Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin Singapore - Chapitre de la St Vincent Tournante des Chassagne Montrachet

Lots of white this week, culminating in this Chassagne Montrachet dinner. Food was surprisngly good, and very nicely paired with the wines. The table, which included William, Martin and Joyce, KG, SHaron, Chad and Hsien Min amongst others, all had a great time.

• 2006 Joseph Drouhin Rully Blanc 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Rully

  Decent for what it is, and I would not have a problem ordering this by the glass in the restaurant - certainly not a very fine wine though! Simple nose, pleasant enough, white fruits mixed with chalky bits. Palate had decent weight, a nice flowery accents and fresh white fruit and pineapple notes. I thought the acidity was just a little piercing at times, and that there was just a touch of heat here and there. Got better with time in the glass admiteedly. Otherwise, balance was pretty pleasant as well. Finish had a little drop of mineral and smoke adding interest. A good buy at its price.

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• 2005 Château de Chassagne-Montrachet Bourgogne Blanc 88 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  A pretty impressive Bourgogne Blanc. A bit sweetish on the nose, with ripe fruit framed with a touch of mineral. Quite pleasant I thought. Palate had lowish acidity but was still decently balanced, with pleasant flavours of fresh lemons and limestone moving into a finish that showed mineral, smoke and little heat. Simple, but a pleasant drink.

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• 2006 Château de Chassagne-Montrachet Bourgogne Blanc 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  Best of the aperitifs - I really liked this for what it is. Nice nose, creamy, butter and yellow fruit nicely framed with a touch of oak. Yellow fruit again on the palate, candied pineapples here and there, all showing a nice weight that was well balanced with high natural acidity. Some length as well. Very impressive regional wine.

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• 2007 Château de Chassagne-Montrachet Chassagne-Montrachet 87 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet

  Weakest of Aperitif wines surprisingly, given that this was from the strongest appelation. This had all that I did not like about 2007. Noce was rather weak, with metallic notes mingled with a touch of cat's pee and rather half-hearted white fruit. Palate was very much on theme. Thin, rather acidic, with anonymous white fruit. Finish was a bit better, with a decent sense of balance and sweetish fruit lingering with surprisingly length. Still though, this is very much in quaffing category - decent but not one that you would out searching for.

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• 2006 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs-Gain 93 Points

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

  This showed really nicely on the night. Nose all but floored me on first sniff, with really expressive floral notes mingling with Chassagne honey, toasty, nutty tones and ripe yellow fruit. Full of personality, this was almost eager to please. Palate was no slouch either. Fresh and clean, but with plenty of concentration and stuffing to go with the lively freshness - creamy and beeswaxy at points, with flavourful green apples, pears and apple gummy sweets with hints of mushroom at the edges. As expressive as it was, it still gave a sense of being solidly built, especially towards the finish that showed some grip, nice length and a gentle minerality. The structure was so present that the wine seemed almost harsh towards its tail, but this certainly bodes well for aging potential. A really nice wine - reminded me of why I really liked 2006 whites when I first tried them.

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• 2006 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Maltroie 91 Points

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

  A nice wine. This started out really slowly off the blocks - so much so that it was far overshadowed by the super-attractive Champs Gain on the same flight. It really started showing its mettle with time in the glass and food on the plate though. Never the most expressive of wines, but very nicely defined and rather classy. Nose started out a little woody, but that blew off quickly to show sweet musk and honey notes, along with sweet white fruit, savoury earth and a fragrant nuttiness. All these came in very subtle proporttions though, nothing showy. Palate was very defined, very clean. It was certainly narrower and leaner than the Champs Gain. On relfecltion though, mid-weight though it was, there was still more than enough concentration in its white fruit and mineral flavours to go around. It put on a nutty tone towards the mid-palate, before moving into a fresh, mouth-puckering finish that showed nice length and minerality. Again, there was a little linger of woodiness which blew off quickly. This really came alive with a scallop dish, with the fruits coming out more.

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• 2003 Domaine Bernard Morey et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot 87 Points

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

  I have had plenty of surprisingly good 2003s recently, but every now and then, a wine like this comes around to underscore why the vintage was a disaster in some quarters. Nose was very attractive actually, if not a whit Burgundian - it was almost a dead-ringer for, say, a Leeuwin Art Series Chard - with lots and lots of toasty nuts and buttery popcorn along with ripe yellow fruit and a touch of flowers. Palate was a real let-down though. Again, lots of oak, which more or less overwhelmed whatever fruit there was, and there did not seem to be much to begin with. Acid was unsurpirsingly low, and there was some heat on the shortish finish that showed a largish dose of wood spice. This rather fizzled out. Not a great effort, especially when compared to the really nice 2003 Fontane-Gagnard that came after it.

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• 2003 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Boudriotte 92 Points

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

  A really delicious effort for a 2003 white Burg. Not the best wine for those who like their whote Burgs fresh and chiselled, but this was superbly controlled for a heat-wave year. Gorgeous nose - fragrant and perfumed, with kumquats, flowers, honey, yellow fruit, banana and plenty of butterscotch. Palate had a pleasant cleaness and even an impression of freshness in its ripe lemons, mandarin and sweet tangerine notes. Plenty of citrus undertones here, and quite a bit of zip too, moving into a mid-lengthed finish with notes of lemon zest and yuzu. Not the most powerful or compelling finish, but it did linger nicely in the mouth. A surprise - I really quite enjoyed this.

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• 1999 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Jean Rouge 90 Points

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

  Very pleasant, well-made wine, if just a little anonymous. Pleasant nose, with soy, umami, mineral and earth, along with dark cherries and spice. Nicely plsuh palate showed a nice balance, with clean flavours of dark cherries and kirsch. Roundish, rich and smooth all the way into the slightly drying finish - a pleasant wine flawlessly put together, just not altogether that exciting. I would happily drink this anytime though.

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• 1999 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Rouge 89 Points

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

  I did not find this quite as pleasant as the Clos St Jean. Not unpleasant, not by a mile, this wine had some attractive qualities, but it somehow seemed just a little disjointed, so that the whole was less than the sum of its parts. ose had dusky cherries, perfumy dried flowers, some spice and a little rubbery note. Palate had a round, plush Cote de Beaune mouth feel, but still had a firmish, almost woody sense of structure holding up plum and cherry flavours spike with a good amount of acidity. Finish was decent, with spice notes coming to the fore. Not bad, not great either.

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• 2005 Domaine Roger Belland Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  A delicious wine, albeit in a rather-in-your-face way. Still though, very much enjoyed. Nose just shouted "nuts!" and "toast!" when the first glass was poured - almost popcorn-like at points. With some time, it toned down to show tons of ripe yellow fruits, kumquats and layers of butter. I actually though the palate showed better than the nose, with more complexity in its button mushroom, nuts, white meat and fruit flavours. Lots of weight here, the wine was rather massive in the way its flavours wafted around the mouth, but there was absolutely superb balance from fresh acidity. Somehow though, for all its size, it just lacked the vibrancy and power that would mark it out immeidately as a Grand Cru, so that I probably would have placed it somewhere in between a good 1er Cru and a lower-end GC if it was blind. This was especially so at the finish, which had decent length, but seemed just that bit angular and rather primitive / monolithic. Still though, all that aside, this was no doubt an excellent wine, that gave lots of in-your-face fun and pleasure, especially when paired with fatty korubuta pork. One of the two best bottles of the night.

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