by Chris Kissack » Fri Aug 07, 2009 12:54 pm
Although I have never been served anything from outside Bordeaux when in that region, the Burgundians seemed to have a more outgoing, open-minded nature. On a press trip to Burgundy earlier this year although what we tasted and drank was in excess of 95% Burgundy there were at least some bottles from elsewhere. That seems to me to be a more healthy position than that found when visiting Bordeaux, which often seems to me to be trying to create the impression that there is no viticulture anywhere in the world east of Castillon. Is this a fair view, do you think?
In a similar fasion although I love the wines of the Loire above all else I will never drink exclusively from that region; to keep some context you have to taste widely, and I think drink widely as well. I know I drink fewer and fewer New World bottles, but I do still have a few Californian and Australian bottles in the cellar. And there is no shortage of wines from across Europe; recent additions to the cellar have come from Alsace, Provence, Rioja, Jurancon, Limoux, the Mosel and so on. That's obviously alongside the 2005 Rougeards, the 2005 Lebretons (Domaine de Rochelles), the Chereau-Carré Muscadet and the Claude Riffault Sancerre.....
Here are two notes on wines tasted on during a visit to Burgundy earlier in the year.
Chateau Beychevelle (St Julien) 1970: Served blind. Pure and aromatic on the nose, elegant and stylish, very meaty but bright too. Elegant, stony, perfumed, gravelly, a little note of crushed seashells which I usual take as a sign of a reasonable amount of bottle age. Clean but certainly substantial on the palate, amazingly meaty, pure and perfumed, with sappy-stony fruit like that on the nose. Grippy, but balanced, this is delicious wine. This is one of just a small handful of clarets I have tasted from this vintage - the year I was born - and on the whole they have been very good indeed. 18/20
Barbeito Malvasia Madeira 1962: Served blind. A rich, deep golden brown, with a warm and toasty tinge to the rim, with perhaps the faintest tinge of green. A little vegetal on the nose, but with notes of Christmas pudding and seasonal spices, crumbly ginger biscuits and sweet, smoky, baked earth aromas. Rich on the palate, peppery, with very prominent acidity. A very firm composition, with walnuts and sweetly polished wood. Full, rounded and expressive, this is intense and yet bright and lifted. A wine of great warmth and intensity, this goes on and on. Really very good indeed. Barbeito is a small family business established in 1946 which turns out authentic, unadulterated Madeira - on the basis of this tasting I would like to try more. 17/20