Bouchard Burgundies

WHEN I WAS INVITED by Jean-Francois Bouchard, the young scion of the famed Burgundian house, to a Burgundy tasting of barrel samples from the ’89 vintage, I cleared my calendar. The word was already out that an early, sunny harvest in ’89 had produced a banner year, making two good years in a row for Burgundy.

At the tasting, the barrel samples of nine red wines contained amazing surprises. Most of the Burgundies were of a beguiling softness, with little of the tannic bite one expects in red wines so young. How come?

In ripe grapes, tannins reside in the pomace--skins, stems, seeds--and they give young red wines their puckery tastes. When the newly fermenting wine is left in contact with the pomace for as long as 21 to 60 days, at least three times the usual maceration time, a dramatic change occurs. More tannins are extracted from the wine. And the tannins increase to such a concentration that smaller chain molecules merge with the larger ones, become heavy and fall to the bottom of the wine, giving the wine a gentleness.

As I sipped the 1989 Beaune-Greves, Vigne de L’Enfant Jesus and the ’89 Pommard Premier Cru, I wondered whether the technique, called pomace-cap extended maceration, had found its way to Burgundy. Reports about studies on the process had been published just a few months previously. I asked Jean-Francois.

Yes, he said, most of the nine wines were made with a new vinification process and new equipment. Hmm. I tasted the big one, Le Chambertin. Spectacular. Black currant elegance, haunting depths. I rated it 19.5 out of a possible 20 points.

Most of the ‘89s will not be coming along for a year or two, whites before the reds, but there are some super Bouchard titles here now. You’ll find the Beaune-Greves de L’Enfant Jesus ’85 for about $58, the 1986 for $48, the Pommard Premier Cru ’86 for $30. You’ll have to wait a couple years to obtain the 1989 Le Chambertin, but an outstanding ’86 is here now for $76. If you love Pouilly-Fuisse, the Bouchard 1988 (100% Chardonnay) is good: $17. And the softer, more poetic Meursault-Genevrieres, from the memorable ’85 vintage, is superb with salmon: $46.