Being a fan of the fickle Pinot Noir, I decided to get crazy and try the old school stuff from France. I wouldn’t know a good bottle of burgunday from Ron Burgundy. A local wine merchant recommended trying a bottle of Château Philippe-le-Hardi Pinot Noir Bourgogne Vieilles Vignes ($20)
As Miles from Sideways said “Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot’s potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they’re just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and… ancient on the planet.”
Apparently, Phillippe-Le-Hardi didn’t coax hard enough. My wife and I were both disappointed. This Bourgogne reminded me less of a smooth Pinot and more of a curmudgeonly Borgnine. Which is not good, unless I’m trying to last a few more seconds in bed…
It wasn’t all bad. The aroma was nice enough, with a definite note of cherries. The color was light red with brown tones that seemed promising and reminded me of good Pinots. I did enjoy the slight dry earthy undertone taste with the first few sips.
But this bottle lacked character for us, nothing was distinctive. The finish was the worst part, somewhere between rough and ‘bitterish’ as my wife described. Overall disappointing and below average.
Hopefully the next time we’ll be able to taste or have a trusted friend recommend before buying another burgundy.
I think it’s hard to find a decent domestic pinot for $20, never mind that there bergandy stuff at that price.
I do however, recommend the Kirkland Santa Rita Hills pinot from Costco for $13.99. Reminds me a lot of the Foley Estate pinot of the same appellation (which I love) for about $20 less!
Ed-
Too bad about that one. I haven’t had it. What year was it?
I’m in the other camp, where I’d take most Burgundy or simple Bourgogne in a heartbeat over most domestic Pinot. There is usually less fruit, but often more grace- Sounds like this was a stinker though…
Dirty – that was actually a post from my friend, Jason… I am still trying to figure out why I also sometimes have the same feelings about the old world… is it because a lot of us start with Napa and Willamette type wines that it’s harder for the pallette (and brain) to enjoy such wines? Or might it also be the price point we are looking at as it relates to level of quality from that region vs. domestically?
Jason – My eyes aren’t what they were, but it looks as if this was simply from the Bourgogne AOC which has pretty broad standards… if you look for another one from a Village or even a single Vineyard AOC, which will have more strict quality and consistency standards, I hope you’ll have more luck… of course, price will increase as well… otherwise, good post and thanks for sharing
It’s funny… Jonjie and I opened one of the Penner-Ash Palmer vineyard Pinot’s we got from Willamette and I would’ve given it almost the same comments you made above… weird, because a few of their other labels were really top-notch and up to Oregon Pinot standards… you just never know sometimes