What's Pressoir Drinking? Memorable Wines of 2021
December 24, 2021
by the Pressoir.wine team
Memorable Wines of 2021
Raj - 197? Coteaux Champenois from A. Margaine
I’ve apparently earned a reputation amongst my friends and mentors in Champagne as being a ‘Coteaux hater,’ not completely undeserved…
Generally, Coteaux Champenois (still wines made from the Champagne region) tend to be too austere for my liking, with soaring acids and not enough richness or phenolic material to balance them out. On one lovely evening this past summer in Reims, the lovely Mathilde Margaine decided to pour this beauty (uncertain of the exact vintage but dating from the 1970’s) for me blind at the Epicerie Bon Manger. It truly changed my perspective, the wine was perfectly balanced and nuanced and exceptional. I learned that Coteaux can be fantastic, just needs 40-50 years to resolve itself :)…
Cheers and happy holidays, and may 2022 hold more vinous surprises and discoveries for us all.
Edouard - 1978 Montrachet Bouchard Père et Fils
After tasting a glorious magnum of Corton Charlemagne 1955 directly from the cellar of Bouchard Père et Fils in Beaune, I was particularly excited during La Fete du Champagne Gala Dinner to taste another white Burgundy with age from this producer. This time, it was a pristine bottle of Montrachet 1978. The wine was brilliant. Not a trace of fatigue or undesirable oxidation. It offered the perfect kiss of hazelnut and buttered brioche a mature Chardonnay of that pedigree can deliver. 1978 did well indeed for Chardonnay, prolonging the growing season until a late harvest mid-October
Max - 1988 Cristal Rosé
It was an emotional return to France for me this past July after 18 long months of not having been able to travel there - the longest stretch of my professional career. It was exhilarating to be back capturing footage for the virtual seminars at La Fête du Champagne, and one of our first visits was with Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon at Champagne Louis Roederer. Following an epic tour of their press house & vineyards in Aÿ and winery & cellars in Reims, as well as a tasting of Roederer’s current releases, we settled in for a fantastic dinner at the house which featured many memorable wines, including Cristal 1980 (only produced in magnum), but for me, the star of the show was the remarkably fresh 1988 Cristal Rosé, an extremely rare wine whose combination of delicate, lacy strawberry flavors and laser-like focus and cut made for quite an impressive experience in the glass that exhibited a trait that many of my favorite wines do, described aptly by Fréd Mugnier as “intensity without weight.” Cheers to more profound wine experiences in 2022!
Sally - 2014 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph
I can say honestly that I am spoiled with wonderful wine, having Daniel as my sommelier. This glass of wine, set at the table with a very tasty steak and roasted potatoes, just burst from the glass, it was so soooo delicious. Thank you to Pierre and Jean Gonon for such beautiful wine. And a very merry holiday to all, with best wishes for a healthy, lively, joyous new year.
Jaime - 1969 De Vogue Bonnes Mares en magnum
As with every year, wine moments shared over great meals with friends, family and colleagues are always memorable. I always say to myself that I need to write them all down but always end up snapping pics of the bottles instead. This works and then I can take a visual trip to remember the great bottles of the year. Thinking back bottle that comes to mind without the picture is an amazing magnum of Domaine de Vogue, Bonnes Mares 1969 from magnum. It was perfect - I did not take a picture of this bottle, but I remember it - the bottle, the label, the excitement as I brought the glass to my mouth. Everything a great aged burgundy should be - perfumed, ephemeral, all at once light and elegant but with power and length, a core which came alive on the palate offering a silky feel, and persistence. The aromas stayed with me.
I was offered a glass of this wine in Beaune at Le Bistro de l’Hotel by a generous collector who was dining with Daniel and a number of winemaker friends. Raj and I stopped by to say hello and wish everyone well and bon appetit. In the true spirit of Burgundy, we were handed a glass of something that was more than special, it was memorable.
Cheers and here is to 2022!
Daniel
There were two wines that made the deepest impression on me this year. Both were red Burgundies (no surprise).
In no particular order they were Domaine G. Roumier, Bonnes-Mares 1934 and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Echézeaux 1953.
The Echezeaux is the wine that the Domaine shows first in a tasting of its holdings in Flagey-Echézeaux/Vosne-Romanée. In so doing, they are suggesting it is the most approachable and perhaps the least complex. And of the 50’s I consider ‘52 and ‘59 to be the vintages of the decade followed by ‘53, 55 and ‘57. But this wine was near perfection in a true old-school Burgundy sense. All perfume and lace. What makes it one of the wines of the year for me is that I was not expecting the kind of depth, complexity and sheer beauty this wine delivered. It over performed which for me is the sign of a great wine.
Now for the Roumier Bonnes-Mares 1934. I have little experience with the vintage but a lot of experience with Roumier. The wine was deep in color with little signs of fading. Incredible for a nearly 90 year old Burgundy. The aromas was what all Burgundy lovers are looking for. A potpourri of dried rose, violet, plum, smoke, black cherry, earth and mushroom. As sexy a bouquet as one can hope for! But the truth was on the palate. Mouth coating texture, silky with plenty of vigour and Bonnes-Mares power.
Being friends with Christophe Roumier, the grandson of the winemaker, Georges Roumier added one more dimension to the experience.
I will never forget this wine!
Happy Holidays
