I bought a bottle of this wine today, made by Michel Prunier. Should I
cellar it or drink it soon? I have very little experience with aged
Burgundys.

You better drink it ASAP as it might already be past its prime.

But then... Burgundy is predictably unpredictable.

Yves



"AyTee" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I bought a bottle of this wine today, made by Michel Prunier. Should I
> cellar it or drink it soon? I have very little experience with aged
> Burgundys.
>

> "AyTee" > wrote
> >I bought a bottle of this wine today, made by Michel Prunier. Should I
> > cellar it or drink it soon? I have very little experience with aged
> > Burgundys.
> >
Yves wrote:
> You better drink it ASAP as it might already be past its prime.
>
> But then... Burgundy is predictably unpredictable.

Thanks. The merchant I bought it from recommended I let it stand
undisturbed for a couple of weeks prior to opening, to let sediment (if
any) settle; and that it probably won't need aeration. So...a couple of
weeks to come up with appropriate menu....

I haven't had this particular wine (in this or other vintages). But a
few thoughts:

There's a load of Pruniers around Auxey, but I'm pretty sure Michel is
the highest regarded.

I like 1993 as a vintage (a lot actually), but it's probably the most
controversial vintage of the last 20 years. Most wines have high
acidity (which I don't tend to mind).

Some village level wines from 1993 are past it, others are young.

What I would suggest:
Keep in mind that this probably will be acidic. Better with food than
as a stand-alone wine. I'd look for PN friendly dishes like duck or
mushrooms, either with their own note of acidity (a spritz of lemon) or
with a richness where you would want acidity to cut through.

I'd have a dependable younger PN standing by as a backup. Here's the
important part- don't make too quick a judgement. Have bottle sitting
up for a couple days for sediment to settle. Uncork a bit before
dinner, but don't pour or decant. This is just to let out initial
bottle funk. Decant at beginning of dinner for sediment. If you find
attractive, serve immediately. If you have doubts, set aside in
decanter. Revisit occasionally.

Remember that the old Burgundy experience is not typically about power.
At it's best older Burgundy is delicate, elegant, perfumed. It's not
all about the fruit (though Burgs can certainly shock you with vivid
fruit clarity even with age).

"DaleW" > wrote in news:1144619412.793463.240730
@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> I haven't had this particular wine (in this or other vintages). But a
> few thoughts:
>
> There's a load of Pruniers around Auxey, but I'm pretty sure Michel is
> the highest regarded.
>
> I like 1993 as a vintage (a lot actually), but it's probably the most
> controversial vintage of the last 20 years. Most wines have high
> acidity (which I don't tend to mind).
>
> Some village level wines from 1993 are past it, others are young.
>
> What I would suggest:
> Keep in mind that this probably will be acidic. Better with food than
> as a stand-alone wine. I'd look for PN friendly dishes like duck or
> mushrooms, either with their own note of acidity (a spritz of lemon) or
> with a richness where you would want acidity to cut through.
>
> I'd have a dependable younger PN standing by as a back up

I can understand from the age that this may be a red and thus Pinot Noir,
but Auxey Duresses is also a white. (Indeed the only A-D that I have had
was such leading me to think of it as a white AOC just as for a while I
thought of Graves as white because my first Graves was a white La Louviere)
--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

True, but I guessed from the reference to sediment it was likely the
red.

"DaleW" in ups.com:
> True, but I guessed from the reference to sediment it was likely the red.

[Point to DaleW.] Hi Dale!


The advice to stand it up for a couple of weeks is very useful in general
for red wines, with any degree of age and chance of sediment. Probably not
bad advice even without sediment. There's a tendency for travel shock.
I've seen cartons of Burgundies newly arrived into the US -- new wine, not
aged -- with the producer's informal advice enclosed in a note, along the
lines of "leave these bottles alone to settle down for a few weeks before
opening any." (Might be worth raising this in our proposed FAQ list.

1993 in Burgundy produced some wonderful wines, and stellar values if bought
when new. I wish I had bought 10 dozen of the Jadot Beaune-Bressandes which
cost USD $19. I agree some reds may be past prime now but again, some
heavier ones are closed down. The Grivot Vougeot for instance selected for
a special dinner with this issue in mind (based on reports and rumors of its
current state) was shut down and clearly not past its prime at all.

Yes, red. And thanks to all for very helpful advice.

The only other aged Burgundies I have tasted were 2 '94 DRCs; a
Romanee-Conti and an Eschezeau. Both were past prime, badly oxidized,
tasted of canned asparagus. It was sad. Even so, I consider myself
fortunate to have had the opportunity to taste such a wine. It will
probably never happen again. This was a tasting for evaluation
purposes, with a group of other winemaking students. Needles to say, it
was on someone else's dime.

Max, red or white I try to hold off a while. If store says "this just
came in, " I put aside. I'm currently in "spring receiving" mode, as
shippers arrive from various out of town (mostly CA and IL) retailers.
Sometimes I think "boy this Burgundy would be good with the duck
tonight!" but force myself into a little self-discipline. I realize
shipping shock is controversial, and evidence is only anecdotal, but
I've had enough bad experiences to decide I'm not risking it.

Some 1993s are indeed quite shut down. I opened a 1993 Drouhin Clos de
la Roche in January at 7:30 AM- tight, tight, tight. No aromatics at
all. But by 3 that afternoon itwas glorious. A Comte Armand "Clos des
Epeneaux" needed similar time. But smaller wines like de Villaine
“les Montots” Mercurey are pretty nice with just a bit of time. I'd
expect a village Auxey to be closer to that sizewise.

In article .com>,
"AyTee" > wrote:

> Yes, red. And thanks to all for very helpful advice.
>
> The only other aged Burgundies I have tasted were 2 '94 DRCs; a
> Romanee-Conti and an Eschezeau. Both were past prime, badly oxidized,
> tasted of canned asparagus. It was sad. Even so, I consider myself
> fortunate to have had the opportunity to taste such a wine. It will
> probably never happen again. This was a tasting for evaluation
> purposes, with a group of other winemaking students. Needles to say, it
> was on someone else's dime.

These must have been mishandled bottles. None of the three DRC wines
from 90-94 I've had recently at tastings were anything less than
wonderful. What a shame to miss out on such a great wine.

"DaleW" in oups.com:

.... If store says "this just came in, " I put aside. ... I realize
shipping shock is controversial ...

Is that really true? Most everything I've heard from people who know
Burgundies and premium wines in general in recent decades advised letting
them rest after serious moves or handling, and I've had some validations of
that from my own experience (anecdotal of course in that case). Do you know
of serious controversy about it (I mean beyond the armchair level so
infinitely familiar online), to the point where it might be in writing
somewhere, or online?

Max,
I've never seen an opinion poll. But I have heard some informed people
- including a winery owner as well as an employee of a well-known wine
store- say "hogwash." I've had enough "off" just arrived bottles to
convince me, I don't need to convince them.

On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 10:27:57 -0700
"Max Hauser" > wrote:

> "DaleW" in oups.com:
>
> ... If store says "this just came in, " I put aside. ... I realize
> shipping shock is controversial ...
>
> Is that really true? Most everything I've heard from people who know
> Burgundies and premium wines in general in recent decades advised letting
> them rest after serious moves or handling, and I've had some validations of
> that from my own experience (anecdotal of course in that case). Do you know
> of serious controversy about it (I mean beyond the armchair level so
> infinitely familiar online), to the point where it might be in writing
> somewhere, or online?
>

I'm with Dale on this one: I know the phenomenon exists, having
observed it so many times. But who am I to argue with someone
who knows "better?" Nah, why bother...

It's always seemed to me that one of the great issues of
most folks not having a cellar, but rather picking up a bottle,
shaking it up in the car or on the subway, and popping the cork
(or turning the cap, if you like) 15 minutes later, is that they
never get to drink it at its best.

Say, that was a pretty good run-on sentence, and I'm on the
wagon, even!

-E

--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies