The Same But Different

All of these wines are whites. All of them are French. Two are 100% Chardonnay; three 100% Riesling. Within those groups are more similarities and more differences.

• 2010 Jean-Claude Bessin Chablis 1er Cru Montmains

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  I "grew up" with wine when "chablis" was white swill by the glass at singles bars--yes I was single in the 70's. Later on, when I discovered Chablis (capitalized, no quotation marks), it was a revelation. This Montmains was paired with the 2010 Bessin Fourchaume. It was the lesser of the two wines, but not by much. It lacked some of the fullness in the middle that its competitor had. That said, it was a worthy reminder of how good Chardonnay-based wines can be if the fruit is allowed to express its location.

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• 2010 Jean-Claude Bessin Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Paired with another 2010 Bessin 1er Cru, the Montmains. Classic Chablis backbone with slight floral notes. A little more earthy than the Montmains and in my opinion the better of the two by a hair.

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• 1989 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile

  France, Alsace

  This bottle was, unfortunately, a little over the hill. Most of the fruit was gone but it hadn't oxidized to the point that it was undrinkable. With luck, the other two bottles will be better.

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• 1989 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile Vendanges Tardives

  France, Alsace

  Consumed between the dry version from the same vineyard/year and the SGN. It was a nice wine, but definitely suffered from the comparison with the spectacular SGN. Moderate sweetness and good acidity. Nice nose of aged, botrytized Riesling.

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• 1989 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile Sélection de Grains Nobles

  France, Alsace

  Outstanding bottle. The nose was like botrytized honey. How ripe must these grapes have been? The residual sugar was very high and therefore the wine very sweet, but the alcohol was still listed as 12.5%. Very deep amber color gave the impression that it would be syrupy, but it wasn't.

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