Tight 2009 Burgundy

I’ve been enjoying 2009 red Burgundies so much since their release I was rather surprised to find this bottle had closed up. Every other 2009 I’ve had recently has had arms stretched wide in welcome, but if this is the first hint some are getting tight I shall open future bottles less wantonly.

By the way, I really think the revisionism that has happened about the 2009 red Burgundies is a load of old drivel. I loved them on release and I will love them for as long as bottles get opened in my presence. I cannot agree with the suggestion that they are too ripe, fleshy and voluptuous to be ‘proper’ Burgundy. Indeed, I get the feeling that people peddling this tripe either fail to appreciate the rich diversity of glorious styles Burgundy can exhibit or, even worse, they just don’t like having a good time. Sure, minimalism, elegance, refinement and all that, but most of all fun! Burgundy is definitely to be enjoyed in a sense that, say, Bordeaux cannot be, so vintages that display more pleasures of the flesh are to be revelled in, not derided. If you love Burgundy you’ve got to have a pretty weird relationship with it not to lust after the wonders of 2009.

Heresztyn Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles-Vignes 2009

Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles-Vignes 2009, Domaine Heresztyn

This nose is a bit hot, alcohol shows more than a little. However, the fruit is not jammy or stewed so I don’t think it’s too ripe. Indeed, the fruit is charmingly ripe, with a good slap of lasciviousness to it. A hint of wood also shows on the nose, but again I’m not so bothered about this as the slap and tickle provided by the fruit and rich earthiness makes this not out of balance. Not a stunningly complex set of aromas, though, but everything that is there stands proud for you to admire without having to strain your senses to perceive its personality. Ah, now the palate is nowhere near as jolly as the nose. The fruit and earthiness are bound up in a tough core of tannin that is difficult to penetrate. With the palate seeming tough the alcohol stands out a bit too. Given the lovely fruit and earth aromas and the age of the wine I bet it’s entering a difficult patch. A year ago this would have been a willing participant in hedonistic pleasures – sadly now we’ve missed that window and will have to come back in a few more years. Experience suggests it will leap out of its hole flashing its lovelies for us to ogle once more, but exactly how long that will take would best be divined by someone who knows this wine better than me. It’s certainly good, and I would have drank it with relish before it closed up, but now it needs a bit of time.

I know my chum Lance Foyster represents this producer in the UK (he has all their flash stuff) but I got this bottle from the supermarket Waitrose for a shade over twenty notes. I’m not going to get more to age but I certainly didn’t feel robbed.

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