Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
2014 Annual Danny Haas Burgundy Tasting
State Line Liquors, Elkton MD
Tasted November 12, 2014 by lockestep with 425 views
Introduction
Always one of my favorite tastings of the year, Danny Haas, the Vineyard Brands wine buyer since 1989, presents a lineup of Burgundy. This year a dozen wines, four whites and eight reds, from Matrot, Mongeard-Mugneret, Francois Carillon, Henri Gouges, Thibault Liger-Belair, and Vincent et Sophie Morey.
Flight 1 (4 notes)
White
2013 Domaine Matrot Chardonnay Bourgogne Blanc
87 points
Fresh, perfumed nose. Light and fairly straightforward, with very good acid in the finish, apparent for a good 30 seconds. Nice QPR.
White
2012 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Meursault Les Narvaux
90 points
Vanilla very apparent in the nose. The palate has a perfumed component that did not show through on the nose, hidden perhaps by the oak. Full and rich but very much in balance, with solid acid in the medium length finish.
White
2012 Francois Carillon Puligny-Montrachet
89 points
Slightly closed nose, and reticent on the palate. Medium finish. Certainly needs time, all the components are there for a nice experience in three to five years.
White
2012 Francois Carillon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Macherelles
93 points
Fantastic nose. Palate full and already showing complexity. Very good acid, long finish. Balanced and built to gain with time, it already provides a ton of pleasure.
Flight 2 (8 notes)
Red
2012 Mongeard-Mugneret Bourgogne
84 points
Cherry nose. Decent flavors but hollow on the mid-palate. Light bodied drinker that really does not have a lot to it. Quite a few better options at this price point.
Red
2012 Domaine Vincent and Sophie Morey Santenay Les Hâtes
89 points
Pleasant earthiness component in the nose. Good body, good acid, medium finish. Actually a lot going on with this bottle, very good QPR.
Red
2012 Domaine Matrot Maranges Vieilles Vignes
88 points
Expressive nose. A decent amount of interest that kept me going back and just inhaling. Good flavors, medium finish, a lot of character instead of just forward fruit, which is a rarity at the price.
Red
2012 Domaine Matrot Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Créot
87 points
Nice light color. Airy nose hints at more than expresses the fruit. Light body, delicate. Slightly short on the finish.
Red
2012 Mongeard-Mugneret Fixin
88 points
Concentrated nose with a deep color. Extracted, rustic on the palate. Medium body, medium finish. Has the stuffing to stand up to bolder foods.
Red
2012 Mongeard-Mugneret Vosne-Romanée
91 points
Intense nose, smooth and complex with notes of coffee and pepper showing up in the fruit mix. Full, great flavors, good long finish. I have long been a fan of this wine and the '12 is a worthy member of the line. Well played.
Red
2012 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos des Porrets St. Georges
90 points
Sampled again almost exactly a year from first taste with essentially carbon copy notes. The horse sweat/barnyard note remains on the nose the earthiness is there along with decent body. Does not seem to have developed much in the year, but we were assured a few more in the bottle would alter the wine dramatically. Gouges does not rack the wine, hence the barnyard which typically goes away after a few years in bottle. I did move the drunk dates to give it more time.
Red
2011 Thibault Liger-Belair Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges
93 points
Expressive nose hints at what this will become with a long stretch in the cellar. Smooth rich and full, long finish, well balanced. Baking spices, cloves, dusty tannins. Impressive.
Closing
All in all an impressive lineup, with high quality wines at multiple price points. Interesting to compare notes with a fellow Cellar Tracker at this tasting, we did not go into detail on more than a couple of the wines at the time but our notes were remarkably similar for the flights.