I opened the 2008 Gouges "Les Chaignots" to serve with pork tenderloin (NYT recipe). Far from being the usual big wines that Gouges produces, this was surprisingly light and delicate. Faint cherry and raspberry on the nose as well as the palate. A bit of a disappointment but B/B+ on the DaleScale.
As you may know, '08 was a really difficult vintage in the Cote d'Or. Lots of mold and mildew and producers had to be very vigilant to produce a good wine. I've had really mixed results with the wines from that vintage. It sounds as if Gouges picked before the rains, producing a lighter body but clean wine.
Mark Lipton
Good points. I'll also note the new (4th?) generation took over in 2007, and wines are generally a bit less structured than in past (though certainly still more structured than most)
Mark & Dale Many thanks for your thoughts. I have very little Burgundy left, just
2011 and 2012 Gouges (Vaucrains) and a 2014 Mugnier (Marechale). Over the years I have concentrated on Bordeaux and am gradually reducing my holdings of those. At my age, it is pointless buying wines to lay down and I think Dale would consider my drinking some of my older clarets as infanticide:-)
Graham, I certainly sympathize. At age 64, I am buying very few vins de garde these days as I have a cellar full of wines that will need 15-20 more years to reach maturity and, as much as I love my son, I don't intend to leave a full cellar as part of my estate ;-)
My trends are a mirror-image of your own. Our supply of Bordeaux has dwindled to next to nothing. We just don't drink many these days, and the stylistic and climatic shift in the region as well as skyrocketing prices have also led to a diminution of our claret purchases. Meanwhile, our supply of Pinot Noir from Burgundy and other regions has continued to grow. We now have Pinot Noirs from there, the Jura, Germany, Oregon and New Zealand. Pinot Noir, Gamay and the lighter expressions of Nebbiolo now fit our food preferences better (not to mention white wines and rosés).
As they say, horses for courses ;-)
Mark Lipton
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