2004 Burgundy

With 2005 having been such a talked-about vintage for Burgundy, as it was for many other places in the world, the 2004 and 2006 vintages have been more than a little bit overlooked. In our store we've discounted a ton of 04's because everybody's all about buying the 05's. But here's the thing, 05 is a great vintage, and as such it's going to take a long time for those wines to mature. The 04's are coming up on their 5th birthday now and I had a dinner last night with 9 different 04's, and they were all showing marvelously. They're delicate, elegant, they have great fruit and great acidity. Taking a look at my handy-dandy Robert Parker vintage guide, it seems that the Wine Advocate rated the 05 vintage for Burgundy in general between 96 and 98 points. Meanwhile, the 04 vintage was rated between 80 and 85 points. Now, not that I needed more reason to think that that particular publication has it's head firmly entrenched up it's own backside, nor did I need further evidence that the 100-point system for rating wines is woefully flawed, but if I did, my tasting last night would have been all the proof I could have asked for.