An In-Flight Wine to Chase Away the Post-Vacation Blues

Joseph Drouhin Beaune Premier Cru 2004
James Molesworth
Posted: March 2, 2010

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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Member comments   3 comment(s)

John Padgett — Melbourne Fla —  March 2, 2010 6:35pm ET

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.


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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