Burgundy 2007

I had to amend the title of this thread after reading Wilfried van Gorp’s post about his visit to les Troisgros and the host of great Grand Cru Burgs that he and the GJE crowd consumed there—nothing we had was quite at that scale. But we really did drink and eat remarkably well on our recent visit to Burgundy. In addition to the quality of the cuisine for a reasonable price (typically a 30-35 Euro menu was available), we also drank very well, especially when it came to the village and 1er Cru Burgs that were available at the local restaurants. Most of the restaurants did not have many older Burgs (pre-1999), except at very high prices if at all, and the Grand Cru from 1999 and onward are mostly not ready to drink. So one is left with the village wines in particular as the best value, both in terms of their price and their drinkability at this stage.

We began our trip to Burgundy in Auxerre, with a quick visit to the Fevre tasting room in the center of Chablis. We tasted a couple of very promising 2006 Fevre Chablis that suggested that the vintage was quite successful there. Also a 2005 Fevre Bougros Cotes des Bouguerots that was the most mineral-driven, nicely acidic Bouguerots that I have had—a brilliant wine. Dinner was at Barnabet in Auxerre, a more classical and formal restaurant that still offered an excellent 35 Euro menu that went quite nicely with our wines, a 1996 Dauvissat les Clos and a 2001 Rousseau Gevrey Chambertin Lavaux St. Jacques. The 1996 R&V Dauvissat Chablis les Clos was about the oldest recognizable (to me) Chablis available—a 1996 Dauvissat Chablis les Preuses was on the list for the same price, but when I tried to order it, I was informed that some guy named “Stuart” had consumed la dernière bouteille. But we were not disappointed by the Dauvissat Clos, a nearly perfect bottle that brought tears to my eyes, a wine now at its drinking peak with subtle honey and nut notes that infuse the white flower aromas, while still retaining the crisp acidity and delicate nuance on the palate that is a hallmark of the successful white Burgundies of the vintage. What a great wine, a real epiphany for me that is certain to define the standard in Chablis (at least for me) for some time to come! The 2001 Rousseau Lavaux St. Jacques was an impressive young Burgundy, even if sampled a few years before its time. This middle weight wine was not quite as concentrated as some of the other wines tasted in the week, but I suspect some more bottle age would fatten it up further.

Next up was Chassagne, where we enjoyed another ~35 Euro menu that was easily at the 1 Michelin star level. This was arguably our finest meal in Burgundy, although the dinner at Chez Guy was not far behind. We began with a bottle of 1996 Bernard Morey Puligny-Montrachet les Truffières, that seems in retrospect to have been a bit more advanced in its evolution than it should have been. The tropical fruit notes seemed to dominate the aromas of the wine and soft fruit notes defined the palate. While an enjoyable wine, particularly as it was sampled at close to its peak (or slightly after), it came across as slightly four square, especially as compared to the Dauvissat Clos of the evening before. Well, we followed this wine that was slightly past its prime with another that needed another ten years, the 1999 Robert Arnoux Clos Vougeot, a strongly tannic, backward wine with a mostly buried core of sweet dense ripe fruit. My dinner companions had some problems with this wine mainly due to its substantial tannins (one asked me why I ordered it), but I think this was actually one of the best wines of the entire trip—I would love to resample it in ten years. The great power and flavor intensity of this wine on the finish left a real impression on me. My only slight criticism of Chassagne was that it would be good to be able to talk to an older, more knowledgeable waiter (ours seemed to be about university age and didn’t seem to know much about wine)—otherwise, this is a great destination in Burgundy that should be on everybody’s list to visit at least once. The wine list is great and reasonably priced.

On Saturday night, we were at Les Tontons in Beaune on Francois Mauss’ recommendation. My entrees at this small, unpretentious place were mostly forgettable, but the main course was top notch, pairing beautifully with the wines we chose with the help of the knowledgeable proprietor. We began with a 2001 Pavelot Savigny-les-Beaunes les Guettes, a very very nice Savigny that is drinking quite well now. This medium weight, elegant wine is dominated by ripe red fruit that is balanced by good acidity and minerality that lend definition and detail to the wine. And at 39 or so Euros, a real steal. We followed this with another great bargain for about 50 Euros, a 2001 Robert Arnoux Vosne-Romanée, a village wine that IMO would be hard to distinguish from a 1er Cru when tasted blind. An 86 point wine from Tanzer?? OK, bring on those scores if they keep the price down. Unlike the Arnoux Clos Vougeot from the night before, this was much closer to being ready to drink, even if it would benefit positively from a few more years in the bottle. Fat, lush, almost creamy on the palate, with rich black and red fruits dominating the nose, this wine showed great Vosne typicity, and at a bargain price. Needless to say, I ransacked every wine store in Beaune the next day looking for bottles of this wine to take home (found some empty bottles at one store, but that was it). I would recommend this restaurant to others for its very nice, well priced wine list and its excellent if simpler cuisine.

Sunday night included a visit to Chez Guy in Gevrey-Chambertin, where we dined at a level only very slightly below Chassagne. And again, an excellent, well-priced wine list. We began with the 32 Euro (talk about steals) 2005 J.C. Boisset Savigny-les-Beaunes les Serpentinières, an excellent wine that is eminently drinkable today. This wine showed remarkably good concentration and color, with black fruit notes accompanying the more typical red fruit notes of Savigny. A delicious wine, this was enjoyed by all at the table, as was evident from the rate at which it disappeared. Continuing our theme of Robert Arnoux wines (well, I guess it was “my theme”), we followed this with a superb 2000 Robert Arnoux Nuits-St-Georges, a wine perhaps just slightly below the quality level of the Arnoux village Vosne-Romanee, but making up for it on this particular night with its greater maturity. This was particularly evident on the nose, where the intoxicating black raspberry and cherry notes became markedly more expressive with time in the glass. Excellent stuff, I pulled the trigger on the 2005 Arnoux Nuits-St-George the next day without bothering with the critics’ reviews.

Last up in Burgundy was the required visit to Ma Cuisine. I had heard this place described as having “simple cuisine”, but I was not quite prepared for what I found. I suspect that anybody tasting the food here blind would mistake it for something served at a mid-level steak house somewhere. I had similar food in a café in the Netherlands a few days later. I have to think the reputation of this place is based on the depth of its wine list, which is impressive, even if not populated with a large number of older wines at this point. The pricing on the wine list is decent, but not quite as good as Chez Guy, for example. Well, the food was OK, but the wines again were very impressive, and the guidance provided by the proprietor Escoffier was very good. I told him I had a hankering for some good Volnay that particular evening, so he made a suggestion of the 2002 Boillot Volnay les Chevrets (the last 2001 had just disappeared from the cellar). This turned out to be an excellent suggestion, with the wine showing the positive characteristics of the 2002 vintage—full and round in the mouth, nicely balanced between the acidity of the wine and its core of sweet ripe fruit. This was really outstanding stuff and I am glad I pulled the trigger on a few of the Boillot Volnay 1er Cru in 2005. Then I told Escoffier that we (meaning I again) were up for a Vosne-Romanée, since I could not get those dark beauties of the preceding days (also tasted in the cellars at Jadot) out of my mind. He made the suggestion of the 2001 Grivot Vosne-Romanée les Beaux Monts, which turned out to be another superb wine that was only half a notch below the quality of the more backward Arnoux Clos Vougeot from a couple of nights before. Again, we got that Vosne-Romanée typicity (my real goal here) in spades, with an extra dash of that dark, beautifully extracted fruit that seems to characterize the better Beaux Monts (which we had sampled earlier in the day in the form of the 2005 Dujac Vosne-Romanée les Beaux Monts). Too bad the price on the 2005 les Beaux Monts seems to have gone through the roof.

So to reiterate, excellent food and wine seems to abound in Burgundy at reasonable prices. The wine lists at places other than Les Troisgros don’t seem to run back much to the older vintages (even Barnabet has Chablis mostly from 1996 and younger), so the best bargains seem to be the village wines from the better producers in 1999-2002, and the more accessible 1er Cru from the same years.

Double, then Single Blind Barolos

We started with the wines double blind, just a table of half-filled wine glasses looking ever so much like jewels on huge necklace laid out before us. It was impossible not to feel a surge of excitement with the constellation of mystery wines in front of us.

So, the tasting begins. Hmmm, let’s see—a deep ruby color verging on purple, on the nose a volatile character with notes of black cherry, maybe a touch of violet. On the palate, some very firm acidity, but balanced by a great depth of dark fruit in a finely structured, distinctly aristocratic package. There was no doubt that we were in the presence of something special. Well, the signature of acidity and dark fruit gave it away for everybody—a Nebbiolo from Barolo or Barbaresco.

Our host and Board member Lou Rittenhouse gave us a series of tasting notes from Robert Parker, plus one from Steve Tanzer, and then a series of communes and their descriptors. We were also asked to classify the wines as “Traditional”, “Mid-level Modern/Traditional”, or “Modernist”. We were also given the names of five Barolo producers, with one additional producer that we were to guess. As we tasted, it became clear to most (well, to me at least) that all of the wines were very similar in style, with the exception of wine #2. My guess also was that they were all of similar age, or very nearly so. Here are my notes:

Wine 1: A subtle nose of black cherry, with finely structured detail in the mouth, very classical in style. This wine became increasingly massive with time in the glass, losing none of its energy or its slightly daunting acidity and tannin as the evening progressed. Not your friendliest wine, still this uncompromising wine continued to grow on me, showing much better in fact when the pork tenderloin with the balsamic vinegar reduction was served. This might just be the finest wine in the bunch with some bottle age.

Wine 2: I originally lumped this in with the other Barolos because of the firm acidity on the palate, but with time the differences begin to emerge here. The nose showed a hotter, more alcoholic finish, with an extravagant cherry liqueur/kirsch character that if anything intensified with time. This was either a clear New World style, or maybe even a ringer from the New World, although the acidity on the palate was still not what I normally associate with California. Maybe less impressive than the rest given the rigorous standards of the Barolo, still this was drinking very well.

Wine 3: Many of the tasters voted this as their Number 2 wine of the night. The nose showed a touch of barnyard, with kirsch on the nose, but in a subtler, less in-your-face style than Wine #2. This is made again in what seemed a classical Barolo style, with some massive tannins and high acidity, but also showing a multi-layered character that combined power and detail. Very impressive, aristocratic juice here.

Wine 4: This was probably my least favorite of the classical Barolos at the tasting, with its massive structure and abundant tannins dominating the profile. Perhaps the most backward of the wines along with Wine #1, this presented a volatile acidity on the nose that came across as less friendly for the taster. Still one could not fail to be impressed by the combination of power, the range of flavors, and its detailed structure.

Wine 5: This wine, which like all of them had been open for about six hours before the tasting, showed the most obviously fragrant, floral nose. In the mouth, the character is distinctly friendlier on this multi-layered wine, as if those forbidding and demanding tannins had been brought under some measure of control. The only thing negative I could say is that the wine did not continue to strengthen in the glass the way some of the others did (Wine 1 and 3 especially). Still, many of the tasters considered this Wine of the Night.

Once we had tasted and recorded our notes, we found out what we were drinking:

1. Wine 1: 1997 Paulo Scavino Bric del Fiasc Castiglione Falletto
2. Wine 2: 2003 Palmina Nebbiolo Sisquoc Vineyard, Santa Maria
3. Wine 3: 1997 Bartolo Mascarello, Barolo
4. Wine 4: 1997 Massolino Vigna Rionda Riserva, Serralunga
5. Wine 5: 1997 Ceretto Brunate, La Morra

An impressive showing across the board here. The Palmina had the disadvantage of competing in an environment defined by the classical Barolo style—otherwise, it showed beautifully. And the Barolos were all in beautiful shape, each just beginning to show some secondary characteristics that if anything heightened the combination of exquisite detail and power on the wines. If we were scoring them, they would probably all fall within 1-2 points of each other.

Chablis, how I love thee

Apparently I went through a period in which I didn’t drink much Chablis, or what I had did not make much impression on me. So it was with real pleasure to come back to a few bottles and be reminded exactly why I love them.

First up was a wine that I have posted on before, but I put it here again for some context. This was the 2000 V. Dauvissat Forest, which is well on its way to full maturity, although I don’t think the plateau here will be short. The wine was pale straw yellow in color, with a surprisingly delicate nose of quinine, finely comminuted rock dust, and a touch of white flower just beginning to emerge. The quinine (or others might call it a bitter citrus note) was there on the palate as well, merging nicely with the delicate mineral character on the finish. Not a blockbuster wine, in fact more feminine (if I can use that descriptor) and elegant in style, I thought this was great and ready to go.

Less ready for prime time was the 2000 Raveneau Montée de Tonnerre, which showed a more reserved nose of quinine and briny mineral dust than the Dauvissat Forest from the same year, but also another dimension of power and complexity. However, the wines were perhaps less different than I might have thought they would be, with the Raveneau MdT showing also a graceful, detailed, almost lacy texture that seems to distinguish it in at least some years from the more powerful Grand Cru. In fact, this wine struck me as a younger version of the 1990 Raveneau Montée de Tonnerre I tried a few years back at a Chablis offline—very elegant, detailed, and complex, but without the sheer power and almost metallic structure that the Grand Cru can show.

Last up, and by no means ready to drink at all (but we did anyway) was the 2001 Vincent Dauvissat les Clos. Wow, this was mouthful of vibrant acid, with a distinctly metallic note on the palate that reminded (literally) of the taste of stainless steel—these notes were even more prominent than the mineral notes. And the acidity! You could almost feel those etch pits on the teeth nucleating, and I found myself wishing I had brought along a portable pH meter. Still, this had real class and power, a clear step up from the 1er Crus. This will great in five or so years—don’t think of drinking one sooner. I have to say that this seems to show quite a bit more potential than the 2001 Fevre les Clos (if anybody is comparing).