There´s certainly an allure about wines, or rather producers that don´t exist anymore. Because they are better? Not always. Because of the rarity? Indeed!
I´ve been lucky to taste some of these cult wines such as Henri Jayer, Gentaz-Dervieux and particularly René Engel whose wines still make up a small, yet important part of my modest cellar. His last vintage was 2004 which we have to call a rather difficult one in Burgundy, yet Philippe Engel made a stunning range across the board.
Like many wines from the vintage, they tended to be a bit on the lean and green side in their youth, however, they have come around beautifully. My only hesitation when grabbing a bottle from the cellar is the sheer fact that my collection is shrinking at a dramatic pace! I remember buying a case back in 2009 for 800 GBP!
Today one bottle fetches 1500-2000 EUR! That´s less dramatic for my part as I never ever bought to sell or to invest.
Being the bloody wine romantic I am, I buy to drink! Thus I must confess that this bottle was truly the wine of the night despite it being flanked by a plethora of great wine! Served to a chanterelle cream soup with a tartare of lightly smoked reindeer heart really hit the spot, honest home cooking truly embellishing the wine.
What about the wine then? Great purity and intensity on the nose, floral with sweet red fruit, a fine yet exotic spiciness, some earthy truffle, sous-bois and ginger notes leading to a very silky palate with perfectly rounded tannin, sexy, seductive and refined with great flavour intensity yet appearing feather light without lacking concentration! That iskind of why we love burgundy or?