Next: Ubiquitous Grand Crus comparatives

How do Clos Vougeot and Echezeaux sound to you? How many of us know how to spot one when we taste one? Or are these fairly vast and 'common' grand crus not deserving of their elevated status...?

And so it's probably apt that we try to do a comparative for these some time down the road. I'd suggest that we don't have to stick to a single vintage and let's do either or both sittings of Clos Vougeot and/or Echezeaux. By that I don't mean to mix the two, but if we want we can do a session for each. There might be some advantages to do this free-and-easy tasting. One is that we can see how the vintage and producer variation affect the wines. Secondly we can, in a fuzzy way, capture the wines at the different stage of their evolution.

What say you all?

Vosne Super 1ers Tasting: Take 1

This is part of the series of serious terroir studies of burgundy. The whole idea is really to appreciate the promises each famed Vosne 1er cru communes brings. This is also to take a break from the more easily conceivable concept of grand cru comparison. Of course, it would be very special to muse over Richebourg, La Romanee, St. Vivant, La Tache, etc, but I believe Vosne-Romanee as a villages contain many gems even at the next level. There should also be some distinctiveness between each of them. Famed vineyards such as Cros Parantoux, Brulees, Reignots, Malconsorts, Gaudichots, Suchots... are all respected names. In the hands of good producers, they should be special and show individuality and class.

Of course we cannot provide each example from one single producer, but we should certainly try taste them within a single vintage -- if possible. Again, while this is supposed to be academic, my personal wish is that none of us breaks our backs and/or banks just to compile the lineup. The key is, I suggest, to stick to 1998. As we all know this vintage is more or less drinking now (exceptions of course apply), is logistically possible to obtain and feature, and particularly for Vosne, is a tricky vintage -- according to Tanzer, many Vosne wines (including those from Flagey-Echezeaux) of this year suffer from dry tannins. So my theory is that in the hands of the better producers, the wines should not display these flaws. A true test, if you may...

To rehash what I've already stated above, let's try to amass these:
VR Les Suchots (e.g., Arnoux's, Cacheux's, Grivot's, Girardin's...)
VR Les Gaudichots (e.g., Forey's, Potel's...)
VR Les Petit Monts (e.g., Drouhin's, Forey's...)
VR Cros Parantoux (e.g., Rouget's, Meo-Camuzet's, Jayer's...)
VR Les Brulees (e.g., Meo-Camuzet's, Leroy's, Grivot's, Engel's...)
VR Aux Reignots (e.g., Bouchard's, Arnoux's...)
VR Malconsorts (e.g., Cathiard's, Girardin's, Noellat's...)
VR Les Chaumes (e.g., Grivot's, Arnoux's, Rion's...)

The tasting doesn't have to be big -- a few good bottles shd be good enough -- and they don't have to squarely fall into those I had suggested. I am sure there are many other worthy Vosne 1ers I have missed out. Also, I expect the attending group would be smallish -- much like the recent time -- but it should be good enough. The key is interest and passion and observance. In the absence of 1998 version of the wines, I'd suggest vintage 1995 or 2000 counterparts.

ps: much as I suggest these, I'm quite ashamed I don't have any of these -- at least not in the vintage(s) suggested...