WTN: 2005 Jean-Paul Thevenet Morgon Vieilles Vignes

[David M. Bueker]

2005 Jean-Paul Thevenet Morgon Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon (6/12/2008)
If Beaujolais were made in a rustic cellar in Gigondas this would be the resulting wine. There's lots of berry and cherry fruit, but also herbs and the distinct aromas of old leather, sweaty saddle and well-fertilized earth. While I happen to like the overall impression, this is not exactly what I am looking for in Beaujolais.

Sounds like a pleasant surprise!

[David M. Bueker]

Sounds like a pleasant surprise!

Depends on what you are looking for.

I was going to say this sounded like the perfect refreshing wine antidote to a riesling-addled palate.

Until the brett that is.

Seems to have been a problem for Thevenet in 2005. And I guess other years as well.

I'm curious David, as to whether you have tasted other vintages of this wine, and if so, what you thought of them. I have a bottle of 2006 in my cellar (that I mail-ordered from the Wine Library Store because it's so hard to find the more obscure Beaujolais labels locally.) I may well get into it soon. Or maybe I'll let it age a bit.

I have a bottle of 2006 in my cellar..

I don't think I've tasted the 06, but, just so you know, brett is not an uncommon problem with Thevenet.

[David M. Bueker]

I have not tasted the 2006. I do have a magnum of it though. We'll see...

I don't think I've tasted the 06, but, just so you know, brett is not an uncommon problem with Thevenet.

I am not brett intolerant, but would you say this suggests drinking now rather than later? Do the brett flavors intensify with aging, or mellow, or stay the same?

[David M. Bueker]

I've never seen them do anything but get more intense.

I've never seen them do anything but get more intense.

Plus, whatever fruit may have been balancing the bretty flavors in the young wine will not last forever. This is high-toned Beaujolais afterall.

Which also explains why Thevenet with a few years of age often finds its way to retailers' Bargain Bins.

That said, I have loved some of their wines in the past, and I'm not a huge brett fan. I guess I just got lucky.