WTN: Côte Rôtie mini vertical and two Rieslings

Had some friends over for wine, cheese, and truffle oil & pignoli salad. The centerpiece was a mini-vertical of 96, 97, and 98 Jean-Michel Gerin Côte Rôtie Les Grandes Places, with two Rieslings as bookends.

1) Schäfer-Fröhlich Estate Haltbrocken 2006 with DMAS brick (goat’s milk).
Pleasantly citric on the nose, tastes of grapefruit, good balance of acid and sugar, very slightly frizzy, as some Rieslings can be. Should have chosen something drier.
Score: 88

2) Jean-Michel Gerin Côte Rôtie Les Grandes Places 1996 with Casa da Ovelha Pecorino Toscano (sheep’s milk). Vanillin and cherry on the nose, tastes of black cherry. Good acid-fruit balance, well resolved tannins. Fully mature, beginning to decline, a bit of dowager charm. Score: 89

3) Jean-Michel Gerin Côte Rôtie Les Grandes Places 1997 with Appenzeller Classic Swiss (cow’s milk). Wonderful nose of vanillin, cherry and a touch of barnyard. Taste reminds me of grilled meat, smoky bacon, and pepper. Perfect sugar/acid balance, everything in perfect harmony, a beauty. Has stuffing to age more, but is already in a state of grace.
Score: 94

4) Jean-Michel Gerin Côte Rôtie Les Grandes Places 1998 with Président Brie (cow’s milk). Good nose of cherry and, yes, wet dishrag. Taste reminds me again of grilled meats and pepper. Delicious, but slightly more acid than fruit at this stage, making me prefer the 1997 (two friends voted for this as wine of the evening, while five voted for the 1997).
Score: 92

5) Mönchhof Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese 2006 with Serra das Antas Pont L’Évêque (cow’s milk). Nose of grapefruit and honey. Rich tastes of citrus, lemons, peach, and apricot. Minutely frizzy. Excellent but, at this point, slightly more sweet than acid, preventing it from being fully satisfying (especially compared to the Prüm Ausleses that are my benchmark).
Score: 90

The Rieslings turned out to be less than inspiring choices as bookends, but the second and third Côte Rôties really sang, and are highly recommended.

Favorite quip of the evening: “Bill Gates is the Robert Parker of the world.”

Favorite quip of the evening: “Bill Gates is the Robert Parker of the world.”
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"I went on a rigorous diet that eliminated alcohol, fat and sugar. In two weeks, I lost 14 days." Tim Maia, Brazilian singer-songwriter.

Those are two great quotes.

Thanks, Oswaldo, for further evidence to convince the doubters that many beautiful wines were produced in France in 1997.

Thanks, Oswaldo, for further evidence to convince the doubters that many beautiful wines were produced in France in 1997.

Interesting comment, Tim. I'd question whether "many" applies to '97. My take on it is that it was a very good year in the N. Rhone, but overshadowed by '99, but elsewhere (Bdx, S. Rhone) it mostly produced lighter, early-drinking red wines. White wines, however, were another story: good year in the Loire and Alsace. Where the controversy might exist is in red Burgundy, with Mr. Parker and his followers touting '97 as a good year, whereas most Burgundy lovers I know feel that the wines aren't ageworthy and are (for the most part) falling apart now.

Mark Lipton

Thanks, Oswaldo, for further evidence to convince the doubters that many beautiful wines were produced in France in 1997.

Interesting comment, Tim. ... most Burgundy lovers I know feel that the wines aren't ageworthy and are (for the most part) falling apart now.

Mark, I guess those comments sum up what he meant by "doubters." I'm all for repeating conventional wisdom, but having (and seeking) fortunate opportunities to revisit 1997 and other recent Burgundy vintages in the glass, I sometimes must revise my understanding from first-hand data, as recently reported Here. (Likewise with the new 2005 reds in bottle. I hope to post more on that once I gather the notes from the growing body of group blind tastings we've done of them, eight or so to date.)


(Note: My comment above reflects independent tasting and neither was aware of, nor should be misconstrued as generally defending, Mr Parker or his followers. Most wine I buy based on blind-tasting it first.)

Interesting comment, Tim. ... most Burgundy lovers I know feel that the wines aren't ageworthy and are (for the most part) falling apart now.

Mark, I guess those comments sum up what he meant by "doubters." I'm all for repeating conventional wisdom, but having (and seeking) fortunate opportunities to revisit 1997 and other recent Burgundy vintages in the glass, I sometimes must revise my understanding from first-hand data, as recently reported Here. (Likewise with the new 2005 reds in bottle. I hope to post more on that once I gather the notes from the growing body of group blind tastings we've done of them, eight or so to date.)

Max,
When I wrote those words, I was thinking of your recent post regarding '97s as the lone outlier of the recent spate of posts I've read on '97s. Most others have been very disappointed by what they found in the bottle, but you have found some very worthwhile wines. Now, rereading what I wrote: do you feel I erred when saying that "some controversy may exist"?

Mark Lipton

Mark,

Re 1997:

Even in Bordeaux and S. Rhône, I have had a few lovely bottles of 1997 red, e.g. Poujeaux and Clos des Papes, although I think that any remainder of these should be drunk soon. N. Rhône was broadly successful. Burgundy was patchy but the best are beautiful as Max reports. Loire made good reds in a rather atypical style.

Some white burgundies turned out better than expected but in general I have been less happy with 1997's low acid dry whites, particularly a weird Savennières Clos de Coulaine and a lot from Weinbach in Alsace, as I have reported elsewhere. However the last bottle opened of Riesling showed some glimmers of complexity coming through, so redemption may emerge.

particularly a weird Savennières Clos de Coulaine

I think that's just a weird wine. 1997 notwithstanding.

Re 1997:

Even in Bordeaux and S. Rhône, I have had a few lovely bottles of 1997 red, e.g. Poujeaux and Clos des Papes, although I think that any remainder of these should be drunk soon. N. Rhône was broadly successful. Burgundy was patchy but the best are beautiful as Max reports. Loire made good reds in a rather atypical style.

There's nothing there that I would disagree with. The larger point, which I am fairly certian both you and Max subscribe to, is that broad generalizations about vintages overlook the reality that talented and dedicated producers can make memorable wines in weak/challenging years whereas indifferent producers can make lousy wine in a banner year. As Kermit Lynch has repeatedly pointed out, the "vintage chart" mentality will fail to discover all the lovely wines made in an "off" year.

Mark Lipton

p.s. I've had a number of good Savennieres from '97, including those from Baumard and Closel, but I was looking at the cuvée normales and not the top of the line wines, for which expectations are logically higher.

Added in edit: I suppose that the reason I responded to you in the first place is that to use "many" in the context of beautiful wines produced in France in '97 seemed misguided. Indeed, there were beautiful wines produced then, but so too were there in every other vintage of the '90s: in '91, the N. Rhone excelled and Chablis and Beaujolais were OK; in '92, it was White Burgundy (and Chablis) and the Right Bank; in '93, Red Burgundy, Alsace and the Loire did well, etc. If your point was simply to dispute those who dismiss '97 entirely, then I agree 100%.

Interesting comment, Tim. ... most Burgundy lovers I know feel that the wines aren't ageworthy and are (for the most part) falling apart now.

Max, Most others have been very disappointed by what they found in the bottle, but you have found some very worthwhile wines. [Emph. added]

Here are remarks from the recent 1997 thread I cited.

Tim York: I have been lucky so far in opening [1997] bottles which give a lot of pleasure in a hedonistic vein but with enough acidity to prevent their being soggy

CMMiller: I'm with you, I have enjoyed a number of 1997s for pretty much the same reason ...

David Lole: I reviewed two [1997] Jadot 1er Crus from N-S-G and Beaune for last month's Jadot theme in Wine Focus. Both were excellent with the "Damodes" having at least a ten year drinking window and the "Couchereaux" probably another five. Both wines scored 90 points. ...

Jason Hagen: I have enjoyed many of the 97 I have tried. I also enjoyed some of the prices I paid.

Dale Williams: I'm not a particular fan of 1997, but as always in Burgundy it comes down more to producer for me. I also quite enjoyed the Clos de la Bussiere, though it was clearly too young 3-4 years ago. I went through quite a few of Roumier's village Chambolle (and Mugnier's, also) that I really enjoyed. Lafarge's village Volnay was good, too. I'd much rather have a '97 from a producer I like than a '99 from a producer I don't. ... I've also really enjoyed the '97 Roumier Musigny, and the Mugnier was no slouch last month.

[Now, rereading what I wrote: do you feel I erred when saying that "some controversy may exist"?

No, but what I'm responding to is rather "most Burgundy lovers I know feel that the wines aren't ageworthy and are (for the most part) falling apart now" and "you have found some very worthwhile wines." In the context of the only immediate data points here: the testimonials above.

I'm not even sure it's controversy, if controversy implies disputes over the same data. Folks I see remarking about good 1997s have had recent tasting experiences contradicting what most people (including maybe they) assumed before these experiences. I tasted many 97s when new; noted lack of acid; bought some anyway. Until recent experiences, I held the standard view. (Summarized in the 97 thread.) "Soft, ripe, and early-maturing." It may be true in general. Recent reports I saw here contradicted that view though, thus my questioning if it is too broad a brush for practical painting.

Oswaldo,
thanks for the excellent notes. Only Gerin I own is the '96 you gave me, I'll move it to drinking queue.

I don't know anyone who would dispute that there were many beautiful wines produced in France in 1997. But for the areas I drink most I'd say for my experience there were less I would call beautiful than in most years (exception is probably the Loire). I've had a lot of pleasant 1997 Bordeaux, but none profound (actually, the Poujeaux '97 is one of the greatest overachievers I've had- EVERYONE loves that wine). I'm not looking for any more (well, actually I did split a case of '97 Lagrange St Julien this week, but because I had tried and liked, and prices was right- $190/cs). As to Burgundy, while Max quoted me about several '97s I liked, I think he left out the part where I'd rather have the '99s of any of the wines l listed.

For the most part I tend to look at producer first, then vintage.
I don't think '97 is a "bad" vintage in Bordeaux or Burgundy, but its not something I would take a flyer on a wine unless I had tried it, or seen notes from someone I trusted praising. That's in contrast to say '93 or '99 Burgundies, '90 or '00 Bdx, '96 Medoc, '98 Right Bank, where if I see a wine at a good price from a producer I like I probably would just buy on faith.