Patience please

Be patient with wine. I found myself with three bottles of Pinot Noir last weekend: Hansel Pinot Noir South Slope 2005, Copain Pinot Noir Hacienda Seccoya 2006, and a Varner Pinot Noir Hidden Block 2005. These wines couldn't have been more different. The Hansel was INITIALLY picture perfect Russian River Pinot Noir- just a bursting supple red cherry fruit. It turned heads. The Copain was the dark horse- earthy, almost wild and rustic in it's portrayal of the grape, and the Varner INITIALLY was very light in color, very aromatic and fresh, almost liquid like tannins, etc... Initially I think one would think the Hansel was the best of the three, with Copain, and then the Varner coming out the end. But be patient.

The Hansel didn't get worse over three days, but it faded as it was ought to do. The Copain opened and gained even more power, more tannin, and more dark depth. And the Varner exploded. It was the wine I truly enjoyed drinking, and I made a mental note for myself to start cellaring Varner.

My point is that great wine takes time- not just cellaring time- but time on the table, time going back to it during the week. I can't tell you how many wines I've pulled and been, frankly, unimpressed on day one only to see them magically explode with fantastic quality on day 2, 3, or even 4. Usually (and I say usually), this is the case with the old school wines. It is almost always the case with young Burgundy. I recently bought a couple bottles of a new producer I'm eagerly tracking- Pierre Boisson. His Bourgogne Rouge is awesome, and I have to imagine it is basically coming from his vines in Pommard (the resemblance is too there), and anyway I brought this out to a beach cookout for my wife, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law. The wine was popped and I immediately tasted that the fruit that I knew was there, but hidden deep in the wine. Still, I enjoyed the fresh quality of it. The acid. The tart cherry fruit. I was on the beach, and the wine for me at this moment acted more like a white wine in this profile.

My wife and sister-in-law flat out didn't get it. They tasted only tartness and acid. I knew exactly why. A month before my wife had raved about the same wine- after it had been open for an entire day. Burgundy (and Pinot Noir for that matter) that are made in a traditional (non-spoofulated style) need love. They need air and oxidation when they are young (over time, with cellaring, they receive this and it's actually a no-no to decant older Burgundy lest the wine breaks due to too much air). I see this as the major failing of Burgundy and it's marketers- not truly educating consumers in aeration- and also in not serving the wines at proper temperature (as Burgundy needs a chill).

But, it all goes back to my point- be patient at the table. The flashy wine that's initially poured almost always fades. And almost always, it is the tart, acidic monster that's poured initially that swans and flowers into the wine everyone is raving about by the end of the meal (or sometimes by the end of the week).