'88 White Burg; '78 Rioja

I love surprises. And I love exploring older wines. The best way to approach these bottles, I find, is with a sense of exploration, even a sense of awe that an agricultural product produced from a single year's harvest, which may pre-date your year of birth, can still taste ok, occasionally great. Set your expectations somewhat low, do not pay more than you're comfortable with paying for something that you will not gain any further use out of after consumption, and you will be disappointed far less often.

Recently I had the good luck to enjoy a couple of stellar bottles which were drinking. And when I say drinking, I mean in their prime, strutting their stuff, no sign of slowing down anytime soon type vinous form.

The first bottle, chronologically speaking, was a 1978 Bodegas Riojanas Viña Albina Gran Reserva Rioja. Produced from 80% Tempranillo, 15% Mazuelo (Carignane) and 5% Graciano, this was everything you could want in a mature gran reserva: exotic indian spices intermingled with red berry fruit on the nose, aromas following through to the silky palate, tannins fully integrated, a hint of subtly sweet earthy savor, but not a savor which overwhelms the delicate, expressive fruit. I've only had a few other riojas from this year, '78 Lopez de Heredia Viña Bosconia Gran Reserva and '78 Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia. 1978 Viña Albina Gran Reserva, at least this particular bottle compared to the two other LdH bottles, clearly takes the cake in this trio of '78s.

Bottle #2 was found in our closeout bin for the whoppingly low price of $6, a 1988 Pierre Morey Meursault "Les Tessons." I was taken aback by the fresh citric notes on the nose, and even more so by the stunning brilliance of the flavors on the palate. Clean, chiseled lemon, tangerine oil, just a hint of a peppery Meursault terroir kick. This is simply incredible wine that should drink well for a long time to come. Oxidation? Nope, not so much at all. Pierre Morey makes killer wine now, and apparently, he made some great wines twenty years ago as well. I give this wine my highest possible recommendation for a wine made of Chardonnay grapes that is not from Vertus, Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, or the Jura.

'88's and no heartbreaks; far from slumming it in Oakland

This past Sunday in the burgeoning Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, a few of us kicked it Oakland style: basking in the east bay sun, drinkin' outdoors and, of course, barbecuing. Thanks to chemist/ Burgundy lover Arjun Mendiratta, data cluster protector/ bon vivant Slaton Lipscomb and software dude/winemaker Eric Lundblad for hanging out and sharing some terrific bottles of wine.

In order of consumption we drank:

1988 Veuve Cliquot RD

Delicious. Nutty , succulent, and really deep, bright, palate filling flavors with gutsy, real deal acidity. Loved it.

1988 Michel Esmonin Gevrey Chambertin Clos St Jacques
Woodsy, deep sous bois nose lead to a very savory, dark cherry and hoisin inflected palate, with some meaty and decaying notes. Though I enjoyed this for its maturity, I must admit that initially I preferred the Chevillon NSG below, only to reconsider my position after taking the last sip of this very good wine.

1988 Robert Chevillon Nuit St George Les Perrieres
Good wine. Very fresh, primary, red cherry aromas. Deep, intense, fresh and vibrant red fruit flavors with a hint of orange peel. Is this 20+ year old burgundy I'm tasting?? Very impressive for its vivacity and youthfulness. Q-tip might refer to it as a viverant, vivrant.

In addition to the '88s we drank a very decent bottle of '00 Fevre Chablis Bougros that was in a good, chalky mineral yet open-knit spot. There was an 01 Eric Texier Cote Rotie (didn't even know he dabbled in Cote Rotie) which was pretty, relatively lighter weight and actually reminded me of a richer Pineau d'Aunis a la Domaine de la Belleviere. '99 Drouhin Beaune Clos de Mouches was toasty, fat, a bit sweet and not really enjoyable without food - don't know if even the right food would have redeemed it's ripe, oaky qualities. '96 Fleury was fine, softer, not as wound up and less intellectual than my last few experiences with the wine.

Good drinking and hangout session, gentlemen. Special thanks to Arjun for hosting, providing the red burg and cooking delicious salmon.

Color, Quality, and Ageability of White Burgundy

Someone, please straighten me out. Though I am in the retail wine trade, I have had precious little experience with older (15 or more years after vintage, by my definition) white Burgundy. The reason I mention this today is that a customer had purchased an assortment of 25 bottles of '89 and '90 Francois Jobard Meursault (some Genevrieres, Blagny, Poruzots) and had someone pick it up for them. Upon observing the slightly deeper yellow color of the bottles of 1990 Meursault Blagny 1er Cru, the person responsible for the pick-up became concerned about the quality of the wine. He requested that I open one bottle and we taste. Fair enough, I thought. While he found the wine to show oxidative, sherry qualities, I just found it to have really harsh, bitingly disjointed acidity and not a whole lot more complexity. Of course, at this point the guy was concerned that he'd get an earful for picking up a few mixed cases of oxidized white Burgundy (even though it was Jobard, for a killer price, from an ideal cellar we recently had acquired). He proceeded to observe the color of the remaining bottles and convince himself that instead of merely the five bottles of 1990 Meursault Blagny, most if not all of the others showed too deep and advanced a color.

So the question that begs to be asked: How indicative is a slightly darker yellow (as opposed to light golden straw) color in 20 year old white Burgundy of a sub-par bottle? Are there particular probabilities at play here? Or is the issue of color really overrated? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong but 20 year old white wine will take on a deeper, more golden hue (or, if you will, 'alligator piss color' in the words of my customer today).

Incidentally, I came back to the 1990 Francois Jobard Meursault Blagny later in the day, and it showed considerably better. The acidity had mellowed, there was more richness, texture, intensity and balance on the mid-palate, and I was beginning to wonder why I hadn't purchased at least a bottle or two for myself.

Experienced Burgundy nuts and assorted wine geeks, if you could sound off here I would much appreciate it.