(Mostly white Burgundy) Dinner at Nico Osteria

Chicago, IL
Tasted Wednesday, February 8, 2017 by acyso with 440 views

Introduction

Michael Lewis was in town, and we managed to swing a reservation at Nico Osteria, so white Burgundies had to happen.

Flight 1 (14 Notes)

  • NV Savart Champagne Premier Cru Bulle de Rosé Brut 90 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    Disgorged Aug. 28, 2014. This is a brilliant NV rose. Tons of bright acidity, as well as some clearly delineated cranberry flavours. The palate is crisp and refreshing, but plenty concentrated, with a really nice steeliness on the attack followed by chalkiness on the back end. Not an acid-bomb either, this is very well balanced.

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  • 2004 Pascal Doquet Champagne Grand Cru Coeur de Terroir Le Mesnil-sur-Oger 90 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Disgorged Dec. 10, 2014, 5 g/L dosage. This is a very funky, somewhat old-school style of champagne, with a very mushroomy and umami flavour profile. The fruit here shows just a little towards the bruised side, thanks to the somewhat more oxidative style. There's a huge yeasty note on the palate as well. What I found most interesting was that little touch of fennel and anise that really spiced things up.

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  • NV Jérôme Prévost Champagne La Closerie Extra Brut Les Beguines 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    LC13. This has always been a solid workhorse of a pinot meunier. It doesn't show quite as funky as meunier ought to, but there's no denying some of the more mushroomy, oxidative qualities on this wine. Quite concentrated, the acidity is crisp and refreshing. There's plenty to find on the palate as well, especially in the chalky minerality department. This certainly did improve a bit with air.

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  • 2000 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    All I can reasonably say is that I don't own any Goisses and I am quite ashamed of that. This wine belongs in a champagne-lover's cellar. It's certainly a bit stylized, showing tons of mushroom and ripe yellow fruit, as well as a dense bread character. There's almost a touch of sweet caramel but it's certainly counterbalanced by the acidity. A brilliant wine that just got better as the night went on. A wine that needs some serious air to strut its stuff.

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  • 2011 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

    Served single blind with the 2011 Preuses. I mixed them up. Mostly because I was reminded that I liked the Clos more the last time I had these two wines side-by-side, and this time, I preferred the Preuses. What does that say about consistency? Anyway, I thought this was showing a little odd tonight, with some of that 2011 green flavour really poking through -- I picked up a little bit of green weediness on this wine. There's a light hint of reduction and the minerality here is clean and crisp, but this isn't the complete package I remember from last summer.

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  • 2011 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

    Single-blinded with the 2011 Clos, which I managed to swap. As I wrote previously, the last time I had the pair of wines side-by-side, I liked the Clos more, but this time, I thought the Preuses showed better. This was a fuller, more complete wine, and that green weediness I found on the Clos wasn't here. Instead the mineral expression here was much better delineated, and I loved the zesty citrusy acidity in this. In contrast to a more brooding and heavier Clos, I also found this more elegant and quick on its feet.

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  • 2010 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Côte Bouguerots 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

    I've maintained that Fevre did exceptionally well in 2010, and this bottle is a case in point. This has all the hallmarks that I'm looking for in chardonnay -- it's crisp, but simultaneously rich and sappy. There's plenty of smoke and minerality here, and the acidity is the driving force, with tons of tart white fruit that leaves your mouth watering.

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  • 2012 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

    I think the Fèvre wines have been increasing in quality for the last few vintages. This is a great bottle of chardonnay. It's a little more reductive and sulphury than the 2010 Cote de Bouguerots. The palate shows a lot of riper fruit, but the fruit doesn't contribute as much to the acidity here. I did find that the flintiness showed a little more prominently in this wine.

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  • 2014 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Blanc 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru

    My first Dujac blanc since a Druid wine I opened last year. While I wasn't particularly enamoured of this wine at first, it did eventually start to grow on me. The nose shows a lot of those classic reductive notes, and to be honest, not much else. The palate isn't quite full, but there's definitely some ripe fruit. With air though, this definitely started filling in the gaps, and the wine started feeling more and more complete. The fruit on this is quite ripe, and the acidity perhaps is just a touch less than what I am accustomed to.

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  • 2012 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bourgogne Blanc 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

    Bottle 33. As I quipped, this isn't really great white Burgundy, but there's no denying that this is great wine. Seriously, next to all the white wines tonight, this one is a bit of an odd duck. There's immense oak on this, but it somehow works with this very ripe, almost late-harvest style of chardonnay. This is a heady and big wine, and it's also showing just a slight hint of earthy mushroom as well. Fascinating and delicious, though perhaps my interest in this was slightly more academic and hedonistic.

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  • 2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre Flawed

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

    The sad story of Lafon continues. While this was by no means undrinkable, it was clearly already showing signs of oxidation by its bruised yellow fruit and nuttiness. Tons of oak on this. The palate showed a little bit unbalanced from the acidity too. There was potentially stuff to like, but the only thing running through my head was the confirmation bias that Lafon's wines are some of the most prone to the pox.

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  • 2013 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

    I love Bonneau de Martray. This is a large-scaled chardonnay, showing tons of oak and ripe fruit. But most importantly, there's a steeliness that is coupled with that ripe quality that makes this the compelling wine it is. Lots of acidity and tart white fruit. This doesn't seem as reductive as I remember it being, but it certainly is as good as I remember.

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  • 2013 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 95 Points

    Germany, Nahe

    #23-14, 8% abv. From half bottle. This is one of the best young versions of this wine that I remember tasting. There's so much white hot electricity coursing through this that you can't help but be impressed by it. A veritable kaleidoscope of sweet white fruit, ranging from pineapple to lychee, but in balance with the high 2013 acidity makes this one of those exception Doennhoff wines that manages the tightrope walk. As an extra note, I didn't pick up any strong botrytis this vintage.

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  • 2001 Giuseppe Quintarelli Recioto della Valpolicella Classico 93 Points

    Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Recioto della Valpolicella Classico

    From half-bottle. Now this is a fruit bomb that I can really stand behind. The nose here shows tons of black fruit and raisin, with just a touch of dried herbs as well. The palate is raisiny, but with lots of other sweet black fruit as well. The alcohol, at a high 15.5% doesn't poke through at all. There's a really nice black tea note that adds complexity to the moderately sweet palate. The tannins are a bit coarse but that might be just a function of this wine's youth.

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