RECAP - BURGUNDY VINTAGE COMPARISON 2009 & 2010
Raj Vaidya
September 16, 2022
Last evening a group of wine lovers both inquisitive and thirsty assembled at The Dutch in Soho to dig into two vintages which hold a great deal of interest to any serious Burgundy collector: the much heralded 2009 and 2010s.
2009 was the first vintage I tasted in Burgundy from barrel, in the summer of 2010. I was just learning how to understand and evaluate wines at such a young stage for their structure and nuance, in a way learning to decode how the wines in barrel would likely turn out in the bottles. In a sense, I was blessed, because for a first experience I could not ask for a more amenable and easy vintage to understand at that young stage than 2009 - the wines were transparent and expressive from day one. The following summer, only my second such experience, showed me a vastly different vintage and barrel expression; the wines were more pensive and shy in barrel in terms of flavors and aromas, some were even backwards at the stage I tasted them, and yet there was an exciting energy and lift that was apparent from the first glass. Structurally the wines were enthralling, yet more closed and less effusive than the 2009s, which was a great lesson to me in tasting for structure, primarily at that young stage, to learn how the wines will likely progress.
Fast forward past years of extremely high praise for both vintages in press and from consumers and the wines from both vintages remain in high demand and continue to garner great praise. The wine journalists who hailed both as great often simply state that the 2009 is a solar and rich vintage while 2010 is a more classic and Burgundian vintage with restraint and delicacy. Others have found the 2009s boring for their richness and fat. We decided to drink a bit more than a case of wine to hone in on our own opinions…
The Line Up
Domaine William Fèvre, Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Côte Bouguerots 2009
Domaine William Fèvre, Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Côte Bouguerots 2010
Domaine William Fèvre, Chablis Grand Cru Clos 2010
This flight was a truly lovely beginning to pair with a duo of oyster sliders, and the wines set the tone for a great evening to follow. The Côte Bouguerots plot owned by Fèvre is a south-facing steep slope just above the river on the Grand Cru hill and always produces wines with tremendous freshness and charm, and this duo did not prove to be an exception. The consensus was that the 2010 was the more delicious wine in comparison before the fried oysters were served, and the 2009 shone more brightly in pairing with the rich first course. We added the 2010 Clos for perspective, a more powerful vineyard and wine which seemed to bridge the gap between the two Bouguerots, richer than the 2010 and leaner than the 2009.
Domaine Matrot, Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes 2009
Domaine Matrot, Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes 2010
A closer look at the vintage’s ‘other’ wines, Côte d’Or whites… I’ve long said that vintage quality proclamations in the press are at best half accurate because realistically it’s quite rare for a vintage to produce great white and red burgundy, though I now believe this is true for 2010 for sure. The 2009 showed its fat and richness, all of the common gripes around ripeness and lack of energy showed in this wine when compared with the 2010, though I have to say the 2009 wasn’t a slouch when tasted on its own, it just seemed heavy when taken in context with the 2010. A lovely flight nonetheless which was paired with a clam fettucine preparation.
Domaine Marquis d'Angerville, Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 2009
Domaine Marquis d'Angerville, Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 2010
Domaine Bruno Clair, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 2009
Domaine Faiveley, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers 2009
Then we dug into the reds and did so with a great example of how the critics of 2009 can be dead wrong. It was not difficult to find the fruitier notes in the 2009 Volnay when comparing with the spicier and more savory notes of the Volnay 2010, but when the group really tasted the two critically and one smart taster in the group posed the question of whether, if tasted blind, we’d obviously know which were 2009 and which 2010, we all agreed this would be very, very difficult. D’Angerville made notoriously amazing 2009s, with tremendous depth and length, and his 2010s perform equally strongly, though with different flavors. The 2009 Gevreys were a great example of how some communes fare better in warm vintages, both showed brilliantly!
Domaine Julien, Echezeaux Grand Cru 2009
Domaine Jean Grivot, Echezeaux Grand Cru 2009
Domaine Jean Grivot, Echezeaux Grand Cru 2010
Joseph Drouhin, Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2010
Louis Jadot, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St Jacques 2010
A tremendous flight, with all of the wines showing incredibly well. The vertical of the Grivot Grand Cru caught everyone’s attention in that similarly to the Clos des Ducs, the wines were different from each other but there was no obvious 2009 or 2010 proclamations from each wine, they were both rich, fruit forward and delicious. Served blind I am not sure I would be able to pick out which was which!
I believe the point was proven that even though generalities can be made about vintages, assuming 2009s will always be over the top rich and 2010s will be lean and lighter is mistaken. Both are great vintages for different reasons. And I believe as time goes on and the wines reach towards maturity they are likely to taste more similar than different.
