oxidised white burgundy again

Last nights wine club tasting

welcoming wine was:- Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru La Truffiere Michel Colin Deleger 1999

deepgold and oxidised

second bottle fetched from cellar, pale straw, dumb nose with early oxidative hints. Finished short.

We are talking GBP 40 a bottle wines here, very worrying.

Did any of you read the article by Clive Coates in Decanter recently?

It seems to be a problem with all growers even Lafon.

is it sulphur or cork failure?

Reply to
John T
Loading thread data ...

Explanations have ranged from peroxide being used to clean corks, substandard corks, excessive batonnage, low sulphur, etc. No one knows for sure. My solution is to buy mostly low-end white Burg (Bourgognes from Pernot and Matrot, some St Aubin, etc) and drink young. Sorry re your bottle!

Reply to
DaleW

John, As Dale says, the explanations for this widely observed phenomenon (even vignerons are now owning up to the problem) are many, but the best informed opinions I've heard suggest that it was a combination of a trend to use less sulfur in the bottling and the residual presence of the recently introduced hydrogen peroxide to cleanse corks (thereby avoiding cork taint, but at what cost?). The problem first cropped up in the '96 vintage and people are anxiously watching more recent vintages to see if the problem has sorted itself out. From your description, it doesn't sound likely. A good source of information about this problem is the website

formatting link
On that site, you'll see that, of the three people who've tried the same wine as you, two have encountered problems with premature oxidation [sic].

I haven't seen the Coates article. Is it available on Decanter's website?

My greatest sympathies, Mark Lipton (never so glad that he can't afford White Burgundy)

Reply to
Mark Lipton

Mark, here is a precis

Latest News

Cork to blame for premature Burgundy oxidation says Coates February 21, 2007

Oliver Styles

Poorly-performing corks are the main culprits behind prematurely aged white Burgundy, says Clive Coates MW.

Writing in a forthcoming feature for Decanter magazine, the Burgundy guru says that changes in the way corks are produced have led to poorer wine isolation and oxidisation.

Coates was prompted to examine the phenomenon following an inexplicable and seemingly random spate of oxidised white Burgundies from the late 1990s - in particular the 96, 97 and 98 vintages.

He was forced to reject several bottles due to oxidation, including wines by Etienne Sauzet, Noel Ramonet, Comtes Lafon and Bonneau du Martray.

'The growers were just as puzzled as we were,' says Coates. 'And, being concerned, were all too happy to share their experiences.'

Coates admits that there are many possible reasons for premature oxidation including certain winemaking techniques such as battonage [the stirring of the lees in the barrel] and reduced sulphur content.

However, he says, poor corks are the main culprits.

'Traditionally, corks were produced using chlorine-based bleaches, and coated with paraffin,' he says. 'Fears of TCA [cork taint] led to these two being replaced by peroxide, a powerful oxidant, and silicone, which some argue allows more oxygen back through the cork.'

To backup his findings, Coates points to top Chablis producer Raveneau, which covers the cork and bottle neck with sealing wax, and is one of the few domaines which did not experience oxidation problems.

He does admit however that the period did produce some vintages that were not for laying down.

'Frankly, anyone who is still hanging on to their 1997s and 1998s is a fool,' he says.

But, says Coates, recent vintages are showing no signs of premature oxidation and it seems the problem has been solved. He pointed to a recent

140-bottle tasting of 2002 grand crus containing 'no hint of oxidation' or 'tiredness'.

The full feature, The Curious Incident of the Oxidised White Burgundy, will appear in the April issue of Decanter magazine, out on 7 March.

begin 666 spacer.gif K1TE&.#EA`0`!`( ``````````"'Y! $`````+ `````!``$```("1 $`.P`` ` end

begin 666 rss-icon.gif M1TE&.#EA+@`/`-4``/____ST[_GDTM_?W_?9Q/')J.Z[?.ZVB_ZT)?2S2?.J M;/ZG&>.;=NJ@-/^:$_B52_Z4,.629?R3!^^3#YV=G?J&!M.*3-^&'NQ](NU\ M!-5U0_QO`-9Q#M=B(>A8`LM)!;Y,```````````````````````````````` M```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` M`````````````````````````````````"'Y! `'`/\`+ `````N``\```;_ M0,"E02P:CTBC90!H7B;0J'0)X' 0V*QVR]5:0$RKH4!.;+\#4%?K@+@K%0?< M#8%7$" *0&UH-@5F67D@"PM^``$'A1 "APH5C(X."WE["PT6%@>-``:%E!2$ MA@`,# $`$0Z-#!H1!0P>JZVO&:"6"U"X!Z>>H" .#DT?'@JD'DT6'LH=QP#) MRQD.E;\3?PH3#:

Reply to
John T

I don't normally see 1999 White Burgundies oxidized. How was the storage?

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

impeccable bought en-primeur and stored in the cellar of a Georgian house

Reply to
John T

Hello, I have encountered the problem several times - the first were the Ladoix Serrigny 1996 of the Dom Launay (now, alas, defunct). At the time, I thought their slight sherry tone was intentional, but, not so. Lter, bottles from Boucher P&F both from '96 and '98 were oxidised. The alst one was a Haut Cote de Beaune from Lucien Jacob - drinkable but no more.

One producer that we have never had any problems with is (and I know I repeat myself) Coche-Bizouard of Meursault. They claim that they have no such problems, though being aware that other producers do - our experience with their wines, from bottom to top, bears this out.

HTH

Cheers

Nils

Reply to
Nils Gustaf Lindgren

It's because you're buying F_____ merd....

Reply to
UC

Reply to
gerald

"gerald" skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

wELL - Coche-Bizouard, obviously.

Cheers

Nils

Reply to
Nils Gustaf Lindgren

"Nils Gustaf Lindgren" wrote in news:FNaxi.6326$ snipped-for-privacy@newsb.telia.net:

FWIW Verget bottles in Stelvin these days.

Reply to
Joseph Coulter

meddelandetnews: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

But Nils, are you sure that Coche-Bizouard is immune? The problem seems most clear with '95 & '96, but there are quite a few reports on pre-ox in a lot of '99s now (I think '97 & '98 too, but those were less likely to be cellared). Lafon was almost the only producer where I didn't hear reports, but now John says he also had issues.

Reply to
DaleW

I cannot, of course. I just am very partial to C-B, and have not had any problems with any of their wines. Besides, every so often, I like to be extremely opinonated and categorical. It is so refreshingly un-Swedish.

Cheers

Nils

Reply to
Nils Gustaf Lindgren

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.