Gevrey Chambertin Burgundy Wine Tasting 2004
The Reds of the Tasting

For the reds, all four were from the Gevrey Chambertin region. This appellation of the Côte de Nuits section of Burgundy makes only red wines, i.e. only pinot noir. They make around 2.3 million bottles a year.

The second set of reds were from Domaine Claude Dugat, which is further north than Serafin. They have only 12 acres of vines, located on land from a 13th century abbey. Claude's grandfather was a famous horticulturalist who chose small vines that produced small berries and a small yield, to make the very best wines possible. The winery is known to be extremely organic.

Claude's motto is to make the vines suffer, but not to the point of malady. He does extensive pruning and only feeds the vines every 4 years. He uses organic manure from organically fed cattle. The wines age 12-16 months in oak.

2002 Gevrey Chambertin $85
This is a "village wine" with medium tannins, a gentle berry / cherry flavor and a soft, long finish. It's created in 50% new oak.

2002 Gevrey Chambertin 'Lavaux Saint Jacques' $215
One of the bottles of this wine had been corked, and we compared the corked version to the correct version. You could definitely smell the wet cardboard / basement must aroma on the corked version. A corked wine is one in which the natural cork (i.e. tree bark) has gotten mouldy and ruined the wine. Current estimates are that one in 20 bottles of wine is at least slightly corked.

The wine is smooth, light with a nice finish and flavors of fruit. It is done 100% in new oak. Nate said this was "richer, fuller, meatier with full spices". It was tannic but still gentle.

The final food item was small slices of hangar steak with french fries ("frites"). The steaks were bland and overdone.

In general, we really liked the Vielles Vignes wine and many people bought that, but the various issues with the service made it very hard to appreciate the wines. There rarely was water service, and I tend to drink a lot of water to keep my palate clean. Dirty plates stayed on the table for long enough that we stacked them and left them to the side. The food wasn't great, and the spicy sauce in particular was just too strong. We were going to completely miss one of the first whites if we hadn't spoken up. All of the food came in small portions and in one serving there were only 4 helpings for 5 people. Hopefully future dinners will work out some of these kinks!

Main Burgundy Tasting Page
Maison Henri Boillet notes
Domaine Christian Serafin notes
Domaine Claude Dugat notes
Max's Restaurant for Dessert

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