Triple 2002 Burgundy Tryst

 

The Real Mr Parker had organised a serious sparkling tasting.  And indeed it was very special.  Too many big names vying for top honours, such as Krug, Salon, Winston, Cristal and Dom Oenotheque among others.  After the tasting was done and dusted, we settled down to a feast, and drinking of wines to accompany the red meats.  We all brought along our own wines to share with the fellow imbibers and to give Mr Parker something back.  After a special and reverential Champers tasting, anything else served seems to be something done in secret and hushed tones.  Incredibly a trio of 2002 red burgundies, a great year of course, appeared on the dinner table, making a fascinating comparison.

The 2002 J. J. Confuron Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru was exactly what I thought it should be.  Lighter, fragrant and red floral and red fruited, with a very pleasing sweetness.  A little elevated in acidity, a hallmark of the Chambolle active limestone, no doubt, and just enough extract and structure, without which it’d be seen as feeble.  A comment that it was a bit green surfaced, but I could see it that way. 

 

Then a polar opposite, the 2002 Dom. De Courcel Pommard 1er ‘Rugiens’, all strcture and density, and a touch of robust rusticity, but a class above that.  Darker red fruits, savoury and earthy, quite blocky tannins.  Archetype Pommard, or is this indeed just too extractive?  I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, but I just didn’t enjoy this.  Maybe another decade in the bottle would help?

Finally, a 2002 Dugat-Puy Gevrey-Chambertin ‘Coeur de Roy’ ‘Tres Vieilles Vignes’, still dark and youthful in colour and in fruit expression.  Sweet black fruits as the northern appellations give, and the classical ‘bolld and fur’ visceral layering.  Beautifully textured and balanced.  How does Dugat-Puy get such traditional characters in such an accessible and approachable wine?  It often is timing, and the wines from the house can be a bit rugged, or too complex in gaminess, but not this!