WTN: 05 Vieux Telegraphe Le Crau

Opened following my Corporations final exam, from half. First whiff, a load of red fruit, mint and nooooooooooooo, TCA!........................

Verrrrry slightly corked, but its enough to throw it off. Underneath it is load of red fruit, tons and tons and tons of tannin (Pradeaux or Tempier-like), mint and sage and herbs and a shocking amount of acidity.

As the wine sits out, the TCA blows off: but so does the overt fruitiness, to an extent.

Even granting for the fact that the corkiness muted the fruit, this is infanticide and frankly unenjoyable right now. I think it'll kick ass in the future as long as the tannins don't outlive the fruit ( its clearly built to be an ager), but this is a bad time for this puppy. I had hoped the Grenanchiness would make this approachable now, but no dice.

[Jenise]

VT is a favorite here at Chez J. Too bad about the corked bottle, but how clever of you to buy halves.

VT is a favorite here at Chez J. Too bad about the corked bottle, but how clever of you to buy halves.

Picked 'em up on sale from one of the big DC wine shops while I was visiting over the summer. Pretty good deal, all things considered. Now, if only I could find a decent Burgundy producer that made halves (I hate Potel, and he's the only one I regularly see around these parts).

I hate Potel

Strong words!

I hate Potel

Strong words!

Extraction and Black Fruit. The kiss of death in Burgundy, and Potel has it in spades.

Extraction and Black Fruit. The kiss of death in Burgundy, and Potel has it in spades.

How much have you tasted? My experience is limited to about a dozen bottles but they have mostly been nice elegant wines. I know he used to make an extraordinary amount of bottlings and some variation is to be expected. But, I've never heard anyone else refer to him as someone whose style was generally over-extracted. And I'm sensitive to these things!

Had a half bottle of 05 Le Crau at Landmarc last week and also got tons of acidity. My notes: "Leather, spice and dark berry aromas, searing acidity, grippy tannins, very alcoholic and spicy. A powerhouse wine of obvious quality, but several years away from a satisfying integration between the parts." Only Potel I tried I didn't like so I've stayed away, perhaps unreasonably.

[David M. Bueker]

David - Jadot does halves. Gouges does halves. Pousse d'Or does halves. Drouhin does halves.

I like Potel & don't find them objectionably overextracted.

Extraction and Black Fruit. The kiss of death in Burgundy, and Potel has it in spades.

How much have you tasted? My experience is limited to about a dozen bottles but they have mostly been nice elegant wines. I know he used to make an extraordinary amount of bottlings and some variation is to be expected. But, I've never heard anyone else refer to him as someone whose style was generally over-extracted. And I'm sensitive to these things!

I try Potel wines often; they're widely available in NY, MA, and NH (where I do my purchasing) and very reasonably priced. And everyone else seems to love them.

I've had his Bourgogne every year since either 1999 or 2000. Same with his village Volnay. And one of his 1er cru Volnay in 2000-2003, 2005. I'd have had his village wines from the Nuits every so often; a Chambolle here, a Gevrey there.

I have consistently found the wines black fruited and extracted, but not oaky. Just very spicy and bitter. Its a side of burgundy that I know is well-liked by most but isn't for me. Frankly, I can take one look at the color of his village wines and know that its not my style; there's no way you can get that kind of color without playing some sort of extraction tricks.

There's one caveat to all this: almost all the wines listed above were tried from half, and many came from sources known for poor storage (eg, NH liquor): Until I gave up on seing the light on Potel, I pretty much picked up his halves anytime I saw them. Its possible, I guess, that I've just had an extraordinary run of heat-damaged bottles: I'm pretty sure that the '05 Jadots (for $20-25 for the Pernand-Vergeless 1er Cru and Santenay Clos de Malte!) I picked up in NH were heat-damaged. Its also possible that he's putting inferior juice in halves; I've heard rumors that many of the Bordeaux vinters do this, but I'm not aware that this goes on in Burgundy.

David - Jadot does halves. Gouges does halves. Pousse d'Or does halves. Drouhin does halves.

I like Potel & don't find them objectionably overextracted.

I didn't know that about Pousse d'Or, thank you for the info- I'll definitely keep an eye out. Half bottles of Volnay and Santenay are really hard for me to resist....

I have consistently found the wines black fruited and extracted, but not oaky. Just very spicy and bitter..

Ok, I might be able to see spicy and bitter, especially for the village wines. And it sounds like you have more experience than I do. I have particularly fond memories of the 1999 Taillepieds and the 2000 Les Fuées which were supple and elegant, but two wines does not a consistent style make.

To make up for last nights corkiness, popped open a 1995 Lagrange tonight. It's excellent. Very youthful color...purple-red core, red rim. Lots of smoke and black currant and graphite things going on on the nose and palate. Its still fairly tannic, my guess would be this has just started to open up in the past year or two. I'd imagine this is going to drink really well for the next several years; its still got plenty of fruit to burn. If you can find this at a usual Lagrange bargain price, its great QPR.

[David M. Bueker]

Ok, now I am confused. Lagrange, the poster child for coffee oak is ok, but Potel is not?

Ok, now I am confused. Lagrange, the poster child for coffee oak is ok, but Potel is not?

It's not f'in' Pinot. Different can of worms.
Also, it's not the oak that bugs me so much as the dark-fruited bitterness. Oak is not the same as extraction or overripeness. It just seems that way because of the fad.

[David M. Bueker]

I just frequently find the Lagrange oak treatment to be bitter.