WTN Joseph Drouhin Bourgogne Véro 2005

(from 2 Days per Bottle

The little wooden guy is not pleased with this wine. Read on to find out why.



France
Burgundy
Bourgogne
$19.99
12.5% alcohol

The color is very light clear red. The nose opens tart and fruity, sour cherry and strawberries. The fruit sweetens after the initial tartness, smelling candied with brown sugar or maple. There is also just enough of a whiff of earth to tell you it is likely French.

The palate opens all sour fruit, sour cherries and sour strawberries. That sweetens a little on the finish, adding a sense of red licorice. Tannins were slightly drying but smooth.

Will this close down on night two, or will it soften and open up, revealing something other than red fruit? Let us find out together.

NIGHT TWO

Sour cherries and strawberries still lead the nose, but there is also some caramel and some sage. It actually seems, on the nose, to have closed a bit from night one. The palate is still sour cherries, but deeper, a bit richer, with blackberries throw in instead of the sweeter strawberries of the night before. A little Dr. Pepper followed, then a hint of spice. Overwhelmingly, though the sour cherries and blackberries dominated from start to finish, without significant transition to midpalate or finish.

This is a disappointingly one-dimensional wine. Yes, I know, at $19.99 it is practically free by the standards of 2005 Burgundy, but why bother? There are far more interesting wines from other regions for the same amount of scratch.

Thanks for the notes. This is the kind of wine I might try were I not to know any better.

If the little wooden guy is kicking the bottle, I'm staying away!!

[David M. Bueker]

From what I've seen/read, people like Allen Meadows (Burghound) were quite impressed with the value of this wine (don't know score or such). David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate) gave the wine an 89, said it had refreshing brightness & called it a victory for consumers.

From what I've seen/read, people like Allen Meadows (Burghound) were quite impressed with the value of this wine (don't know score or such). David Schildknecht (Wine Advocate) gave the wine an 89, said it had refreshing brightness & called it a victory for consumers.

Having tasted the wine over a two-day period and never getting much out of it beyond the initial impression, I would have to guess those are pure QPR scores, and balanced against, not wine in general, but the outrageous prices of the '05 Burgundy market. But heck, that's just one guy's opinion. Well, two, if you count the little wooden guy.

My experience with this was better; I recall thinking it was pretty good for a Bourgogne when I tried it a few months back. Unfortunately, it wasn't a situation in which I'd normally take a note, but I'll check tomorrow just in case.

I've also tried the 2006, which did not impress me at all.

I remember several years ago when the rouge and blanc versions of Vere first hit our local area..Either the initial vintage or the second re Vere, not sure which..My impression of the red was essentialy the same..Sour red fruits..tasted it with the distributor for the area who also was underwhelmed by it..I have enjoyed several vintages of the white..

I liked the '05 Vero rouge last summer. But tastes (and bottles) differ!

Not to make excuses for the wine, but a lot of 2005s are shutting down now. I wouldn't expect that from a basic Bourgogne, but it's a possibility.