Another Weekend, Another Salon des Vins, Part Two

I learned at this Salon from the Chef Cousin and from tasting that one of the great differences in domains is not from where the grapes come as many domains share the same parcelles, nor is it how they pick the grapes or even how they are handled after that, but when the winemaker put his or her particular skills to work. Do they ‘work’ the juice or the wine? Allowing the fruit to macerate longer will produce a bigger, chewier wine at a younger age. Letting the wine rest alone in casks produces wine that needs time in the bottle to be fully appreciated.

Good examples of 'worked' juice are Domaine Michel Magnien and Domaine Guyon. Michel Magnien is a younger son of a well-known Burgundian family. Négociants, eleveurs, producers, the Magnien have done and do all. The majority of the wine produced by Michel is made from purchased grapes although he does grow some in the Morey Saint Denis appellation. His production is exceedingly well done but has a mature taste even when young that arrives from macerating the fruit longer. The wine is round and filled with fruit. There is no tannin struggling against the fruit so often found in the young wines produced by other Burgundy producers. The Gevrey Chambertin could be best described as 'big and jammy,' not a positive remark in my mind.

Domain Guyon is a similar producer who is a supplier of the Chef Cousin. Guyon, located in Vosne-Romanée, produces wines from that area - Gevrey, Vosne, Nuits-St-George, and an Echezeaux Grand Cru that in 1999 received a 91-93 from Robert Parker (which just goes to show that Parker likes his Burgundy too young). The Chef Cousin buys several of Guyon's wines because there are people, in addition to Parker, who like Burgundy younger and for the price at Guyon one can buy very round, balanced, full, ready to drink wine from very known appellations.

At this point we found ourselves not just at another booth of one of the Chef Cousin’s suppliers, but behind their counter, holding glasses and bottles. So much for sip and spit! It was Domaine Dubois, a family domain making excellent wines. It was a pleasure to taste so many of Dubois’ reds at one time. I have now purchased some of them to put down for a few years. The structure of the 05’s probably will survive many more years of cellaring than the same wine from a different year. The problem is, however, the year is so good I am afraid I will want to open the bottles sooner rather than later. Their Chorey-les-Beaune and Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Clos de Guettes were particularly good. We were drinking 2002 and 2005 Chorey and 2003 and 2005 Savigny. Again, the difference was striking. In comparison, the 2002 and '03 seem almost finished. We also tried an Aloxe-Corton 2002 that had promise and even though the Chef Cousin said no, I think it would improve with time. It maybe noted here that most producers work with one or the other of the wines of Bugundy - either the feminine or the masculine, rarely both, and Dubois is no exception.

2005 is the perfect year in Burgundy. A mythic one like this does not come around often. When it does it is characterized by the balance of fruit, acid, sugar and tannin from the beginning. Naturally, the growing season has to be perfect – not too much rain or sun, or heat or cold – and the harvest cannot be too large (because as we all remember, right, dear Audience, the production amounts are limited by law for Grand and Premier Cru and smaller harvest yields mean more concentrated juice). An interesting effect of the legal limitations to production is that excess juice from Grand and Premier Cru grapes is not wasted, but is allowed to ‘trickle down’ (forgive the pun) into village appellations and even Bourgogne Blanc and Pinots, improving the quality of all wine produced that year.

After our little drinking spell at the Dubois stand, we headed across the exposition floor in search of sandwiches, not, as you might imagine, stale white bread with iceberg lettuce and meat product sandwiches, but fresh pate and cheeses on baguette. Mmmm, even le sandwich has been improved by the French Touch! We did eat standing, so not French, and wandered around this section ogling the produits de terroir for sale here – much honey and jam – as well as the wine accoutrement available – wine glasses, wine refrigerators, wine cellars, and wine insurance! The latter seemed silly until I realized that spending a upwards of 100 euros per bottle adds up quickly in a several thousand bottle cellar, not to mention that replacement costs are always higher than when purchased young.

We plunged back in to the fray, tasting at numerous stands, some good, some not, some memorable, some not. Sadly, some were memorable for the disappointment. I wanted to try some Rully and found large producer. The young men pouring were certainly charmingly louche but the wine did not match their attractiveness. For the same price, I much preferred the Petit Chablis at Moreau. A positive standout was the Beaune 1er Cru from Domaine Arnoux. Another supplier of the Chef Cousin, Arnoux also had several wines that I found far too tanic. We also tried several reds from Domaine Taupenot-Merme that were delicious, including a Corton Rognet Grand Cru that was wonderful even so young; however, the price was not so 'wonderful' so my bottle stayed at the Salon.

This Salon had wine from all parts of France. Although we concentrated on the Burgundy, we did spend time at two other of the Chef Cousin's suppliers - Domaine des Sanzay from Saumur in the Loire Valley and Domaine de Sainte Anne from Brissac-Quince (of course, everyone knows that is western France, near Anjou). I have tasted many of Sanzay's wines, grace of the Chef Cousin, but they also make several sparkling wines, Méthode Traditionnelle, as they say, which for the price need to be imported immediately into America. One, a Brut 400, was superior to many average Champagnes and greatly cheaper. They also make a sparkling red - one glass is amusing, not more!

The Domaine de Sainte Anne also produces some real suprises. Anjou red is a gamay grape wine that is normally drunk very young. This domain has begun to age some of their wine produced from certain parcelles in oak barrels and after tasting some 2000 and 2005, I was stunned. Rich, complex, well structured wines with great color and beautiful noses for a price that one buys a rosé wine in New York. I must find room for a few of these in the cellar.

Time to leave, time to go home, the guards are circling, but we are still hanging over Sanzay's stand finishing all the open bottles. Thankfully I took notes on the tastings, because I cannot remember how we got home.

Go and imbibe!!