There seems to be a similar ritual every new year… First a lovely celebration to welcome in the new year (hopefully whilst drinking something nice) followed swiftly by the new year’s resolutions.  Item No 1 is usually something along the lines of “eat healthier and exercise more”.  Sounds familiar?  I remembered the last time when I tried to sign up for a new gym membership, the member officer told me that they were full, but to come back in February when their gym is back to ‘normal’ usage levels…

So, who am I to go against the crowd?  After thinking about this in 5 minutes long and hard, I’ve decided the key resolutions of the year should be:

1) Run 10km in 50 minutes 😛 .  It will be interesting to see if I am merely dreaming.

2) Understand wines from different regions more (especially outside France).  For those who have been reading this blog, you may notice that my preference, especially in 2013, was very heavily focused on French wines.  For 2014, I am making it my mission to try different wines and different grape varieties.  Hopefully this will be easier to achieve than than No 1) above.

So, with the resolutions set, it was on to my first wine major wine event for 2014… Burgundy 2012.

Hang on a minute… haven’t I been drinking Burgundy throughout 2013?  That’s completely different to my new year resolutions!

Well, the main reason is that Burgundy En Primeur occurs every January and is the FIRST important tasting event of the calendar year.  Since it occurs at the beginning of the year, I guess my resolutionas should start AFTER this event 😛 .  I think it is widely reported that Burgundy 2012 is in extremely short supply due to the hailstorms which did massive damage to the Cote de Beaune and the wet weather during the growing season, impacting flowering in the Cote de Nuit.  I was actually in Burgundy in June 2012 and can attest that my hired car looked like its been through a rally stage after a few days.  Consequently, supply is significantly down on 2011 (it itself yielding wines  below average volumes).  Given demand for Burgundy is at an all time high (including strong interest from China), there simply isn’t enough wine to go round.  However, Bordeaux 2012 is still widely available with very little interest.

Given the ferocious demand and low supply, prices for Burgundy 2012 have increased significantly.  Some of the wines were priced at over 40% higher than the 2011 vintages but even so, one has to fight for allocation even if one is willng to stomach the price increase.  It is said that most Burgundy wine producers operate on a cost plus model (vs a ‘how much can I charge and get away with it’ model), the price increases are understandable given the extremely low quantities.  Sadly, it is said that Burgundy 2013 is be even smaller than 2012.

BBR usually organizes a wine tasting event where samples were made available for the customers to taste and choose.  This year however, the wines were in such short supply that BBR had to switch it to a masterclass instead.  Since I had an invite, I decided to broaden my Burgundy knowledge and get a glimpse of what I was paying for (but will need to wait a further 10 years before thinking about opening a bottle).

All the wines tasted were barrel samples and bottling is expected to take place 2-5 months down the road.

The tasting was hosted by Jasper Morris and we were very fortunate to have Etienne de Montille (from famous Burgundy house Domaine de Montille) present in HK.  The wines were also barrel samples and flown in.  This was interesting as I do not often get to taste Burgundy from barrel.

There were a selection of 8 whites and 9 red in the 2012 tasting.  To top it off, a further 4 ‘in bottle’ reds were presented as well.

White wines

2012 Pouilly-Fuisse, Terroir de Vergisson, Olivier Merlin

Colour: Pale straw yellow

Nose: coconut, hint of honey, white flowers, a sense of freshness and vibrancy

Taste: light bodied, strong texture but with a good texture

Finish:  15 second finish

Currently, this wine is too acidic (tastes like very sour juice) but this should give it the structure to develop.

2012 Puligny Montrachet, Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet

Colour- very pale straw yellow

Nose: Green apple, oily nose

Taste:  Lovely body and texture, strong acidity providing a good backbone.

Finish: 15 second finish

This wine has the materials to age so it will be interesting to visit this wine in a few years.

2012, Puligny Montrachet, Les Aubues, Jean Claude Bachelet & Fils

Colour: Very clear, pale yellow

Nose: very tightly knit, pear with a hint of spice?

Taste:  Highly acidic, very fruity but it is difficult to pin point the fruit at this moment.

Finish: 10 sec finish

Jasper thinks that this wine had some sulphur added recently, making it very tight.

2012 Meursault, Camille Giroud

This wine is from one plot, Les Crotots.

Colour: Pale yellow

Nose: Green notes, lemon peel and white pear

Taste:  Lovely texture, velvety smoothness with strong acidity

Finish: 15 sec finish

2012 Meursault, Jean Paul Fichet

Colour:  Pale, champagne gold

Nose: butter, white apples, white flowers and fruit

Taste: prickly texture, feels like drinking a rather dry champagne.  Good structure and strong acidity

Finish: 10 sec finish

2012 Chassagne Montrachet, Les Embrazees, 1er cru, Benjamin Leroux

Colour:  Pale honey colour

Nose: Herby freshness, very floral, hint of vanilla and butter

Taste: Acidic, white flowers with a good fruit balance

Finish: 15+ sec finish

2012 Corton Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Sylvain Loichet

Colour: clear straw yellow with good concentration

Nose: Honey, herby nose.  the fruit profile is not developed yet given it is a young wine.

Taste: Oaky and acidic.  It feels relatively light bodied yet concentrated.

Finish: 25 sec finish

A wine that should put on a lot more weight as it develops.

2012, Clos Blanc de Vougeot, 1er Cru, Domaine de la Vougeraie

Colour: Musky and carbonic dull yellow colour.  I guess the cloudy colour is due to the wine being fresh from the barrel.

Nose: Petroleum and oily (typical of this wine).  Lots of fat.  Yellow flowers and fruit

Taste: Very acidic!  Lots of backbone and fruit which gives this wine all the necessary tools to develop into a stunning wine.

Finish: 25 sec finish.

Lovely wine

Red Wines

2012 Beaune Les Pertuisots, 1er Cru, Jean Yves Devevey

Colour: Bright rose red

Nose: vegetal greenenss, plum, red cherries

Taste:  Tannic and slightly acidic

Finish: 15 sec finish

2012, Beaune, Les Greves, 1er Cru, Domaine de Montille

Colour:  Clear bright ruby red

Nose: Cherries, plums, very tannic with the fruit profile currently missing

Finish: 20 sec fin

The tannins are overpowering the fruit at this moment.  It will be interesting to see how trhis wine develops 5 years from now.

2012 Gevrey Chambertin, Benjamin Leroux

Colour: Clear ruby red

Nose: Minerals, hint of limstone and vanilla.  A whiff of mandarin orange (savoury nose)

Taste: Lovely texutre, red fruits with a tannin texture

Finish: 20 Sec finish

2012 Gevrey Chambertin, En Champs, Domaine Gerard Quivy

Colour:  Dark ruby red

Nose: a bit of a clinical nose (as if I had just walked into a pharmacy)

Taste: Lovely plum and red cherries, smooth texture, good fruit intensity

Finish:  a Lovely 20 sec finish

I loved this wine so much I bought a case on the spot.

2012 Vosnse Romanee, Les Haute Maizieres, Domaine Brunio Clavelier

Colour: Clean bright red

Nose: very subdued nose, red fruits

Taste:  Godd medium weight, acidic and a hint of vosne spice.

Finish: 20 sec finish

2012, NSG, Clos de Thorey, 1er Cru, Domaine de la Vougeraie

Niose: very fresh, red fruits, strawberries and a good perfume

Taste: Lovely velvety texture, red fruitsm hint of wine gums.  Strong tannins with a lovely balance

Finish: 25 sec fin.

2012 Corton, Clos du Roi, Camille Giroud

Nose:  red fruits, red cherries with a hint of black cherries

Taste:  Lovely perfume and balance.  Strong tannins with the fruit coming at the after taste

Finish: 20 sec finish.

This wine is waaay too young to taste now and needs at least 10 years to age.

2012, Clos du Vougeot GC, Sylvain Loichet

Nose: strawberry, red fruits, very floral.  hint of greenness

Taste:  Green stems, good body with strong tannins.  All the fruit seems to be asleep on the palate!

Finish:  25 sec finish

Another wine that should only be drunk 10 years from now.

2012 Latricieres Chambertin GC, Rossignol Trapet

Nose: Lush red fruit, hint of cassis

Taste:  Lovely, velvety texture, smooth with sweet tannins to help the wine develop as it ages

Finish: 25 sec finish

Good fruit weight which I think the fruit will continue to develop over the next 10 years.

I’ve always enjoyed Lat Chams from Rossignol Trapet and the 2012 has a lot of potential!

2009 NSG, Les Allots, Benjamin Leroux

Nose: Red fruits, red cherries

Taste:  Lovely bouquet and texture, fresh fruit

Finish 20 sec

This wine typifies the 2009 vintage which is a realtively fruit forward year.

2007 NSG, Clos Des Agruillieres, Domaine Patrice Rion

I remembered tasting this wine with Patrice Rion when I visited him in 2012.  I did buy a few bottles then so this is some lovely juice!

Nose:  Hint of greenness, red fruits and a lovely perfume

Taste:  Smooth texture, good body and a lovely fruit profile

Finish: 15 sec finish

1999 NSG, Ronciere 1er, Jean Grivot

Colour:  Very dense colour for a wine that is over 14 years, although it is starting to fade a little

Nose: Lovely dried strawberries, red fruits, hint of spice

Taste: Good texture and perfume, lovely balance, still strong tannnins with a lovely after taste.

Finish: 25 sec finish.

1988 NSG, Les Boudots, 1er Cru, Jean Grivot

Colour:  Amber red brick colour

Nose: Lovely dark and red fruits.  Orange zest like cognac.

Taste:  Lovely red fruits and savoury fruits.  Smooth texture with all the tannins gone.

Finish:  20 sec finish

This is a lovely wine and is drinking nicely now!

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt from the tasting is that tasting Burgundy EP is very difficult as the wines are generally too acidic (white) and too tanninc (red).  However, iot is interesting to see the evolution of these one.  One thing for sure is that Burgundy 2012 wines are lovely but the good ones need at least 5-10 years before they enter their drinking window.

OK, now back to my new year’s resolutions…