Ageability of Burgundies is often discussed .. and in my view this could be relevant but in most contexts its not – and here is why.
I recently published some notes on Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé 2014 bottled wines – and a guy asked me if they are for long term ageing.
This is not the first time I get this type of question and my answer was … “in my view most good red Burgundies keep as long as needed. Its rarely an issue”
The truth is that even lesser vintages of Vogüé will keep for decades – and aside for the 1994s – most wines produced within the last 30 years are still drinking beautifully – if stored properly.
This is the case with many producers and in fact very few Burgundies are consumed past their peak of maturity – on the contrary most Burgundies are enjoyed too young and too early.
I have been collecting Burgundies for around 25 years now and never had a wine from my own cellar that was over the hill – aside for a few old bottles from before 1970 acquired in recent years.
The focus on points and ageability
The focus on points and top vintages has a flip side of the coin – ageability. The longer a wine can keep – the better the wine must be – this seems to be the view of some point collectors.
Is a great wine? – yes it can keep for 100 years in the cellar before its even fully matured!
In my view the relevance of agability is limited for most red Burgundies – and top producers like Vogüé could well do like Rolls Royce – just say “sufficient” .. or even “more than you will ever need”.
Sadly most of those who focus on wines with a very long ageing potential seem to be the same people who are drinking the biggest wines from top vintages very young and often just after release … point drinkers and label wankers (pardon my French). Why do you bother to look for ageability – if you pop the cork just after the wine passes out through the gate of the estate?
In my view one should be happy if a grand cru matures within 15 years – then there is in fact a possibility that you will taste the wine fully mature while you still have the sensory abilities intact.
We will soon see the 2015 hype unfold fully .. and some wines will definitely need 30 years or more to unfold full maturity … these are wines that I most likely will never experience at the peak of their game.
So in reality it could well be a good idea to focus on the 2014s … as they most certainly will mature quicker .. but still .. a Musigny from Vogüé still needs more than 15 years to unfold.
Again back to my main point about drinking window … buy the wines that you will be able to enjoy and that ensures you always have enjoyable wines to take from the cellar.
Ageability of the white Burgundies
The white Burgundies is another story – here ageability has to a large degree become a question of the risk of premox and some of the factors behind premox.
In my view the desire to please the consumers with white Burgundies that taste good already when they are released has scewed the perception of ageability for white Burgundies.
The quest for drinkability is also one of the factors behind premox … the most significant issue about ageability of white Burgundies.
“Will it age well?” … has become “do I dare to age it?”.
This is indeed a sad thing as the ageability of white Burgundies should be almost the same as for the reds ,,, or should it?
I have tasted quite some 1996 whites in recent years – and some are still very fresh even at village level, and the grand crus are in some cases not fully mature yet. The variation in maturity is however quite large seen over the different producers .. so to claim that the ageability is the same for the whites as for the reds is more theoretical – as many whites age rather poorly … especially those made between 1996 and 2006.
Taking the 1996 example (a great year for the whites) the Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet village is approaching full maturity – but is still fresh (for a fine example) – drink now or over the next 5 years. Les Pucelles 1996 from Leflaive is a true beauty – still very vibrant, and can age further – an outstanding wine. The Batard-Montrachet 1996 from Domaine Leflaive is still quite young and need time to unfold full complexity …
The focus on elimination of premox will in my view give us more ageing potential in the whites as more SO2 is used by quite many producers – and the focus on reducing oxidation will minimize the variance and the randomness of ageability. Will they restore the faith in ageing white Burgundies – I hope so! – and furthermore I think so!!
To be honest I’m longing for the day when most collectors again will mature white Burgundies as they do with the reds … nothing like a great mature white Burgundy.