Caillerets Shoot-out: Puligny vs. Chassagne - Part 1 of L2O Dinner

Chicago's Lieu-dit Cru (my Burgundy group) had a great dinner at L2O in Lincoln Park, divided into two wine parts. First we did a single blind "shoot out" between two of my favorite 1er Cru vineyards from the Montrachets - Caillerets from Puligny-Montrachet vs. Caillerets from Chassagne-Montrachet. This was followed by a horizontal single blind flight of the five Leroy 2004 red bottlings.

Caillerets is one of my favorite vineyards in both Puligny and Chassagne. There's a great history in Chassagne, but Puligny is really just getting its deserved acclaim in Puligny as more post-Chartron producers make increasingly high quality wine.

• 1999 Yves Boyer-Martenot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Single blind. Started with ripe fruit and nutty character. Floral elements came and went within minutes. Fruit started good but was on the downside within 30 minutes. While this is not prematurely oxidized, it is far more advanced than it should be. I've tasted better bottles of this wine.

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• 1999 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Tasted single blind. Great example of a clean and crisp white Burgundy. Lots of citrus and spring flowers on the nose, followed up with lemon and lemon zest on the palate, giving the wine and light and elegant sense. Excellent minerality and great acidity give the wine some real energy and power, particularly on the finish. My WOTN.

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• 1999 Domaine de Montille Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Tasted single blind. Very big wine both aromatically and on the palate. Ripe apple and candied lemon are quite prominent. Still a bit of oak that can be better integrated. Probably at its peak, perhaps just starting to pass that point right now.

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• 2005 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Tasted single blind. Lots of fresh apple flavors with a reasonable trace of lemon zest on the end. Good spice and good flavors elements as well. Very clean, high energy wine, a real thrill for a 2005.

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• 2002 Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Corked. At least it wasn't oxidized.

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• 2002 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Tasted single blind. Quite advance for its age. Started seeming musty on the nose, which didn't really ever go away - started smelling a bit moldy over time. Some floral character was still noticeable but not very fresh. Fruit was good but past its peak already. This wasn't prematurely oxidized, but heading in that direction more quickly than top 2002 1ers should be going.

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• 2005 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Tasted single blind. This was a last minute substitution for the corked Boillot in the flight, and didn't disappoint. Lots of spice on the nose along with its telltale Ramonet mint. Rich and ripe stone fruit come out early, then a bit more apple on finish. Exciting and energetic acidity and minerality, most notably on finish.

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• 2002 Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Tasted single blind. Very expressive nose of white flowers and pears. Good spice as well. Very clean and elegant wine with excellent balance and length. Wine kept getting better in glass, so I expect more upside as this gets a few years older. This was a wine we kept going back to...of course that was partly because it was from magnum so there was 2x this vs. any other wine.

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• 2005 Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Tasted single blind. White flavors and interesting fruit that seemed rather ripe, albeit somewhat simple. Moderate length, I'm not sur eif this has the acidity to be a long-term cellar hold.

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• 2004 La Pousse d'Or Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Tasted single blind. A big disappointment vs. last time I tried this wine a year ago. Mild floral aromatics along with apple and pear on the nose. Flavors of apple and lemon, moderate finish, didn't show the same energy and acidity I remember from before.

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Tonight we slightly preferred the Chassagne Caillerets vs. those form Puligny, but it was close. Out of ten bottles, one was corked, none were prematurely oxidized but two were showing somewhat advanced age. I guess that's not too bad in today's white Burgundy reality.