dinner this year “Boulevard At Home” a four course extravaganza prepared by a talented restaurant brigade led by Alex Chen.

A couple of my takeout dinners that stood out this past week include: 

JOEY RESTAURANT GROUP: Like their motto of “We are committed to the highest quality” with the execution of food orders sampled being impressive indeed. Executive Chef Chris Mills and his talented culinary & service team are on a roll. Used pick-up in the past but took advantage this time of early December free delivery promotion offered. The course arrived at the scheduled time hot and delicious. The dish was oven roasted wild Pacific cod steamed & crispy rice, snap peas, cauliflower,Thai peanut coconut curry sauce paired well with full rich aged 2014 CedarCreek Platinum Viognier brought up in a 660 litre concrete egg. 

L’ABATTOIR: Chef-Owner Lee Cooper orchestrated a pick-up dinner for our Group dining via Zoom. BC Wine Institute after three intensive competitions just awarded their inaugural title of Wines of BC Top Sommelier 2020 to Andrew Forsyth of L’Abattoir. Choice of main course of roasted venison loin or Ocean trout with detailed final preparation instructions that all worked so successfully. Preceded by smoked oysters with apple & horseradish + remarkable pasta course filled with Dungeness crab tomato sauce & fine herbs + finishing dessert of ginger cake with lemon glaze. Trout matched well with 2009 Savigny-Les-Beaune Les Guettes Blanc Domaine Gagey Louis Jadot. Recommend supporting your own local restaurants as a holiday treat with pick-up or delivery options during these difficult times. A win-win situation for both your own enjoyment and helping the struggling hospitality industry!

Question: What is happening with tariffs by China on Australian wines?

Answer: Trade tariffs on wine have been around for a long time. Last Fall USA imposed 25% (threatened to 100%) on still wines under 14 alcohol from France, Germany & Spain. With climate change you now can find imported Sancerre with higher than usual 14.1 alcohol to avoid this tariff and help lower American prices. However on November 28 China imposed tariffs ranging from 107% to 212% on Australian wine imports. According to Wine Australia China is their biggest wine export market at 39% of total exports by value. Remember that China has a rapidly expanding domestic wine production industry. Interesting to see the immediate strong ground swell of world political support for Australia against China’s alleged “authoritarian bullying”. Already a campaign has been launched to spur the world (including non-drinkers) to buy Australian wine during December as a sign of protest. This tariff war may have more far reaching universal impact than any other one and is worth monitoring closely.

Your scribe is pleased with the continuation of the present opportunity at home to taste older wines. Always amazed at how well-cellared high quality Bordeaux seems to last forever. Sure they don’t have the immediate big fresh ripe accessible fruit of the last three vintages of 2018-2020 but provide something more three dimensional in complexity with particular brilliance for food pairing. It must be a combination of terroir factors led by the remarkable magical trio balance of fruit acid and tannins that make this all possible. These observations were commented on in a previous Blog here on July 27, 2020 of “Looking Back 50 Years to 1970 Bordeaux.” However most of us don’t have that chance to try such old wines but there are other “younger” aged wines that are doing just fine thank you and available for purchase at prices comparable to current releases. A good example is 1986. This vintage has been mostly unpopular and rather unapproachable until recently – particularly in the most successful ACs of St. Julien & Pauillac. They now are opening up nicely onto an exquisite plateau of enjoyment. Almost all the chateaux in those two appellations are singing. Last week was a surprise by the dramatic change in 1986 Château Leoville Poyferre which had been rather closed dull tannic and simple on yearly previous tries but now has opened rounded out and so delicious with roasted duck leg. Predicted this correctly about 1986 in my Leoville Poyferre vertical posted here on January 23, 2017. Recommend buying some of those classic 2016 Bordeaux from various appellations at all price levels to enjoy and to follow their progression with aging. 

My enthusiasm for raising this topic yet again was an outstanding bottle treat on the weekend of 1981 Château Margaux. Remember ordering a case of this in New York at $30.25/bottle and picking it up on my way to the airport in May 1984. Not allowed to pay for it by credit card in those days and had only enough cash left to capture 7 bottles (left the other 5 for a lucky friend living in NY) in the good old days of liberal hand luggage to fly on to Vancouver. Well stored since the wine is still a young vibrant red colour with a brilliant so complex bouquet on a perfect plateau of enjoyment with juicy roasted chicken. This wine has to be the best wine of the vintage and my hearty congrats to the Mentzelopoulos family from those early days. Most consumers say drink this up including our own knowledgeable IWFS member John Danza who posted on cellartracker: “The palate has lots of red fruit, tobacco, with good acidity and moderate tannins. Definitely fully mature, and one to not buy to hold. Drink up.”  Aged bottles will vary and some of us like well matured drier wines more than others but believe me this 1981 Château Margaux was fantastic claret and will remain IMHO on this perfect plateau for quite a while yet! Appreciate older Bordeaux.