Post Cellar Reorg Tasting

We finished reorganizing my cellar, so it was time for a modest celebration. We started with a 2006 Vincent Dauvissat Chablis la Forest. This wine is normally about as reliable as any out there today and the 2006 was no exception. Pale yellow, with plenty of mineral-laden citrus notes on the nose and a powerful presence on the palate, its only real problem at this point is its age (or lack of it) I think—the delineation and clarity is not quite there yet, as if a low level of white noise was blurring things on the palate. Tasted by itself, one might have dismissed these impressions, but followed by a 2000 Fevre Bougros Côtes des Bouguerots, its relative youth and perhaps its 1er cru status were apparent. Still, should be quite good in five to eight years…

The Dauvissat went too fast, so we cracked a second Chablis, a 2000 Fevre Chablis Bougros Côtes des Bouguerots. Wow, this one really did put the youngster Forest in its place. The slight blurring of the Forest was replaced by precise delineation here, with fainter citrus notes infused with white flowers and chalk dust. On the palate, a downright sappy mouthfeel with a distinct lemon oil character and a minerality that seems to come from great depth but yet remains in a supporting role compared to some of the other Chablis Grand Cru one might encounter, as if the minerality was fully dissolved rather than colloidal. Despite the evident viscosity of the wine, it has great energy, sweeping from back to front of the palate (yes, that direction) on the long and perfectly balanced finish. I have heard some tasters whose opinion I respect question whether the Fevre Bouguerots were quite up to Grand Cru status, but this one certainly was. This wine seems to be on a perfect aging trajectory, with the start of the maturity plateau about four years off.

Now for what was supposed to be the pièce de résistance, a 1975 Chateau Haut Brion. I had had an earlier bottle with David Sankaran and crew some years back and I was impressed enough to go out and buy a couple of these. The bottle looked to be in great shape, with a very high neck fill, so I was optimistic. On the nose the wine was expressive, but not particularly powerful, with high-toned notes of slightly green minty wood smoke and tobacco. The smoky notes that we expect from an old Haut Brion seemed shallow and quickly vanished compared to the deep, shape-shifting charcoal notes of the first bottle. In the mouth the wine’s breeding was apparent, but the depth of dark fruit and multiple layers were not there as they had been in the first bottle. While this was still an enjoyable bottle, I could not help but feel that it did not scale the heights that I expected it to. Let’s hope for the next (and last) bottle…

Last up was a 2001 Sauternes that it turns out I have quite a few bottles of, the 2001 Sigalas Rabaud Sauternes. Bright yellow-gold in color, with very rich peach, apricot, honey and fainter floral aromas on the nose. In the mouth the impression is of viscosity and an almost exotic sweetness that is combined with a healthy acidity as a counterpoint. All the ingredients were there from the start, but at least initially the wow factor was not there—but with about 30 minutes of air (basically glass #2), the components seem to ignite and we had blastoff. The botrytis and the acidity seem to take charge at this point and the wine moved to a whole new level. The modest beginning followed by the late stage blossoming makes me think this wine needs a few more years in the bottle, but then watch out…