Effervescence

I bought a bottle of 2006 Chorey-Les-Beaune by Joseph Drouhin recently for a nice price of 17 bones (as Gary V might say) and opened it the other night for a weeknight dinner at home. When my wife Meg (who generally prefers new world style wines) asked me how it was after the first taste I said something like "Great. It's the real deal. It tastes like a Burgundy, not some over the top fruit-forward new world cocktail wine," which got a laugh out of her. And it was just that. For the price, I thought it had the profile of a real Burgundy. It also had effervescence, a tingly quality on the tongue. This is fairly common in my experience, and I assume it's residual CO2 from the fermenting process. Generally I like this. If I'm in a restaurant and ordering wine by the glass and I taste this, I know it's a fresh bottle. Usually this dissipates fairly quickly as the wine breathes and evolves, and I enjoy it for what it is, an early fleeting characteristic. In this case however, it never went away, (this wine has a very reasonable 13% abv and we drank the whole thing over the course of dinner) and in the end it became a barrier to the flavors of the wine and a significant flaw. I'm tempted to buy more of this given the good price, but don't know given what I've just said. Any thoughts? Would a good decanting take care of it? Would a few years of aging make it go away? Am I right in thinking it's residual CO2?

Bob,

I haven't yet tried the 2006 Chorey les Beaune, but I love the 2005 model. It has the same "bright" taste that you discribe in your note. I thought the '05 was a bargain at $20. The '06 must be a steal at $17.

Just so happens I included this very wine in a Pinot tasting I did back in November. $21 around here, and I still consider that a steal for a quality Burg.

Joseph Drouhin, Chorey-Les-Beaune 2006
Light ruby. Lovely, aromatic nose that practically fills the room. Cherry and a touch of dark raspberry on the palate, the fruit having the lovely, vibrant, accentuated style that is typically associated with the Cote-de-Beaune. Nice finish and body. Should last another 5 years or so. At around $20, the best value in red Burgundy I've had. Excellent (87 - 90).

I didn't note nor do I remember any effervescence, so perhaps yours was just the odd bottle. Personally, I'd buy it up, especially at $17!

Just so happens I included this very wine in a Pinot tasting I did back in November. $21 around here, and I still consider that a steal for a quality Burg.

Joseph Drouhin, Chorey-Les-Beaune 2006
Light ruby. Lovely, aromatic nose that practically fills the room. Cherry and a touch of dark raspberry on the palate, the fruit having the lovely, vibrant, accentuated style that is typically associated with the Cote-de-Beaune. Nice finish and body. Should last another 5 years or so. At around $20, the best value in red Burgundy I've had. Excellent (87 - 90).

I didn't note nor do I remember any effervescence, so perhaps yours was just the odd bottle. Personally, I'd buy it up, especially at $17!

Must be nice. When I was in Bloomington the choices were Almaden or Gallo Hearty Burgundy.

Must be nice. When I was in Bloomington the choices were Almaden or Gallo Hearty Burgundy.

As long as I've been here, Bloomington has been as great a place for a wine lover as you could imagine in the midwest outside of a major metro area (if I want really nice cellar worthy stuff, the selection is better in Indy, but even then, it depends on what you're looking for). The wine selection and resources here far exceed the size of the town, and just in the past year have gotten even better.

I've tasted the 2006 Drouhin Chorey-Le-Beaune twice now and not encountered effervescence. Haven't heard any complaints from customers (at least not yet...) I'm guessing the bottle may have been stored at too high a temperature during transport, which might induce secondary fermentation, or that there was some lapse in sanitation during bottling.

I agree that this is one of the great values in village-level Burgundy.

Dave, if I get to Asheville again where do you work? In a wine shop or restaurant?

I've tasted the 2006 Drouhin Chorey-Le-Beaune twice now and not encountered effervescence. Haven't heard any complaints from customers (at least not yet...) I'm guessing the bottle may have been stored at too high a temperature during transport, which might induce secondary fermentation, or that there was some lapse in sanitation during bottling.

Hmmmm. Interesting. Any other theories? It sure didn't taste cooked and the cork looked fine, but I'm leery of investing in much more than another bottle to try, given what I experienced. Would decanting or aging help? Would a lapse in sanitation during bottling involve just one bottle, or many bottles?

It sure didn't taste cooked

But it was bubbly! That could be the taste of a heat-damaged wine.

Would decanting or aging help?

If it was trapped CO2 from the bottling process, yes.

If it was secondary fermentation, no.

I looked it up on Cellar Tracker, and there were 10 reviews there, all highly consistent, and none noting effervescence. Add that to the four bottles reported in this thread, and it appears that at most 7% (1/14) of bottles might have this problem, so you've got at least a 93% (13/14) chance that any additional bottles you purchase will be fine. Like I said, buy it up!

Thanks. I think the prudent course would be to buy another bottle, give it a try, and have the store hold the rest of the purchase pending a second tasting. You really think heat damage could be the cause?

Hi Bob,
I think you might find the following link interesting;
http://www.fst.vt.edu/extension/enology/EN/122.html

Salute

[David M. Bueker]

A tingly sensation on the tongue is a far cry from bubbly Rahsaan. Sometimes acidity in wine can, especially in combination with some trapped CO2, give an impression of mild effervescence.

Unintended secondary fermentation does not need high heat to start up if there happens to be some nasty little microbe in a particular bottle (e.g. a bottle of 2004 Schmitt-Wagner I had a couple of years ago - none of my other bottles have been affected at all). Cooked wine does not get bubbly unless there is something else going on in combination with the heat.

Bob - I would try another bottle & perhaps give it a little decant. Did the tingle reduce over the course of the evening or stay consistent? If it reduced then we're likely looking at trapped CO2 & everyone reacts differently to that.

Bob, from what you describe it sounds like the tingling one gets from high levels of residual CO2 in wine, what the French refer to as "petillance." As you suggest, this can be reduced or eliminated with some airing, so a good decant ought to reduce that sensation. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that human sensitivity toward CO2 petillance varies substantially, so you might very well notice it more often than most.

Mark Lipton

Dave, if I get to Asheville again where do you work? In a wine shop or restaurant?

Asheville Wine Market
65 Biltmore Avenue
Asheville, NC

And now, the rest of the story....When I got to the wine store, well you could have guessed. All gone. But there's a silver lining here. As I was browsing the French section (my favorite place) with the wine buyer Vince who's been very kind to me (and me to him) I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to recommend (after I had scored 2 bottles of '06 Clos du Mont Olivet CDP for well under $40 each, as well as one of their CDR) he said "yes, I can give you a really good price on this" and picked up a bottle of 2005 Bourgueil from Domaine de la Chanteleuserie imported by Kermit. "Let's taste it." A polar opposite of course from the Chorey-Les-Beaune, but what a wine! A deep deep purple color, lots of tannins, but wonderful big complex dark fruits. I walked out with 5 bottles at $10 each and then called and had him hold the rest of what he had. Had it not been for the effervescence I'd have walked out with a case of Chorey-Les-Beaune too, but sometimes you just don't act quite quickly enough.

2005 Bourgueil from Domaine de la Chanteleuserie ...A polar opposite of course from the Chorey-Les-Beaune...

I wouldn't think of this as the "polar opposite" of Chorey Les Beaune (something like PX or thick Australian Grenache might occupy that space in my mind), but you must have even more focused tastes than me!

Regardless, sounds like you had a good experience and am glad to hear it.

There's always more wine!

2005 Bourgueil from Domaine de la Chanteleuserie ...A polar opposite of course from the Chorey-Les-Beaune...

I wouldn't think of this as the "polar opposite" of Chorey Les Beaune (something like PX or thick Australian Grenache might occupy that space in my mind), but you must have even more focused tastes than me!
There's always more wine!

I was exaggerating I guess, Rahsaan, but the Bourgueil seemed pretty big and bold and dark, at least on the first and only sip I had. Yes, there's always more wine, and some pretty good deals out there right now.

2005 Bourgueil from Domaine de la Chanteleuserie ...A polar opposite of course from the Chorey-Les-Beaune...

I wouldn't think of this as the "polar opposite" of Chorey Les Beaune (something like PX or thick Australian Grenache might occupy that space in my mind), but you must have even more focused tastes than me!
There's always more wine!

I was exaggerating I guess, Rahsaan, but the Bourgueil seemed pretty big and bold and dark, at least on the first and only sip I had. Yes, there's always more wine, and some pretty good deals out there right now.

I priced both the 05 and 06 here in Cincinnati. Due to our minimum markup laws, this wine is at least $24 here. Wish I could get any deals here!!!!

I priced both the 05 and 06 here in Cincinnati. Due to our minimum markup laws, this wine is at least $24 here. Wish I could get any deals here!!!!

It's only, what, a 2 hour drive to here from Cincinnati. Assuming the round trip costs you $20 in gas, and you buy a case of the 2006 at $21 a bottle minus case discount (10%), plus tax (7%), you'd still save about $15.

I priced both the 05 and 06 here in Cincinnati. Due to our minimum markup laws, this wine is at least $24 here. Wish I could get any deals here!!!!

It's only, what, a 2 hour drive to here from Cincinnati. Assuming the round trip costs you $20 in gas, and you buy a case of the 2006 at $21 a bottle minus case discount (10%), plus tax (7%), you'd still save about $15.

Maybe I can get the kid down the street to bring me a case. He is a senior at IU and will be home on spring break within a month!

Since Bloomington is so close to Cincy, are you attending the Wine Festival next weekend? and our offline afterwards?

Since Bloomington is so close to Cincy, are you attending the Wine Festival next weekend? and our offline afterwards?

Would certainly love to, but alas for the life of a grad student: too little time and too little money.

The gourmet grocery / wine shop with the Chorey is called Sahara Mart, if you should be able to work something out.

Residual CO2 is not unusual in red wines fermented at cool temperatures, and is not a sign of heat damage or poor sanitation. (If the wine had re-fermented it would taste bad, and in a dry red wine that's not likely anyway.)