The place for all things wine, focused on serious wine discussions.

WTN: White Burgundies

Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker

no avatar
User

Saina

Rank

Musaroholic

Posts

3976

Joined

Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:07 pm

Location

Helsinki, Finland

WTN: White Burgundies

by Saina » Fri Jul 12, 2013 2:57 pm

I have never had much exposure to white Burgundy and mostly I haven't cared for it too much. But I'm always willing to try new things - especially since I did recently get to try a perfectly enjoyable example of matureish Meursault!

First up were a couple wines from a producer I hadn't heard of before, Domaine Marc Morey & Fils.

Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru En Virondot 2008 smelled slightly off, beginning Pox or very slight cork taint? Difficult to say.

Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 2008 was much better though it had much unintegrated oak on the nose. But it had a nicely intense palate with plenty of acidity, juicy and citric fruit and a very long finish. Needs age (if one dares to keep).


The next flight was more interesting. Vincent Dancer is a biodynamic producer and has c.5ha of vines in Chassagne, Meursault and also a tiny parcel in the Grand Cru of Chevalier-Montrachet.

Chassagne-Montrachet La Romanée 2008 was a really lovely wine, fruit forward, but clean and exquisitely pure. Racy, relatively lightish body, very balanced. Dancer doesn't use batonnage so this isn't a super-rich style. Nor is it a flinty, sulfurous style, but is one of purity and Mosel-like elegance. Lovely wine.

Chassagne-Montrachet Tête du Clos 2008
Richer and riper aromas than the Romanée, more spicy oak showing as well, and more of the match-stick/flint/sulfur aromas I so often find in young white Burgundy. Substantial wine, rich but racy, but some heat on the finish. Nice stuff, but I did prefer the more ethereal elegance of the Romanée.

Meursault Perrières 2008
Slight sulfur showing, but that clears up with some air. It begins to smell of cinnamon and apples - very attractive. Rich, but with wonderful acidity and a general sense of elegance which makes this extremely moreish. I can even forgive the slight hint of vanilla-oak. :)


The third flight was Chablis. We had wines from two legendary properties, neither of which I have been able to try before.

Raveneau 1er Cru Chapelot 2008 was fruity, less sulfurous and woolly in aromas than I expected based on what I have read. A very clean, attractive and fruit-forward style of Chablis. Very nice!

Raveneau 1er Cru Forêt 2008 was a sulfurous style, just like I had read. It smells of sea-buckthorn and Champagne(!). Dry but quite rich and fleshy, incredible length. The sulfur cleared up eventually and the fruit became very pure. Nice!

Raveneau 1er Cru Monts Mains 2008 smelled quite a bit of wet woollen socks and lemon curd. Super intense and citric, mineral, bracing, electric. Great stuff. Hold.

Dauvissat Grand Cru Les Clos 1995 - this was a nicely aged example of Chablis. It smells of bitter orange marmalade and toast. Nicely calmed down from age, not super-high in acidity but adequately so, persistent and savoury and really quite lovely.


The final flight was a fairly disappointing flight of Comte Lafon.

Meursault-Charmes 1995 was probably suffering from the beginning stages of Pox. Dark orange. It smells sweet like a dessert wine; it tastes flat and lifeless.

Meursault-Charmes 1996 was in fine shape though painfully young. Initially sulfurous aromas, but citric and spicy and still with oak that needs time. Rich, oily texture, spicy and oaky, very ripe; but all of this is counterpointed by excellent levels of acidity. A nervous wine though incredibly rich. Assuming no Pox, this could become quite exciting with age.

Meursault-Genevrières 1996 was gentle and neutral in aromas; a bit on the fat and lifeless side. I didn't get obvious Pox aromas, however, and the colour wasn't advanced. But it still seemed a bit lacklustre.
I don't drink wine because of religious reasons ... only for other reasons.
no avatar
User

David M. Bueker

Rank

Riesling Guru

Posts

34261

Joined

Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:52 am

Location

Connecticut

Re: WTN: White Burgundies

by David M. Bueker » Fri Jul 12, 2013 4:35 pm

Raveneau is so delicious. I buy all of the meager few bottles offered to me each year.
Decisions are made by those who show up

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: ClaudeBot, Dale Williams, Google [Bot] and 4 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign