1999 Domaine Michel Gros Clos Vougeot Grand Maupertuis
This wine exemplifies why I love Burgundy. I bought it from a close-out bin in a seedy little liquor store for about $40 a couple of years ago. It was out of sight and out of mind at the back of my storage unit until I came across it while doing a quick New Years inventory. Since Burgundy really pissed me off for most of '08 I hesitated to open it for fear of getting off to a bad start in '09.
On uncorking there was a powerful nose of barbequed meat which would compete with the aroma at almost any back alley, late night rib joint. After an hour in the decanter berry fruit came forward and the meat note moved to the background joined by some nice spice. In the glass the color was a deep burgundy red with no pink at the rim at all. I would have gotten my $40 worth just sniffing and looking at this wine. On entry there was cherry licorice with some savory red meat mid palate. The finish was steak sauce and spice that lingered for minutes. Overall the wine exhibited a wonderful pure pinot fruit. This CdV was perfectly elegant and fully integrated with no trace of tannin. Much, much better than I had anticipated.
I'm sure that a poet, or wine writer could describe a good Burgundy much better than I can, but it seems that the best Burgs show a simple complexity, or an understated power. This wine, as with all of my favorite Burgundies, doesn't knock you down. It wraps you up in nice warm silk blanket. Sorry for the overblown discription, but I couldn't come up with a suitable haiku.
