What's Pressoir Drinking? Joseph Drouhin Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Blanc 1999

by Edouard Bourgeois
Tuesday, December 2, 2020

Along with a great bottle of Beaujolais I mentioned in my last Press article, I wanted to open a real treat from Burgundy for this Thanksgiving turkey. It should be noted that my culinarily talented wife and brother in law prepared a Korean version of braised turkey thighs so, I thought a great white wine with depth would perfectly match the rich, savory flavors of the dish. Also inspired by the then upcoming Thirst class on Beaune (I hope you were there for that yesterday!), I chose to open a jeroboam of Joseph Drouhin’s iconic Beaune 1er cru Clos des Mouches Blanc from the 1999 vintage. The dish and the wine did not overwhelm each other, making for an irresistible and harmonious match. Frankly, at first I was a bit worried about possible oxidation in the wine as the color appeared a touch dark but it ended being sublime. After all, we’re talking about a 21-year-old wine here. A golden robe is completely normal. And what matters the most anyway is how the wine performs on the nose and the palate and this was a wow moment. We were really pleased with the complexity and absolute generosity in the wine. An opulent style yet lifted by a powerful mineral structure that elevated the wine on a solid limestone pedestal. Going back on oxidation though - I will say that this wine was saved by its large format, delaying the oxidation process. I would be more concerned tasting the same 1999 from a regular size bottle today…