On Feb 6, 8:14 am, DaleW > wrote:

> Wines were revealed:
> 1.2000 Fourrier "Petits Vougeot" Vougeot 1er Cru
> 2. 2000 Lamarche Clos Vougeot (I realize some producers label Clos de
> Vougeot, but I'll be simple and consistent)

I had the Lamarche C Vougeot 1971 many years ago along with their 71
Grande Rue, Echezeaux, and I think one or two more.The C Vougeot was
one of the less impressive of the lot. They may not have the best
plots of it, 1971 was rather variable because of very localized
weather conditions including hail, and in some quarters Lamarche wines
had a reputation of being a bit rustic back then. I have read that
Lamarche has improved since the 70s. Their most interesting wine is
Grande Rue and Lamarche owns all of this tiny vineyard. I would like
to see how it would taste if DRC or Leroy made some wine from it, but
of course this likely will never happen unless DRC or Leroy buys La
Grande Rue in the future.

> 3. 2000 JJ Confuron Clos Vougeot
> 4. 2000 Jadot Clos Vougeot
> 5. 2000 Leroy Clos Vougeot
> 6. 2000 George Mugneret Clos Vougeot
> 7. 2000 Rene Engel Clos Vougeot
> 8. 2000 Meo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot
> 9. 2000 Jean Grivot Clos Vougeot
> 10. 2000 Potel Clos Vougeot
> 11. 2000 Anne Gros Clos Vougeot

It would have been nice if you had some Clos Blanc de Vougeot 2000 if
any was made that year. This small vineyard is not part of the Clos
Vougeot vineyard. The 1973 from D, L'Heritier Guyot (of cassis fame)
was still holding when I tasted it a few years ago. This tends to be a
big fat wine, not as complex and delicate as many of the better know
white Burgundy wines, but well worth tasting when one has the chance.

I have not bought any Clos Vougeot since the 1978 vintage. Although I
have tasted a few very good examples, too often it falls well below
the quality of several other top red Burgandy wines. One has to
remember that this once was church property, and this large vineyard
always has produced variable quality wine depending on the location of
the vines in the vineyard, even when the monks tended it and made the
wine. The best locations tend to be higher up, and the worst locations
tend to be low down the hill. Today the vineyard is fragmented into a
huge number of mostly tiny plots with different owners. Some owners
may own a bit high up the hill, a bit near the bottom, etc. It is easy
to see why the whole vineyard was given a high classification in
modern times, since it had been in existence for hundreds of years.
However likely about 1/2 of the mostly bottom part of the vineyard is
not up to the standards of surrounding top vineyards, and it really
should be given a different name and lower classification. I did buy
some 1988 and 1990 top Burgundy, but not Clos Vougeot.

I don't know what plots of Clos Vougeot Mme. Leroy owns. In the past
Leroy also has made wines from bought grapes, and some of the older
examples of these hold up very well and cost a small fortune. If one
wants to compare the Leroy style at the best, either her Richebourg or
Romanee Saint Vivant should be tasted against the corresponding wines
from DRC in the same year. Good recent years to compare would be the
1988 or 1990, although neither are likely yet at their peak. Both DRC
and Leroy wines are made from fully ripe and carefully selected
grapes. They can afford to take chances to let the grapes ripen longer
than many other less rich owners. They also take extreme care in
cultivation and picking of the grapes. Also the tend to use rather
long and traditional wine making methods. Both wines can sometimes
have attractive fruity tastes when young, but a top year of either
likely should not be opened before 20 years and may well still be very
good at 50 years or more old. The wines tend to be dumb from a few
years to up to 20 or more years in some of the best years.