WTN: Burgs and Bierzo

Saturday over to sister in law’s for a nice dinner on patio with old friends. Started with my halibut cheek/scallop ceviche and some guacamole, then quesabirria, rice, beans, tomato salad, and more, with flan, berries, and melon for dessert
2022 Drouhin-Vaudon Chablis
Nice showing, green apple and lime zest, gunflint and oystershell. B+/B

2020 Raul Perez Ultreia St Jacques(Bierzo).
Perry/spicy, cranberry and raspberries, smoke, clean and long., B/B+

Sunday flounder with a parmesan/panko crust, grilled peppers and zucchini, broccoli
2019 Lamy-Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet Pot Bois
Pear and lemon, vanillin oak, rich. B+

Monday was supposed to be a mature California night, but host was sick so I put a Monte Bello back in cellar and invited a friend over.
Pork tenderloin, sourdough discard scallion pancake, spinach
2008 Raphet Chambolle-Musigny
Red cherry, watermelon, a little leather creeping in,some nice flavors but this is a rather thin Burg reaching the end of its lifespan. B-/C+

2012 Chandon de Briailles”Ile des Vergelesses” Pernand-Vergelesses 1er
This is a big boy for Vergelesses, with some solid tannin, but I still found plenty of pleasure here. Ripe red cherries, mocha/cocoa, an exotic hint of sandalwood. Long stony finish. Too young, but I really enjoyed anyway. A-/B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

2012 Chandon de Briailles”Ile des Vergelesses” Pernand-Vergelesses 1er
This is a big boy for Vergelesses, with some solid tannin, but I still found plenty of pleasure here. Ripe red cherries, mocha/cocoa, an exotic hint of sandalwood. Long stony finish. Too young, but I really enjoyed anyway. A-/B+...

I know you probably have a stronger preference for more mature wines than I do, but I have quite enjoyed this 2012 over the years. It has gone in and out of drinkability - as wine maddeningly does. At one point a year or two ago, I thought it was perfectly-resolved silk, but then my most recent bottle was perhaps more like yours, giving the sense that more time was needed. Holding off on opening again for a while.

Good to know about the '12. I've still got a bottle of the '08 in the cellar (finished the last of the '07s earlier this year -- finally fully open!). Rahsaan, especially with CdB, I think lots of time is needed to get them to place where they can be fully enjoyed. Even the '07 IdV was exceptionally tight for the longest time.

It's also good to hear about the Ultreia. I've got the '17 and '21 in the cellar. Since, per Gilman, there is some amount of Alicante Bouchet in the mix, no surprise that the structure takes time to resolve.

Rahsaan, especially with CdB, I think lots of time is needed to get them to place where they can be fully enjoyed. Even the '07 IdV was exceptionally tight for the longest time...

Well 'fully enjoyed' is of course a matter of taste. But the tight young style of the aughts had already begun shifting by the 2010s, and the 2012 has been much more generous throughout its lifespan. And subsequent vintages as well. At least in my experience, maybe you see things differently.

Of course that doesn't mean one can't wait for one's preferred maturity. But there has been a style shift in the CdB winemaking, on top of climate shifts.

[David M. Bueker]

Ah Drouhin-Vaudon…there were 4 bottles of the 2002 Chablis in my dad’s cellar when he passed. The wines pre-deceased him.