Value for Quality Delicious Burgundy

17 Jun 2012: I just spent a week in the region of Bourgogne (Burgundy), attending a course organised by BIVB (the Burgundy Wine Board).  It was an intensive programme, packed with activities which were designed to immerse the attendees into the wine culture of Bourgogne, starting from the rich and colourful history, the geology that began hundreds of millions of years ago, the climate, the microclimate that would feature as many aspects and exposures as possible in the smallest plot of vineyard, the expressive grape varieties, and lastly but not least the evolution of viticultural and vinfication knowledge and skills from father to son, from generation to generation.  I have always found learning about Burgundy wines a most humbling experience and this sentiment was reinforced in the strongest sense during this programme.  We met many wonderful men and women of Bourgogne, all working with such dedication, passion and conviction about the quality of their wines, and yet they were for the most part, lesser known than the 'big names' we're familiar with in Hong Kong.  We were also introduced to the lesser known communes where fabulous wines were produced, at a sensible price!! 

I brought back home to share with Richard the bottle of welcome gift: 2009 Pernand-Vergelesses Clos de La Croix de Pierre, Louis Jadot.  It was absolutely delicious!  Brilliant and clear, with white gold reflections.  The nose was elegant and expressive, with notes of fresh citrus fruit, pear, lime blossom and almonds.  Further aeration intensified the aromas and rendered more complex notes.  It was a lively and fresh attack on the palate.  Medium body, showing a very good level of acidity, balancing the richness of the vintage, giving a linear structure, highlighting purity of fruit, minerality, tension and lovely complexity.  Lovely dry crisp finish, with a good length.  This youthful village wine can certainly benefit from a couple more years of cellaring but is already drinking very well.  Richard and I totally loved it and we enjoyed it over a dish of deep-fried pomfret with chilli and sweet soya sauce.  Divine! (We had dinner with a representative from Jadot last week and she very kindly brought a just-bottled 2010 Beaune-Bressandes blanc - beautiful!  And we did a comparison between 2001 Beaune Clos des Ursules and Beaune Boucherottes......the Clos des Ursules would be my pick, with a more robust structure, more density, concentration and length - really gorgeous and went beautifully with the confit de canard!).  

I am so in love with the village of Pernand-Vergelesses at the moment.  So many great wines, red and white, reasonably priced, can be found here.  One of the domaines we visited was Domaine Dubreuil-Fontaine where we tasted some excellent 2010 white wines, including Aligoté, Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc, Pernand-Vergelesses Sous Frétille, the monopole Clos Berthet and an absolutely gorgeous Corton-Charlemagne.  We were treated to a nice surprise: a 1976 Pernand-Vergelesses Ile de Vergelesses....the wine was still full of energy and elegantly evolved.  Great address! 

Other communes really worth exploring include: Marsannay (I particularly recommend Marsannay Champ Perdrix, Huguenot), Mercurey (Domaine du Meix-Foulot), Saint-Aubin, Auxey-Duresses, Le Mâconnais (Do try the Pouilly-Fuissé, Pouilly-Vinzelles and Saint-Véran at Domaine Thibert!) and also red Chassagne-Montrachet (we tried a 2009 village by Jouard - really delicious and great with food  - I had been sceptical but there I was convinced about the quality of red Chassagne!). 

I also brought back to share with Richard a bottle of the 2009 Pouilly-Fuissé Les Ménétrières, Thibert.  Domaine Thibert is now run by brother Christophe and sister Sandrine.  This Les Ménétrières is a single vineyard wine. The robe is pale gold, brilliant and limpid.  The first nose was one of purity and elegance, very pleasant with ripe fresh fruit and subtle toasty, spicy notes.  Further aeration enhanced the complexity (pear, exotic fruit, toast, nuts and floral) and gave more weight to the wine. Supple, with very nice viscosity and lively acidity.  Very good freshness for this sun-baked vineyard area.  This is a compelling and expressive wine, with a lingering spicy finish.  Drinking beautifully now with some aeration but will benefit from another 12 - 18 months of cellaring.  Excellent quality.  This would make a lovely pairing with pan-fried foie gras , veal/chicken in cream sauce, or braised abalone in oyster sauce, and not to forget, the Abbaye de Citeaux cheese that I brought back, for example.  I believe this is applying for Premier Cru status and deservedly so!

During the week in Burgundy, we also visited a crémant-producer, Domaine Parigot-Richard and tasted some really high quality crémants, including a beautiful Cuvée Prestige 2009 made with 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir, both from very old vines.  I couldn't resist buying a bottle of the 2008 special bottling of 'OR', a rosé  crémant made from 100% Pinot Noir, saturated with gold leaves!  Simply delightful and it would make someone very happy! 

Drinking good quality Burgundy does not have to be expensive -  we just need to be more open-minded.  But more importantly, we need local importers to help play the part......

I recently enjoyed an article entitled "Affordable White Burgundy" by Stephen Brook in the July edition of the Decanter magazine, where he recommended a number of alternatives to Corton Charlemagne, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.  While I do not believe in generalising about communes, the article made very interesting remarks about finding value in Burgundy and also gave some very good recommendations.  Such is the rich tapestry of Bourgogne that there is a wine for everyone, and quality and ageworthy wines do not have to be expensive!  Explore and  you shall not be disappointed!!!

1971 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Dominodes, Drouhin

17 Jun 2012: Inspired by my very nice experience of a 1976 Pernand-Vergelesses Ile des Vergelesses, Dubreuil-Fontaine, we thought we would try out the 1971 Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Dominodes, Joseph Drouhin, that we've had in our cellar for quite a while.  The label was largely torn, but we managed to tape together what was left. 

Garnet robe, with slightly brick rim. The initial metallic taint dissipated rather rapidly on aeration in the glass.  A most elegant tertiary nose showing leather, wet stones, meaty, mushroom, with plenty of red fruit.   On the palate, supple with a very silky texture.  The wine could be compared to a well-aged old lady, graceful, elegant, with a fine bone structure, red cherry, raspberry, rose petals and truffle.  Lingering finish.   A Burgundian classic, a beautifully-aged wine, with finesse and purity transcending the generations.  Simply gorgeous.  This wine is drinking at peak but will keep drinking well for another 5- 6+ years, depending on storage.   How about steamed chicken with Chinese dried mushrooms or a medley of braised mushrooms in oyster sauce?  Yummy!!

We're totally dumbfounded by how wonderful this wine is showing......18/20

La Conseillante Dinner

29 May 2012:  I attended the La Conseillante dinner organised by the HK Club and Watson's Wine Cellars.  We tasted the vintages of 2007, 2006, 2004, 2000 and 1998.  The best wine of the evening was unquestionably the 2000 vintage, which still tasted very youthful, with plenty of energy and minerality, underneath the notes of plum, black cherry, blackberry, liquorice and smoke. A very elegant effort that seduces with its voluptuous texture and rich aromas, and impresses by its concentration and intensity of flavours.  While we certainly enjoyed the 2000 vintage at this dinner, it would probably benefit from a couple more years of cellaring.  The 2000 vintage included a much higher percentage of Merlot (I believe more than 90%), compared to normal vintages.  However, given the elevated price of the 2000 vintage, the 2006 would offer a superior price-quality balance.  The 2006 was at once seductive and charming, with firm ripe tannins, good acidity and some classic ripe cassis fruit, savoury, spicy and mineral notes.  Drinking very well today, but will definitely benefit from further development. Harmonious balance of texture, structure and fruit concentration.

I liked the 2007 vintage for drinking now, but it had this herbal, slightly herbaceous character which I didn't quite like.  The 2004 vintage seemed a little angular, lacked charm, even though it demonstrated some lovely dark fruit and spicy character.  The 1998 vintage lacked intensity and weight for me.  However, it seems that some of us preferred this to the 2000 vintage - perhaps there was some bottle variation??    

La Conseillante (http://www.la-conseillante.com/) is surrounded by some rather illustrious neighbours, including Pétrus, Cheval Blanc, Vieux Château Certan and L'Evangile.  The vineyard does not completely lie inside Pomerol, and includes around 4 ha in Saint-Emilion.   A typical blend would be 80 - 85% Merlot and 15 - 20% Cabernet Franc.  The château saw some remarkable vintages in 1982, 1985, 1989 and 1990 and then went through a low before returning to form since the turn of the millenium, particularly marked by 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010 vintages.  The second wine Duo de Conseillante was released from the 2007 vintage.