Unrealized potential in Burgundy

It’s important to remember that a lot of very fine vineyards in Burgundy are perhaps not receiving the talent and attention they deserve. A significant number of grand cru vineyards are clearly not producing the wines they could produce under optimal management and talent.

Some growers never had the magic touch; others have slowly but surely lost it, producing increasingly indifferent wines.

Very large – unrealized – potential

This is sad, but also natural; many times we have seen a new generation take over and turn a domaine’s style and quality into something completely different – and much more exciting.

Domaine Camus Pere et Fils: a name, a reputation, rumours, and seemingly very little to tell. Or perhaps there is more?

This article is certainly not written to criticize the Camus estate. It has quite a prominent past, producing clearly better wines in the 1950s, 1960s and even into the 1970s (see the 1978 example below).

But let me start with a true story regarding this producer just to illustrate the domaine’s production in the 1990s.

When I began collecting Burgundies in the early ’90s, I bought many different ones, including some Mongeard-Mugneret Echezeaux and some Camus Pere et Fils from the 1990 vintage.

Fast forward a bit more than 10 years, and I had just moved my wines to a new location. During the move I ran across a Domaine Camus Le Chambertin amongst the odds and ends.