Tag Archives: Burgundy vintages

Three Days of Glory Film Review

Published on November 16, 2018

Today is the beginning of the 2018 Hospice de Beaune weekend. It’s also the worldwide release day for the documentary film Three Days of Glory.

I got a chance to get a sneak preview of the film that was produced and directed by Scott Wright of Caveau Selections and filmmaker David Baker. As I’ll explain below, it’s a must watch for wine students and Burgundy lovers.

But first, a teaser from the trailer.

What is Burgundy?

This is a central theme of the film. It follows the journey of several Burgundian producers, including Thiébault Huber of Domaine Huber-Verdereau in Volnay, Patrick Essa of Domaine Buisson-Charles in Meursault and Thierry Violot-Guillemard in Pommard, as they deal with the devastating April frost and numerous curve balls that the 2016 vintage threw at vignerons.

While grappling with the complications of the present, the vignerons (along with other voices like Burgundy expert Allen Meadows of Burghound and Scott Wright himself) contemplate their place in the traditions of Burgundy as well as the role they play in shaping the future of their families’ domaines.

The Human Element

Thierry Violot-Guillemard and his son, Joannès. Media photo courtesy of Scott Wright/David Baker.

What is exceptional about Three Days of Glory is that it really highlights what Wright calls “the human element” of Burgundy’s story. Every wine book you pick up about Burgundy will spend gallons of ink in exposition of terroir. That is irrefutably a huge part of Burgundy.

But the hands that put Burgundy’s story to paper, that shepherd the fruits of terroir to the glass, are the hands of the men and women who work the land.

Their heartbreaks, their struggles and, indeed, their glories are intimately connected. Against the backdrop of this troublesome vintage, Wright and Baker give viewers a chance to learn about what makes Burgundy, Burgundy in ways that you can’t gleam from a book or bottle.

Coupled with the film’s beautiful cinematography, watching Three Days of Glory is the next best thing to visiting Burgundy itself when it comes to understanding the region and its wines.

While the film is playing in selected theaters, you can rent Three Days of Glory at home on iTunes for only $4.99. That’s well worth it for a date night with a nice bottle curled up on the couch.

The Hospice de Beaune — 3 Days of Glory and Wine

The closest that I’ll ever get to the Hospice de Beaune.

The title of the film refers to the Les Trois Glorieuses, the 3 day celebration around Hospice de Beaune weekend that happens every November. Regardless of the success or struggles of the year’s vintage, the Burgundians celebrate the end of harvest with events such as the famous Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin dinner at Clos de Vougeot, the La Paulée de Meursault luncheon and the Hospice de Beaune wine auction conducted by Christie’s.

While you have to be a Burgundy insider to attend most any of these events, if you have deep pockets, you can visit Christie’s website on Sunday to make a bid. The time listed is 2:30 pm. I’m not sure if that’s London or Beaune time so I would recommend folks on the West Coast US to set their alarm for 5 am if they want to be part of the action.

Or, like me, you can live vicariously through Three Days of Glory as they showcase the auction and festivities around the weekend.

Caveau Selections

It’s near impossible to watch Three Days of Glory without wanting to try the wines of the producers featured. So right after you finish, you can do what I did and head over to the Caveau Selections site.

There you’ll find a little bit of back story about Scott Wright and his wife, Martha, who started their import firm in 2005. Prior to getting into the import business, the Wrights founded Scott Paul Winery in the Willamette Valley. Scott also worked several years with the Drouhin family as director of Domaine Drouhin Oregon.

I know this is a post about Burgundy but this old vine Pinot Meunier from Laherte Frères is seriously one of the best wines that I’ve had all year. I was so excited to see that I could get this from Caveau Selections.

Not only do they have available wines from many of the domaines featured in the film (including from the 2016 vintage), they also have an awesome selection of Grower Champagne. I particularly flipped when I saw Laherte Frères (an insanely good Pinot Meunier specialist) and Pertois-Moriset (great blanc de blanc grower from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger).

I haven’t decided if I want to join their curated wine clubs yet but it’s clear that the Wrights have a passion for seeking out exceptional growers to feature. While I greatly enjoyed watching Three Days of Glory, I think the discovery of the portfolio of Caveau Selections is going to be delighting me for years to come.

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Wine Geek Notes 2/28/18 — Interesting Tweets & Burg Vintages

Amber LeBeau in Burgundy, Geek Notes, Wine Knowledge

Published on February 28, 2018

Here’s what I’ve been reading today in the world of wine.

Odds & Ends from Twitter

Some interesting weblinks from Twitter that are worth the read.

Smelling Terroir: A New Study Suggests People Can Smell the Difference Between Wines Solely Based on Terroir (but can we, really?) from the Academic Wino (@TheAcademicWino)
Very cool read about a 2016 study that showed that both experts and non-experts were able to smell the difference between wines grown in two different terroirs. Becca looks a little more in-depth at the study to question if it’s really the terroir differences they are smelling or something else.

new maps & saturday afternoon in the meursault sunshine from Bill Nanson (@billnanson) at the Burgundy Report with the tweet coming across my dash via @RealWineGuru
I’m a bit of a map geek (as evidence by my geek out over this Clos Vougeout map) so I absolutely squealed at the discovery of these incredibly detailed Beaujolais cru maps. Also some lovely pictures of Meursault that had me daydreaming about sipping on a Les Charmes.

So you want to be a wine judge by Master of Wine Sarah Jane Evans (@SJEvansMW) courtesy of @WSETglobal
As noted in yesterday’s Wine Geek Notes, I’ve been doing a lot of research on Wine Competitions and this article from Sarah Jane Evans added another perspective. One of the questions that I’ve been debating in my head is “Who benefits from Wine Competitions–the winery or the consumer?” which Evans answers rather bluntly “Remember that ultimately you are doing the judging for the winemaker and brandowner.”

Plant more Chenin!!!! The author screams into the void.

Wine of the Week: Lang & Reed, 2016 Napa Valley Chenin Blanc from Peg Melnik (@pegmelnik) at The Press Democrat with the tweet coming across my dash via @jncorcoran1
The subheader is what hooked me: “What happened to chenin blanc in California?” I have a soft spot for Chenin and have bemoaned the lack of interest of it in Washington State so I was similarly disheartened to read the staggering stat of how 3000 acres of Chenin blanc in Napa in 1980 has shrank down to just 14 acres today.

Burg’in Around

For my 60 Second Review of the 2013 Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot Chambolle-Musigny I did some background research on the estate and 2013 vintage that had me stumbling across a few nifty links.

Pearl of Burgundy YouTube Channel
Features well produced short 2-4 minute videos from several Burgundian producers. While the Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot vid is what initially caught me, I also enjoyed the videos from Domaine Henri Gouges, Domaine Lamarche and Domaine Grivot. By this point I was hitting the subscribe button for the channel.

2013 burgundy – the fairy-tale vintage? from Master of Wine Jancis Robinson (@JancisRobinson)
Always some of my favorite vintage write-ups. Great summary at the bottom of the article about the big issues facing 2013 but I also like how she explores the potential similarities (and differences) between 2013 and 1996 that also segue into comparing 2012 to 1998/1988.

The 2013 Red Burgundies: Fascinating and Challenging (Paywall) by Stephen Tanzer (@StephenTanzer1) on Vinous.
Tanzer takes a slightly more pessimistic outlook on 2013 and goes into more details about the challenges that the Côte de Beaune, in particular, had.

A Vintage Viewpoint…(2013, 2012, 2011…) from Bill Nanson at the Burgundy Report.
A nice little one page summary of the 2013 vintage in comparison to the 2012 and 2011 vintages.

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60 Second Wine Review — Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot Chambolle-Musigny

Amber LeBeau in 60 Second Reviews, Burgundy, Wine reviews

Published on February 28, 2018

A few quick thoughts on the 2013 Domaine Coquard-Loison-Fleurot Chambolle-Musigny.

The Geekery

Domaine Coquard-Loison-Fleurot (CLF) is a 5th generation family estate currently ran by cousins Claire Fleurot and Thomas Colladot. For years, the fruit from their enviable holdings in the Grand Crus of Grands Echezeaux (0.18 ha), Echezeaux (1.29 ha), Clos de Vougeot (0.64 ha), Clos de la Roche (1.17 ha), Clos St. Denis (0.17 ha) and Charmes-Chambertain (0.32 ha) went to négociants. But since 2010, when Thomas took over winemaking, they have been domaine bottling over 90% of their production.

Recently, Neal Martin of the The Wine Advocate has described CLF as “…your new favorite domaine” that has flown under the radar for many years but likely won’t for long.

The Chambolle-Musigny comes from 0.8 ha of vines located just below the premier crus. In The Wines of Burgundy, Clive Coates notes the high quality of village-level wines in Chambolle-Musigny is partly attributed to their being so little of it. The high portion of limestone and low fertility means that Chambolle-Musigny always produces far less wine than neighboring communes like Morey-St-Denis and Vosne-Romanée.

The Combe de Chamboeuf between the Grand Crus of Bonnes Mares and Musigny often deliver hailstorms. In many vintages, this further reduces yields. But while 2013 saw hail devastate the Côte de Beaune, Chambolle-Musigny was relatively untouched that vintage.

The Wine

Medium-plus intensity nose. Very floral but it also has an exotic black olive and Asian spice note that is very intriguing.

The black plums are well balanced by the fresh acidity in this wine.

On the palate, dark fruits emerge like black plum and black cherry. The medium-plus acidity balances the fruit well. The medium tannins have a soft, silkiness to them. Lovely and long finish.

The Verdict

At around $75-85, this is a screaming bargain compared to the village level 2013 Chambolle-Musigny wines from estates like Comte de Vogue (ave $164), Mugnier (ave $142) and Roumier (ave $178).

While Coquard-Loison-Fleurot hasn’t achieved the level of acclaim as those estates, it may be worth taking Neal Martin’s advice and discovering this domain before everyone else catches on.