2001 Domaine Dujac Chambolle Musigny
Morey-St. Denis, France
$28.99 (found heavily discounted at a NH grocery store!)
www.dujac.com

Over the years I’ve admittedly made a few last minute substitutions when grabbing some wine to take to a party. While I’d never take plonk to a get-together, I wouldn’t bring Premier Cru Burgundy when simple French rosé would suffice either. I’m sure all of us have, at times, made just that same decision when confronted by similar circumstances for a variety of reasons. For some, it might be the thought that the wine in hand really needs a few more years in the cellar. While for others, it may be the realization that those attending the evening’s festivities aren’t really worthy of the elixir we’ve guarded so expectantly. Recently, I was reminded of this scenario while drinking Domaine Dujac’s 2001 Chambolle-Musigny. Four previous bottles had been drunk with little distinction (I gave my fifth to a friend for his birthday). I thought its fruit character simple and straightforward; I thought it showed too much new oak. Mind you, it was always pleasant and most noticeably well-made. It just never lived up to the billing for me. So with its drinking two weeks ago, my last bottle of Dujac served as much more than a delicious accompaniment to house-cured duck confit. It was a revealing reminder of a tenet I’d discovered a few years back, that nothing transforms wine quite like the company with which it’s enjoyed.

Dujac’s 2001 Chambolle-Musigny presented a deep garnet color of medium intensity with freshness enough remaining to suggest there’s more fruit herein for additional cellaring. Showing black cherry, blackberry, and violets to the nose, this wine’s perfume deepened over time to offer licorice and underbrush. I even detected the scent of sweet cured meat! And it nicely delivered a quality I find so compelling about good Burgundy: sinewy concentration in a relatively lean frame, too rare an achievement in New World pinot noir. Its balancing acidity, wrapped in red currant and cranberry flavors, maintained the wine’s freshness from one glass to the next. What distinguished this bottling as truly elegant for me was a persistent, chalky minerality that gave the wine’s dry finish considerable length. Overall, this village level wine is a pretty blend of bright and dark fruit character that’s punctuated by enough tertiary bouquet to captivate anyone who admires good Burgundy. In short, this wine was balanced and pure and a pleasure to drink.

So what stops us from opening our most treasured bottles? What holds us back? I have a hunch that oftentimes it’s more than our skepticism over whether a certain bottle is really ready to drink. Sure, Bordeaux can take decades to achieve its full potential, but even it can reward generously with a few years bottle age provided what’s on our dinner plate—and who’s sitting across the table—is intimately engaging. I reckon a properly cellared bottle of 1982 Cos d’Estournel would taste like nothing more than a properly cellared bottle if served with trite conversation and uninspired fare. So maybe our real obstacle isn’t time after all. Maybe we’re more attendant upon opportunity, that magical convergence of good food with treasured companionship, than we are to time’s passage in a bottle. From my experience getting that duo right is one of life’s bigger accomplishments, so I’m tickled that I’m now blessed with both. Recommended.

2002 Domaine Louis Max Mercurey
“Clos La Marche” Monopole
$20.99
www.louismax.com

Anyone who’s gambled their money away on expensive bottles of Burgundy eventually discovers the charms of Côte Chalonnaise, Côte d’Or’s less prestigious neighbor to the south. On more than a few occasions I’ve returned a coveted Chambolle Musigny to a wine shop shelf in favor of a lowly Mercurey or Givry and been all the happier for having done so. True, these value appellations don’t have the cachet of Volnay or Gevrey Chambertin, but with their purchase enough good money should remain for bread, cheese and a whole chicken for roasting. Try as I might, man can’t live on wine alone! So, with respect for my wallet and good dinner in mind I bought this bottle of “Clos La Marche”, a monopole from Mercurey produced by Domaine Louis Max. Distinctively packaged and affordably priced, I was hoping I’d discovered a new house wine for Chez Marcy.

Brilliantly clear, Domaine Louis Max’s 2002 Mercurey was pale raspberry red in color. This pinot offered light raspberry, earth and leaf to the nose and was very light in fruit extract. Unfortunately, I found it to be thin, somewhat watery and lacking weight and texture in the mouth. This wine was most appealing when paired with food however. Light and nicely balanced, this wine didn’t overpower my meal and was refreshing from sip to sip with pleasant red fruit sweetness accentuated by the addition of food. For sure, this Mercurey wasn’t thought provoking pinot noir but was serviceable all the same. It wasn’t “food wine” as much as wine that NEEDED food to be enjoyed at all. Certainly there are many pinots more interesting and equally adept at flattering a simple meal, but “Clos La Marche” did serve food well and should work wonders with cheese given its low tannin and lightness of style.

Yet, what I find most dissatisfying about this simple Burgundy is the use of the word “monopole” on its creative label. I’ve always understood the term to denote a vineyard both farmed and owned by its managing domaine. What a pity for Louis Max if this simple Mercurey is as good as it gets for their prized monopole “Clos La Marche”. One can only wonder if this wine is made from juice declassified from that site and if Domaine Louis Max is favoring a bigger, more interesting selection of “Clos La Marche” under a different bottling. If true, isn’t that a little underhanded? It leaves me scratching my head uncertain of their marketing motivations and questioning their reputation. I love food friendly wine as much as the next pinotphile but to offer a vineyard designated wine that drinks no better than decent Bourgogne Rouge is ignorant at best and disingenuous at worst. Not recommended.

2002 Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne
Faiveley
Nuits-Saint-Georges, France
$13.99
www.bourgognes-faiveley.com

After so many ordinary bottles of French “Bourgogne Rouge” it’s easy to see how a pinot lover can become skeptical. There are SO many uninteresting wines of this sort, often priced at sums that could purchase seriously good American pinot noir, that it is understandable how many could dismiss this category as unworthy of investigation. Yet, Faiveley is different, for here is a venerable house that is both serious producer AND grower of Burgundy: these folks have a reputation to maintain! It shows.

2002 Faiveley Bourgogne Rouge is a transparent garnet red in the glass showing color balanced between full and light extraction. Faiveley’s nose was soft and elegant, characterized by red fruits and light spice. At first, it offered scents of strawberry and leaf while after some aeration black tea and anise emerged. The use of oak was barely at threshold for this taster. Fresh flavors of tart cranberry and cherry were lean and well-balanced with refreshing acidity. Throughout its drinking, I was amazed at how polished Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne was considering its modest price. In fact, Faiveley may just have redefined the price/value ratio as this wine is extraordinarily good for the money!

In the end, Faiveley’s 2002 Bourgogne is an aromatically interesting and very well-balanced pinot noir. This pinot noir is significant for the money illustrating what can be done with basic Bourgogne-level wine when made by the hands of a skilled winemaker and vineyard manager. Maison Faiveley has certainly preserved their good name with this remarkable wine. Highly recommended!