by Bonnie in Holland » Fri May 21, 2010 4:35 am
Hooray!! White Burgundy is one of my favorites. Here are some recent tasting notes:
Vire-Clesse 2007, Collin Bourisset, 13% abv, tasted May 4, 2010, 13.25 euros
This wine has a medium gold core, with a narrow watery rim, and not a great deal of viscosity (surprisingly so given the alcohol percentage). The nose was clean, giving an aged bouquet with a medium intense character of ripe apples, gentle oak, toast, and wasn't terribly complex. On the palate, the wine was dry with crisp acids nicely in balance with both fruit and oak, buttery mouthfeel, soft toasty oak mixed with chalk and apples. The length was medium, with toast and fruit. For the quality, I would say that this is of average quality, nicely balanced and ready to drink now and over the coming 6 months to a year. It's not complex -- just very pleasant to drink.
Les Champs-Lins Pouilly-Fuisse 2007, Vincent Girardin, 13% abv, tasted May 17, 2010, 17.95 euros
This was my first Girardin wine, so I was pretty excited to taste it. (We just started carrying this and his Mersault 2007 and Puligny-Montrachet 2007, which are also waiting in the cellar to try.) This wine has a pale gold core, wide watery rim, and long syrupy legs (very different from the Vire-Clesse from the same year!). On the nose, it has very intense youthful aromas, light oak, lots of lemon citrus freshness, minerals, and freshly-cut tart apple. It clearly has farther to go than the V-C, judging by the nose. This wine has only medium acids, thus less than the V-C, balanced with nicely-drying tannins. The toasty oak is present but not over-bearing. The alcohol seems to me to be high for the wine, because it is very hot in the finish, which is of medium length. This wine is much lighter in body than the Mersault or Chassagne-Montrachet to follow. This wine is of average quality, lacking enough acids and has too much alcohol for what it can support. Drink over the coming two years.
Chateau Perruchot, S.C.E. Prieur, Mersault 1er Cru Charmes 2002, 13.5% abv, tasted May 13, 2010, price around 32 euros
This wine has a medium gold core (deeper than the Vire-Clesse) with long enthusiastic legs. The nose shows a clean condition, an aged bouquet of smokey oak, sweet apple and some white fruit (peach). There's no hint of oxidation (sherry on the nose or otherwise). The wine has a pronounced, intense character of roasted nuts (almonds), toasty oak and some apple. There's a very buttery mouthfeel, with a fuller body than either the Pouilly-Fuisse or Vire-Clesse. The length is extremely long, with a finish of roasted nuts, oak and heat. This is a good quality wine, though the alcohol is too heavy for the balance. Drink now and over the coming year.
Chateau Perruchot, Prieur, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embazees 2003, 13.5% abv, tasted May 14, 2010, price around 20 euros (I pulled this out of the rack with left-over or over-the-top wines, but it shouldn't have been there, I learned later. That's why the low price.)
What a difference a year and a different area of Burgundy make!! This wine has a deep golden color and deep legs to match. The nose is clean, but the wine is showing a slight oxidation (sherry-like) aromas that passes as the wine sits in the glass. Clearly this wine is more advanced in development than the Mersault. There is an aged bouquet of caramel, vanilla, small amount of oak without the toast or smokiness of the Mersault, cooked apple, and slightly spice. On the palate, the wine shows medium acids (more than the 2002 Mersault), very soft tannins and alcohol well in balance with the wine (finally!). There's slight toast, peach and apple. The length is very very long with the finish carrying all the complexity of the wine. This is an outstanding wine, well balanced and drinking wonderfully. Drink this year.
Going on to a few random comments from other bits in this thread...
About Olivier Leflaive (not his cousin at Domaine Leflaive), I really like his wines and think they're pretty well-made -- and find that they seem to develop rather quicker than expected. Doing the big tasting over lunch at his restaurant in Puligny was a huge pleasure!
I don't understand Premature Oxidation very well in terms of a specific definition -- I know oxidation, but is there any definition there regarding area or quality level and when the oxidation is premature? I've truthfully run into relatively few white Burgundy's that have been oxidized (and I drink a lot of it) though I know this is a well-known problem.
Finally, Cor, great to see you back!! I am the little shrimp from Arnhem who was going for the WSET Diploma (finally succeeded!) and met you at an Henri Bloem tasting once. Are you still working toward the Master of Wine qualification? Good luck in your endeavors!
cheers, Bonnie