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| The Hill of Corton, picture taken from the shuttle bus! |
March 2014: This was my first experience of Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne (a week-long trade tasting that takes place every 2 years), and a rather unforgettable one, that was. The organisation was superb - the number of participating domaines from each region, the logistics of registration, transport, glassware, tasting booklets for each day and food, and the quality and quantity of the wines presented. At least for me, I had only come across a few occasions (usually around mid afternoon) where the domaine had run out of wine....but it was rare and usually with the more popular/best known ones. I found it very meaningful to have the tastings organised at different regions - it emphasised the diversity of Bourgogne and broke up the monotony of tasting at one single location for 5 straight days, even though it meant that some people would have to forego a few tastings, if tasting at the speed of light wasn't their thing, or if they felt more like taking their time to talk to vignerons. Not every day was organised at multiple locations, only the 2 days which were likely to attract the most attention......the Château du Clos de Vougeot would have been impossible had the tasting of wines from Vosne-Romanée not been one out of 4 tastings on that day!
We arrived early morning at CDG and immediately drove down to Chablis in the hired car. Day 1 was not to be missed! "Les Portes d'Or de La Bourgogne" featuring the wines from Chablis and Grand Auxerrois. Both floors of the Maison des Vins de Chablis were taken up by exhibiting domaines as well as the marquee on the lawn. It was so nice to see such a high turnout on Day 1 especially when there was no shuttle service from Beaune and everyone would have to make his own way to the tasting. The jetlag dissipated with the hustle and bustle and the bright sunshine and balmy weather also helped us settle into the mood of the tasting. After a few sips of Chablis, you could understand why the oyster-shuckers probably had the toughest job that day! Some domaines showed 2011 and others a mix of 2011 and 2012. For 2012, the quality across left and right banks seemed consistent - the Right Bank showed more richness and fleshy mouthfeel, but deftly balanced by complexity, minerality and vibrant acidity, whereas the Left Bank generally showed great precision and nervosity - a sense of cleanliness was felt all round! Simply sensational wines. We couldn't taste at all the domaines but here are a handful of recommendations that I managed to record!
Romain Bouchard: 2011 and 2012 Vau de Vey
Christian Moreau: 2012 Chablis Les Clos and 2011 Chablis Les Clos, Clos des Hospices
Domaine du Colombier: 2012 Fourchaume and 2011 Bougros - very impressive!
Alain Geoffroy: 2012 Beauroy, 2012 Vau Ligneau - very good examples, very expressive
Louis Michel: 2012 Montmains, 2012 Montée de Tonnerre, 2011 Vaudésir
Bessin: 2012 Valmur, 2012 Montmains, 2012 Forêts - loved the precision and persistent minerality
Pinson: 2012 Mont de Milieu, Forêts and Fourchaume
William Fèvre: 2012 Vaillons, 2012 Bougros Côte de Bouguerots, 2012 Les Clos
Simonnet-Febvre: 2012 Vaillons,2012 Montmains, 2011 Les Clos and Blanchot
Because of the number of people who naturally would flock to Vosne-Romanée and Chambolle-Musigny, most companies allocated different staff to attend different tastings to get the most out of the day. We started at the Joyaux en Côte de Nuits - a tasting of wines from Marsannay, Fixin and Gevrey. For me this was a great tasting (not least because the lunch buffet included some really delicious hot vegetable potage, which turned out to the most practical, sustaining type of food to be taken effectively standing up!) as I got to taste at some long-admired domaines at Marsannay. The 2012 showed such class and style, with the complexity and elegance to complete the picture. The Marsannay I tasted at Sylvain Pataille, Bruno Clair and Olivier Guyot were expressive, of the terroir and the winemaker's style. Huguenot showed well too. I could recommend the 2012 Marsannay Rouge En La Montage by Olivier Guyot, the 2012 Marsannay L'Ancestrale and Clos du Roy by Sylvain Pataille, the 2011 Marsannay Les Longeroies by Bruno Clair and the 2012 Champs Perdrix by Huguenot. I was expecting the Fixins to taste a bit more austere, but most were rather elegant with fine tannin and good depth....particularly liked the 2011 Fixin Vieilles Vignes by Humbert Frères. His Gevrey Premiers Crus were rather tasty too: such contrast between the very approachable and elegant Craipillot and the more structured and mineral-laden Poissenot, both from the 2011 vintage. Amongst all the Gevrey domaines I tasted, I particularly admired the wines by Domaine Tortochot. There you could taste a very expressive and well-made range of 2012 wines, from the village wines of Aux Corvées and Les Champs Perriers to the premiers crus of Lavaux Saint Jacques and Champeaux. The Charmes Chambertin was delicious and rated better with me than the Mazis!
After a brief lunch break, I headed to the Château du Clos de Vougeot for the Vosne tasting - Vosne Millésime - Noblesse des Clos Vougeot. I guess the stands had already been well raided in the morning, leaving some stands rather empty and unoccupied when I arrived just after 2:30 pm! That must have been the case with Sylvain Cathiard, whose wines I was rather looking forward to trying. Domaine des Perdrix had also run out of wine when I finally made my way there! I was really impressed by the number of domaine owners (including some top names) who came out in support of Les Grands Jours, pouring wines for the tasters........Some domaine owners even brought round a few bottles from earlier vintages, as top-up after lunch, given the popularity of the wines. The 1999 Clos de Vougeot, Drouhin was a treat!
Here is a selection of some interesting ones that I tried and liked (I did try more than what I listed here….but still merely a fraction of what was available to be tasted and if you could get close to the person pouring!):
René Cacheux: 2012 Les Suchots (expressive nose), 2012 Les Beaux Monts (good minerality, complexity)
Bouchard: 2012 Clos de Vougeot
Bertagna; 2012 Clos de Vougeot (good perfume) and 2012 Vosne (very elegant)
Confuron Cotetidot: 2012 Vosne Village (purity of lovely fruit), 2012 Les Suchots
A.F. Gros; 2012 Clos de La Fontaine (pretty fruit!), 2012 Aux Réas, 2012 Echézeaux and 2012 Richebourg
Joannet; 2012 Vosne Village and 2012 Les Suchots (very good balance, underwhelmingly classy) - domaine also has vineyards in Pernand-Vergelesses and equally commendable! Young winemaker worth checking out!
Comte Liger-Belair: 2012 Clos du Chateau (très bon nez, good complexity) and 2012 Echézeaux (great persistence)
Georges Noëllat: 2012 Les Chaumes (stylish and good concentration without heaviness) and 2012 Les Beaux Monts (beautiful aromatics, fleshy), 2012 Grands Echézeaux (classy and elegant)
Méo-Camuzet: 2012 Chaumes (gorgeous), 2012 Clos de Vougeot (very fine and complex), 2012 Echézeaux (a top example with fine tannin) - the tannin here not as silky, quite noticeable at the moment, will take some time to integrate
Daniel Rion: 2012 Echézeaux and 2012 Les Chaumes
Tortochot: a vertical of 2008, 2011 and 2012 Clos de Vougeot was shown and I liked the 2012 best! 2012 was the most complete wine, with good concentration, complexity and intensity; 2011 was approachable already, very supple texture; while 2008 showed well but lacked the depth or concentration of the 2012.
Unfortunately, I had run out of steam by the time I got to the Nuits tasting hall - so I just waited for the last shuttle back to Beaune, taking in the much needed crisp fresh air while waiting!
Richard had gone to the Chambolle tasting instead of the Vosne tasting....and here are some highlights from his notebook:
Bertagna: 2012 Clos de Vougeot, 2012 Vougeot 1er Cru Clos de La Perrière and the 2012 Chambolle village was a good example
Christian Clerget: 2012 Chambolle village a fine example
Clos de Tart: 2012 Clos de Tart, a top wine!
Romain Bouchard: 2011 and 2012 Vau de Vey
Christian Moreau: 2012 Chablis Les Clos and 2011 Chablis Les Clos, Clos des Hospices
Domaine du Colombier: 2012 Fourchaume and 2011 Bougros - very impressive!
Alain Geoffroy: 2012 Beauroy, 2012 Vau Ligneau - very good examples, very expressive
Louis Michel: 2012 Montmains, 2012 Montée de Tonnerre, 2011 Vaudésir
Bessin: 2012 Valmur, 2012 Montmains, 2012 Forêts - loved the precision and persistent minerality
Pinson: 2012 Mont de Milieu, Forêts and Fourchaume
William Fèvre: 2012 Vaillons, 2012 Bougros Côte de Bouguerots, 2012 Les Clos
Simonnet-Febvre: 2012 Vaillons,2012 Montmains, 2011 Les Clos and Blanchot
Because of the number of people who naturally would flock to Vosne-Romanée and Chambolle-Musigny, most companies allocated different staff to attend different tastings to get the most out of the day. We started at the Joyaux en Côte de Nuits - a tasting of wines from Marsannay, Fixin and Gevrey. For me this was a great tasting (not least because the lunch buffet included some really delicious hot vegetable potage, which turned out to the most practical, sustaining type of food to be taken effectively standing up!) as I got to taste at some long-admired domaines at Marsannay. The 2012 showed such class and style, with the complexity and elegance to complete the picture. The Marsannay I tasted at Sylvain Pataille, Bruno Clair and Olivier Guyot were expressive, of the terroir and the winemaker's style. Huguenot showed well too. I could recommend the 2012 Marsannay Rouge En La Montage by Olivier Guyot, the 2012 Marsannay L'Ancestrale and Clos du Roy by Sylvain Pataille, the 2011 Marsannay Les Longeroies by Bruno Clair and the 2012 Champs Perdrix by Huguenot. I was expecting the Fixins to taste a bit more austere, but most were rather elegant with fine tannin and good depth....particularly liked the 2011 Fixin Vieilles Vignes by Humbert Frères. His Gevrey Premiers Crus were rather tasty too: such contrast between the very approachable and elegant Craipillot and the more structured and mineral-laden Poissenot, both from the 2011 vintage. Amongst all the Gevrey domaines I tasted, I particularly admired the wines by Domaine Tortochot. There you could taste a very expressive and well-made range of 2012 wines, from the village wines of Aux Corvées and Les Champs Perriers to the premiers crus of Lavaux Saint Jacques and Champeaux. The Charmes Chambertin was delicious and rated better with me than the Mazis!
After a brief lunch break, I headed to the Château du Clos de Vougeot for the Vosne tasting - Vosne Millésime - Noblesse des Clos Vougeot. I guess the stands had already been well raided in the morning, leaving some stands rather empty and unoccupied when I arrived just after 2:30 pm! That must have been the case with Sylvain Cathiard, whose wines I was rather looking forward to trying. Domaine des Perdrix had also run out of wine when I finally made my way there! I was really impressed by the number of domaine owners (including some top names) who came out in support of Les Grands Jours, pouring wines for the tasters........Some domaine owners even brought round a few bottles from earlier vintages, as top-up after lunch, given the popularity of the wines. The 1999 Clos de Vougeot, Drouhin was a treat!
Here is a selection of some interesting ones that I tried and liked (I did try more than what I listed here….but still merely a fraction of what was available to be tasted and if you could get close to the person pouring!):
René Cacheux: 2012 Les Suchots (expressive nose), 2012 Les Beaux Monts (good minerality, complexity)
Bouchard: 2012 Clos de Vougeot
Bertagna; 2012 Clos de Vougeot (good perfume) and 2012 Vosne (very elegant)
Confuron Cotetidot: 2012 Vosne Village (purity of lovely fruit), 2012 Les Suchots
A.F. Gros; 2012 Clos de La Fontaine (pretty fruit!), 2012 Aux Réas, 2012 Echézeaux and 2012 Richebourg
Joannet; 2012 Vosne Village and 2012 Les Suchots (very good balance, underwhelmingly classy) - domaine also has vineyards in Pernand-Vergelesses and equally commendable! Young winemaker worth checking out!
Comte Liger-Belair: 2012 Clos du Chateau (très bon nez, good complexity) and 2012 Echézeaux (great persistence)
Georges Noëllat: 2012 Les Chaumes (stylish and good concentration without heaviness) and 2012 Les Beaux Monts (beautiful aromatics, fleshy), 2012 Grands Echézeaux (classy and elegant)
Méo-Camuzet: 2012 Chaumes (gorgeous), 2012 Clos de Vougeot (very fine and complex), 2012 Echézeaux (a top example with fine tannin) - the tannin here not as silky, quite noticeable at the moment, will take some time to integrate
Daniel Rion: 2012 Echézeaux and 2012 Les Chaumes
Tortochot: a vertical of 2008, 2011 and 2012 Clos de Vougeot was shown and I liked the 2012 best! 2012 was the most complete wine, with good concentration, complexity and intensity; 2011 was approachable already, very supple texture; while 2008 showed well but lacked the depth or concentration of the 2012.
Unfortunately, I had run out of steam by the time I got to the Nuits tasting hall - so I just waited for the last shuttle back to Beaune, taking in the much needed crisp fresh air while waiting!
Richard had gone to the Chambolle tasting instead of the Vosne tasting....and here are some highlights from his notebook:
Bertagna: 2012 Clos de Vougeot, 2012 Vougeot 1er Cru Clos de La Perrière and the 2012 Chambolle village was a good example
Christian Clerget: 2012 Chambolle village a fine example
Clos de Tart: 2012 Clos de Tart, a top wine!
Drouhin: 2012 Chambolle village and 2012 Clos de La Roche (rich and powerful, quite closed for the time being)
Fougeray de Beauclair: 2012 Bonnes Mares (concentrated and powerful, long and serious wine, for the long haul)
Hubert Lignier: 2012 Morey-Saint-Denis (top example) and 2012 Morey 1er Cru La Riotte (complex and sexy, long and beautiful, lots of stuffing) - Richard said all he could do was thrusting out his arm with an empty glass, through the crowd, and somehow when he brought his arm back in, wine would have been poured inside! Amazing!
Day 3 was an easier day as all the different regions were accommodated in the Palais des Congrès. The 4 themes were: Symphonie Mâconnaise, L'Autre Bourgogne, Quinté Sens and Beaune Couleurs Vins. Let's start with Beaune Couleurs Vins. Again, this is just a mere selection of some of the highlights I tasted!
Bouchard: 2012 Beaune Rouge du Château (from 17 parcels, lovely fruit and floral aromatics), 2012 Beaune Clos de La Mousse (supple, elegant and good intensity), 2012 Beaune Grèves Vigne de L'Enfant Jésus (intense nose, lots of complexity, depth, a very classy wine), 2012 Beaune Clos Saint-Landry (nice and supple white, good balancing acidity)
Château de Meursault: 2012 Beaune Grèves, 2012 Beaune Les Cent Vignes (expressive, aromatic, elegant and supple)
Domaine des Croix: 2012 Pertuisots (rounded mouthfeel, smooth tannin), 2012 Bressandes (good aromatics, structure and elegance), 2012 Les Cent Vignes (supple and aromatic), 2012 Beaune Grèves (structured)
Drouhin: 2011 Côte de Beaune Blanc (good nervosity, minerality), 2011 Côte de Beaune Rouge (beautiful aromatics) – sadly I was not offered to taste the Clos des Mouches (which I saw in the background!)
Quinté Sens was the group name for the wines from 5 villages: Aloxe-Corton, Chorey-lès-Beaune, Ladoix-Serrigny, Pernand-Vergelesses and Savigny-lès-Beaune. I had the most fun discovering these appellations and I had become an absolute fan of Pernand-Vergelesses (both reds and whites)!
Follin-Arbelet: 2012 Pernand-Vergelesses Les Fichots (lovely lift in aromas, minerality, finesse and finishes with good crisp acidity), 2012 Aloxe-Corton Les Vercots (more astringent tannin, a firmer structure but very elegant) – I was so happy to be tasting the 2004 of the Les Fichots last night (5 Apr 2014) at a dinner hosted by a friend in HK....it was much less charming than the 2012 but did not show any of the vegetal characteristics that sometimes could be too apparent in some 2004's and showed the underlying minerality of Les Fichots!
.JPG)
Joannet: 2012 Pernand-Vergelesses Les Fichots (very elegant) - only produced 400 bottles (the white did not work so well for me)
Pavelot: 2012 Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc Sous Frétille (lovely balance and complexity, good energy), 2011 Rouge Ile des Vergelesses (gorgeous example, loved the sous-bois, coffee, plum and floral nose), domaine certified organic
Rapet: 2012 Ile de Vergelesses (great intensity, ripe fruit, depth, beautiful minerality, lots of energy), 2011 Beaune Grèves (supple)
Rollin: 2011 Les Fichots (finesse), 2011 Ile des Vergelesses (intense nose, very fine, elegant, plenty of character), 2012 Pernand Blanc (very mineral, beautiful fruit), 2012 Pernand Les Cloux (good balance here)
Simon Bize: it was nice to see Chisa pouring the wine here.....a vertical of Les Bourgeots was tasted here. 2009 was ripe and very nice. 2010 showed a fine tannic structure and 2011 was rather supple.
Chandon de Briailles: I rather liked the 2011 Savigny Les Lavières and the 2011 Pernand Ile des Vergelesses (there was an interesting sauvage character behind the fruit)
Doudet-Naudin: 2011 Pernand Blanc Sous Fretille (from 80-year-old vines,a brilliant white, great tension and complexity), 2011 Savigny Blanc Redrescul (a 0.6 ha monopole of Doudet-Naudin’s, younger vines of 25 years, grapefruit and spice, waxy texture), 2011 Pernand Les Fichots (love the red fruit and spicy nose)
Dubreuil-Fonatine: 2012 Pernand Blanc, 2012 Pernand Blanc 1er Cru Clos Berthet (nice weight, freshness keeping in balance), 2012 Pernand Ile des Vergelesses
And from the Mâconnais, I tasted at:
La Soufrandière/Bret Brothers: 2012 Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Longeays, 2012 Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Quarts (loved them both, the Les Quarts showed more richness and complexity, but the Les Longeays showed great vibrancy and energy)
Thibert: 2010 Pouilly-Fuissé Vignes Blanches (refined nose, good tension, a wine with cellaring potential)
La Soufrandise: 2007 Levrouté Velours d’Automne (velvety, ripe peach, with some noble rot, great with foie gras)
Olivier Merlin: 2011 Mâcon-La Roche-Vineuse Blanc Vieilles Vignes (expressive and complex), 2011 Terroir de Vergisson (ripe pear, honey, citrus, supple), 2011 Saint-Véran Le Grand Bussière (minerally), 2012 Saint Véran (great freshness)
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| From Pommard to Beaune! |
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| Cherry blossom and Corton vines! |
The final day was again organised into 4 different tastings and unfortunately, we could only fit 2 into the day....and we had chosen the Terroirs de Corton in the morning and Trio Inédit en Côte de Beaune (Meursault, Volnay and Auxey-Duresses) in the afternoon. The Terroirs de Corton was definitely a highlight for me, as it was so inspiring to be able to taste/differentiate the different terroirs in the same tasting! The overall quality was very high and very terroir expressive!
Bouchard: 2012 Le Corton (very fine, elegant, persistent finish), 2012 Corton-Charlemagne (steely, long finish, very fine)
Chandon de Briailles: 2012 Corton Blanc (freshness, not heavy at all, good energy), 2012 Corton-Bressandes (finesse)
Maurice Chapuis: 2012 Corton-Languettes (normally made into white wine, only 2 domaines make a red here - violet, spices, red fruit, very refined, elegant, good minerality)
Cornu: 2011 Corton (sauvage, good structure, long finish)
Denis Père et Fils: 2012 Corton Les Paulands (a small hectare of vineyard split between 2 domaines, of which this was one), good aromatics, intensity, rounded mouthfeel, elegantly structured
Doudet: 2012 Corton Maréchaudes (very deep roots, 70 year vines, good freshness, finesse, structure, refined), 2012 Corton-Charlemagne (finesse and freshness)
Drouhin: 2012 Corton (supple, a little sauvage), 2012 Corton-Charlemagne (expressive nose, balanced, spicy)
Dublère; 2012 Corton Charlemagne (excellent, superb, very classy, great minerality)
Antonin Guyon: 2012 Bressandes, Clos du Roi (magnificent balance and harmony) and Corton-Charlemagne (all very expressive - a must for the cellar!)
Louis Jadot: Excellent Corton Pougets and Corton-Charlemagne
Patrick Javillier: 2012 Corton Charlemagne (expressive nose, richness without heaviness, a class act with Javillier's signature)
Louis Latour: 2012 Clos du Roi (a picture of completeness) and Corton Grancey (depth, elegance and very silky)
Rapet: 2012 Corton-Charlemagne (minerality, freshness), Corton Pougets (great finesse and minerality), Corton Grand Cru
Comte Sénard: All very expressive of the terroirs, particularly impressed by Corton Les Paulands (one of the 2 domaines producing this cuvee) and Corton Clos du Roi, the Corton Blanc comes from the Clos des Meix vineyard.....lovely spicy notes of liquorice
In the afternoon, we tasted some Volnays and Meursaults....but quite a few winemakers had run out of wine already by the time we arrived at 3 pm! We had to change shuttle at Beaune and it took a bit longer than expected. We wasted no time to get stuck into the tasting once arrived!
Comtes Lafon; 2011 Meursault Charmes and 2011 Volnay-Santenots (fleshy, black fruit, nice balance)
Fichet: 2011 Bourgogne Blanc Vieilles Vignes (highly recommended!), Meursault (nicely rounded with great tension), Meix Sous Le Château (mineral and linear), Les Gruyaches (voluminous in the mouth, good complexity), Les Chevalières, (rounder), and the very stylish Le Tesson (these are all very terroir-expressive Meursault lieux-dits - highly recommended!!!)
Rémi Jobard: 2012 Meursault Genevrières (fleshy, with good minerality, persistent finish), very good Poruzot too
Mikulski: 2012 Meursault Genevrières (minerally, complex, nice weight without heaviness, racy acidity)
Pierre Morey: 2009 Meursault Charmes (no sign of the super-richness of the vintage, impeccable balance, great tension)
Jacques Prieur: 2010 Meursault Santenots (ripe apple, citrus, rich but not heavy, great minerality), 2011 Volnay Champans (aromatic, supple, lovely mouthfeel)
Sophie Bohrmann: 2011 Meursault Meix Chavaux (fleshy, good acidity, complexity), 2011 Clos du Cromin (good structure), 2010 Les Durots (supple, fleshy, rounded texture)
Bernard et Thierry Glantenay: 2011 Les Santenots (round mouthfeel, smooth velvety texture, very approachable), 2011 Clos des Chenes (spicy palate, elegant, good length), 2012 Les Brouillards (lovely ripe fruit), 2012 Les Santenots (richness, depth, rounded mouthfeel, excellent!)
Lucien Boillot: 2011 Volnay Village (clean, balanced), 2011 Les Brouillards (nicely scented, elegant), 2011 Les Angles (complex but restrained), 2011 Caillerets (excellent, perfect in every sense)
Jean-Marc et Thomas Bouley: 2012 Bourgogne Rouge (solid example), 2012 Volnay Carelles (lovely ripe fruit, very good quality)
I felt that the overall quality of the 2012 whites was not as consistent as the reds.....the reds overall showed a lovely equilibrium and sense of harmony, terroir expressive with ripe fruit quality and a lovely freshness/energy/tension but with less acidity than 2010 to make them rather approachable. Some examples of the whites that I tasted seemed a little too ripe for me......and did not quite find the right balance.
The rain did arrive very punctually on Friday (as did a drop of temperature of about 10 degrees!) and our
usual interest in the Saturday market also dissipated with the dreary persistence of the grey sky and chilly rainfall. Instead we took a long lunch at Le Jardin des Remparts, where we enjoyed a lovely bottle of 2010 Raveneau Blanchot and 2007 Bruno Clair Gevrey Chambertin Les Cazetiers...to accompany the very fine cuisine here! Easily the highest quality cuisine on this trip in terms of harmony of flavours (without being too numerous on each plate), freshness of produce, the final presentation and also the professional and friendly service for both food and wine! I must mention the petits fours at the end....definitely worth ordering the coffee to make sure you get them.....there was a baba/cake like thing whose name I could not remember but which was absolutely delicious, served slightly warm....in a box! Sensational!
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| The Chateau de Meurault |
Our experience culminated with the attendance at La Banée de Meursault, in the tradition of the Paulée de Meursault, where each person brings own bottle of wine! The hall at the Château de Meursault was filled with lovers of Bourgogne wine and winemakers, all declaring their love for Bourgogne, being entertained by Les Joyeux Bourguignons! We had taken along a magnum of 2003 Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques, just drinking so well now and rather perfect with the Filet de Charolais Flambé Fine Bourgogne et Poivre Séchouan! The 2002 Chassagne-Montrachet La Boudriotte, Ramonet was a fine accompaniment to the Mêlé de Homard et Mangue, Veluoté de Petits Pois, Beurre Noisette Fumé, Crème Légère Iodée.
I found this week's experience totally scintillating.....my love of Bourgogne wines had been reaffirmed (not that there was any doubt!) and my sense of discovery had been totally reinvigorated by the quality and diversity of the wines presented! One moment there was the excitement of discovering a Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc, bursting with minerality, character and a sense of 'otherness', then there was the heightened sensation of tasting a charming Beaune Premier Cru, enchanting for the nose and the palate, and the absolute conviction of the greatness of terroir when tasting a Grand Cru that is simply complete in every sense and exudes the elegance and finesse that is so Bourguignon!
While writing this and waiting for my dinner, here are two more examples of find Bourgogne wine:
2000 Corton Grand Cru, Bonneau du Martray: Beautiful ruby colour. Notes of ripe plum, sauvage, animal, with a hint of tarragon. Silky texture, nicely balanced, expressive, a mid weight wine, but totally approachable now. Lovely drop (perhaps not a refined one!)! Drink now and over next 6 - 8+ years. Perfect with roast pigeon or partridge! 16.5/20
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| Les Joyeux Bourguignons! |
While writing this and waiting for my dinner, here are two more examples of find Bourgogne wine:
2000 Corton Grand Cru, Bonneau du Martray: Beautiful ruby colour. Notes of ripe plum, sauvage, animal, with a hint of tarragon. Silky texture, nicely balanced, expressive, a mid weight wine, but totally approachable now. Lovely drop (perhaps not a refined one!)! Drink now and over next 6 - 8+ years. Perfect with roast pigeon or partridge! 16.5/20
2004 Meursault, Lafon; Bright golden yellow colur. Notes of honey, ripe pear, nougat, toasted almonds,and lemon cake. Mineral notes and some vibrancy permeate the palate, with almost a honeyed sweetness at the finish. Perfect now if you are pairing it with grilled scampis, seared scallops with red pepper coulis, pan-roasted pork chop with gooseberry or apple sauce, or even veal in creamy sauce with risotto...! 15/20
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