
Flying home from my recent vacation in Costa Rica, I had a lot on my mind. The situation in Chile foremost, followed by thoughts of my impending return to the office where a short deadline for my annual Loire report waited, along with bad weather and the usual end-of-vacation doldrums.
Sitting on the plane, I took a distracted sip of the red wine I had been served—I certainly wasn’t expecting much. But the spicy, slightly mature notes, coupled with a still-lively briary hint, made me take an immediate second sip. There were nice dried cherry, strawberry and tobacco hints too, with a lingering herb note. A surprisingly good airplane wine that I rated 87 points, non-blind, before I saw what it was.
When I had the flight attendant show me the bottle, I was more than surprised. 2004 is not a great vintage for red Burgundy, but it was still nice to get a premier cru from a very respected producer, such as Drouhin.
Once again, a good sip of wine helped take the edge off of the more unpleasant things in life ….
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John Padgett — Melbourne Fla — March 2, 2010 6:35pm ET
Chris Carrad — New Zealand — March 2, 2010 9:25pm ET
I take it you weren't in the back of the bus then!!
James Molesworth — Senior Editor, Wine Spectator — March 3, 2010 10:09am ET
John: Domaine Didier Dagueneau is now being run by his children, Louis-Benjamin and Charlotte. In the transition following Didier's passing, samples of the '07 have yet to be submitted, so I have not tasted the wines. It was a difficult vintage though, so they will be hard pressed to match the '05s. I hope to be able to taste them soon though...
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You mentioned your annual report for the Loire.Your 2007 ratings leave out Didier Dagueneau's wines.Do you have opinions so as to compare with the highly rated 2005.Thanks.