This 2011 Domaine Gachot-Morot Côte de Nuits – Villages is the second bottle of my first WineBid order.
I opened it last night because, well, I didn’t want to wait as a Villages-level Burgundy is probably getting pretty long in the tooth after 14 years.
I was not particularly careful when opening the bottle. A sniff of the cork was a bit funky. Ok, very funky. I poured about half a glass and sat down with it. First impression – this wine is gone, spoiled, too old, you name it. It smells bad, it’s cloudy, full of sediment, and the taste is a bit vinegary. In short, it’s awful.
I didn’t pour it out. I put the cork about halfway back in the bottle, stuck it in the refrigerator (the food fridge at 37°F), and left it overnight in the hope the sediment would precipitate and I could decant the wine. Today I took the bottle out of the fridge and carefully poured most of it into a carafe, leaving as much sediment as possible in the bottle (there was quite a bit) and let it come to serving temperature over about two hours, then poured a glass.
The transformation was profound. The wine had cleared quite nicely. It was clear and a light brown-garnet color. The nasty odors were gone, replaced with aromas of leather and forest floor in autumn, and an almost sherry-like character. The fruit aromas had completely aged out. In the mouth, it was smooth and supple, with no noticeable tannins and a surprisingly bright acidity. I enjoyed it.
The wine is obviously a bit past its prime years, but so am I, lol, so I can’t criticize it. All in all, it was a fun experience and I’m so glad I didn’t pour it out when it seemed there was no hope.
by -simply-complicated