Our 9th wedding anniversary was this weekend, so we opened a couple special bottles. First up, a Diebolt-Vallois, Champagne, Brut, a Cramant, 2002 that was very elgegant and pure. With time in the glass, the wine revealed a delicious touch of honey. This estate makes wonderful Champagnes and this bottle was terrific.
Next, a Domaine Georges Mugneret, Nuits-Saint-Georges, 1er Cru, Aux Chaignots, 2004 showed a light brick color. The wine was surprisingly expressive in the nose, but a slight green quality was present. Typical of the wines from this great domaine, this bottle was smooth and silky on the palate. On the negative side, the underripe fruit/green aspect that was revealed in the nose was also present in the mouth. I have had many 2004 red Burgundies that suffer this same problem, but I was hoping that this bottle might be the exception. Retailers are heavily discounting their 2004 red Burgundies and this makes them very tempting. Many of the wines, however, are flawed by green/underripe fruit. I have read reports from some Burgundy lovers that the green quality in the 2004's appears to be fading as the wines age in the bottle. In the name of science, I left one quarter of the bottle in the fridge overnight. I retasted the wine the next evening and it showed much better. The wine had gained weight and the ripe fruit flavors were more pronounced. The green quality had virtually disappeared. While some of the extremely green tasting wines will always be flawed, I have a feeling that best 2004's will be beautiful wines in 10 years.
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