WTN's 2006 White Burgundies (a 14 bottle evening)....

I apologize in advance for the bandwidth. I went to a friend’s house for a 14 wine horizontal tasting of the 2006 Burgundies. It was a helluva lotta fun!!

So a quick summary on the 2006’s that we tried. THEY WERE GREAT!!! Perhaps a bit atypical. The wines were all ripe and exotic. They had a lot going on. For those that like a traditional Chablis, that is steely and thin, sorry, not this year. I prefer the 2006's to the 2005's. So onto the tasting notes. All wines were tasted blind and only revealed after the tasting and scoring.

Flight one (Chablis and nearby)

#1, 2006 Frederic Gueguen Chablis Premier Cru L’Homme Mort - $39 This wine was rather exciting to taste, great density, good acidity and minerality, great balance, I wish I had some oysters. No oak at all, so very clean but lots going on. This was my second favourite of the flight and for a great price

#2, 2006 Domaine Willian Fevre Chablis Grand Cru Le Clos - $112 A bit more reserved than the other wines of this flight but elegant, slightly sweeter, tropical fruits all over the nose and mouth (and this is a Chablis??), pineapple by the mouthful. Super density, great mouth feel, good balance and nice dose of minerality on the palate that lingers for quite some time. Long finish!... This was the wine of the flight.

#3, 2006 Dauvissat Camus Chablis Grand Cru Le Clos - $90 Great perfumey nose, loads of tropical fruit again, slightly less dense than the Fevre, less balanced, good minerality. Long finish. Very pleasant.

#4, 2006 Domaine De L’Arlot Nuit St. Georges blanc Clos L’Arlot. - $96. This was the strangest wine of the flight. (and it turned out to be not from Chablis but was included as it was the most northern of the Cote D’Ors.). Very vervy, very lively, almost spritz in my mouth, broad flavour band, not as focused as the others in the flight, again very exotic, tropical fruits dominate. Medium plus finish and not quite as refined.

Flight 2: Meursaults

#5, 2006 Bouchard Pere et Fils Meursault-Genevrieres - $102 Another great start to the flight. More dense and workmen like than the previous wines. More typical nose of Mersault, but still with nice high tone acidity. Great density and voluptuous, great mouth feel. Hint of bitterness on finish was not unpleasant and this lasted for some time.

#6, 2006 F&L Pillot Meursault Cailleret (I suspect that this is the wrong vineyard designiation as Cailleret is in Puligny) - $85. Full density, slightly sweet, buttery, mealy, loads of fruit but bit hidden right now. Finish was just a bit shorter than the Bouchard but sufficient for any nice lunch. This ranked as the second best wine of the flight.

#7 2006 Verget Meursault Tillets - $60 – Even in this group of tasters, many asked where this vineyard was located. Very nice wine for the price. Broader toned than the other two, denser, apple, pear and minerals dominate, Slightly sweet, but again nice mouthfeel. Great long long finish. Ranked best wine of the flight. Nice when the cheapest wine wins.

Flight 3 Puligny Montrachet – First controversy of the night. A meursault (my contribution) was accidentally put into this flight and beyond the belief of everyone in the room, except me  the meursault beat up the Pulignys pretty badly. This was by some margin the top wine of the flight)….

#8 2006 Marc Colin Trezin Puligny Montachet $75 –Yet another good starter of a flight. Pale golden in color, super density of tropical fruits, loads of power in this wine. Broad flavours and tone made this a very likeable wine and it ended up second of the flight

#9 2006 Jean Philip Fichet Meursault Les Chevalieres $80 Wonderfully opulent nose, great density again (I can’t believe how many times that was in my notes). But still remained very elegant, good balance, slightly better focused a wine for me along with its incredible power, minerality and a long long long finish. Score one for the little guy from Meursault taking on the big boys from Puligny!! This was the top wine of the flight

#10 F&L Pillot Puligny Montrachets Caillerets $60 – This wine came of more disjointed than any other one in the flight, thinner, slight greenness and drops of quickly.

Flight #4 Chassagne Montrachet: my favourite flight of the night

#11 2006 Marc Morey Chassagne Montrachet Virondot $93 – Very high toned acidity, slight muted nose, some nuttiness, smokiness and minerals.Green applies, slightly sweet but with a great density and again a long finish. Finished second in the flight

#12 2006 Paul Pillot Chassagne- Montrachet Grande montagne - $80 –Very pretty nose, elegant, more tropical fruits again, very exotic, good balance, refined acidity, and a noteworthy persistence even after the finish. This was the wine of the flight.

#13 2006 Michel Niellon Chassagne Montrachet Clos St Jean - $ ? slightly strange nose put many off, smoky, woody, fruits hidden a bit by this haze. Shorter finish.

#14 2006 Marc Colin Chassagne Montrachet Callerets $80 – Again a very pretty and noticeably cleaner wine than the others in the flight. Super density and great balancing acidity, dense flavours again. Very pretty wine.

If I had to rate the wine of the night, it would be the Chassagne Montrachet from Paul Pillot, followed by the William Fevre, the Fichet Meursault and then the Verget. Lots of fun this night was.

Interesting. So you and your friends are big white Burgundy drinkers. Are these for consumption when young?

Actually I am not a hugh white burg drinker, but they are so I went along for the ride Generally they noted that these could use a bit of aging.

Actually I am not a hugh white burg drinker, but they are so I went along for the ride

Not a bad strategy.

Generally they noted that these could use a bit of aging.

Good luck.

Oh sorry I should mention that most of the people there were lifers in the trade with a few buyers in the group. I was a happy tag along.

Oh sorry I should mention that most of the people there were lifers in the trade

Have they expressed any reservations about this white Burgundy situation? Do they have problems with customers that make them reconsider buying new vintages for their stores/restaurants/etc? Perhaps not since it takes so many years for the premox to become evident at which point returns are not usually possible.

Sorry to keep harping, but I am amazed at this whole situation and am amazed that the producers have not done more to address the issue. Perhaps it is less of a problem for people who buy and sell the wines to be drunk shortly after release. But still..

Oh sorry I should mention that most of the people there were lifers in the trade

Have they expressed any reservations about this white Burgundy situation? Do they have problems with customers that make them reconsider buying new vintages for their stores/restaurants/etc? Perhaps not since it takes so many years for the premox to become evident at which point returns are not usually possible.

Sorry to keep harping, but I am amazed at this whole situation and am amazed that the producers have not done more to address the issue. Perhaps it is less of a problem for people who buy and sell the wines to be drunk shortly after release. But still..

Rahsaan,

Sorry, I wish i could provide more input to that. That topic did come up in conversation once but it was in reference to even earlier vintages that were strill drinking well. I had opened 4 bottles of white burgs last year from 96 through to 98 and there was not one good bottle. I have since only purchased small amounts of white burgs and tended to not be able to keep my hands of then with the exception of the Lafons which I hope will make the trip nicely.

I understand your point, but unfortunately am unable to provide any intelligent response.