Burgundy in Burgundy - the good, the bad and the truly revolting
Tasted Monday, September 13, 2010 - Monday, September 20, 2010 by honest bob with 2,099 views
Introduction
This was not so much a holiday as a mission in search of the Holy Grail - just one drinkable red burgundy (or preferably, lots of them). I wasn't looking for perfection, I just wanted to experience one pinot noir made on or near the Golden Slope which I actually enjoyed. The good news is: my mission was successful, and a lot of fun. The bad news: along the way I learned two important and rather depressing things.
1) No, I wasn't crazy or ignorant, nor had I quite by chance only ever had oxidised or corked or otherwise faulty bottles of red burgundy in the past. A terribly large amount of red burgundy is evidently deliberately made to taste disgusting, even some bottles which cost as much money as a wonderful 2nd-5th growth Bordeaux.
2) I was not alone in my quest. In Puligny, Beaune, Pommard etc etc I kept on bumping into people from all over the world whose experience was very similar to mine, and really wanted to understand why they had spent hundreds or thousands of Euros on red burgundy over the years without tasting a single wine which actually tasted good. Several of them were very upset about the poor quality of what they had found on their trip so far. I felt no Schadenfreude at having tasted some excellent wines on MY trip, just a kind of relief at the feeling of having finally broken the evil spell hanging over my palate.
honest bob
Flight 1 - Dinner at Hotel Le Montrachet, Puligny Montrachet (4 Notes)
Good, clean, unpretentious hotel with a superb restaurant (formal and a bit stiff in the evening, very relaxed at breakfast). The dinner was wonderful and good value (not the same as cheap...) but the sommelier-recommended wines by the glass were disappointing and poor value. Next time I would trust myself to choose better wines by the glass (there were several available), or choose a bottle from the excellent list (if perhaps not from the section devoted to Le Montrachet - Marquis de Laguiche from 350 Euros, DRC up to 2000 Euros...)
The small breakfast buffet (just one medium-sized table!) was one of the best I have ever encountered, anywhere, at any price point. We were the only guests under 50 years old. No, make that 65. This was fine by us. Apparently lunch draws a younger crowd.
Flight 2 - Dinner-Tasting at Olivier Leflaive, Puligny Montrachet (14 Notes)
The wines of Olivier Leflaive (OL) are not to be confused with those of the superior Domaine Leflaive (same family), but the whites are fine all the same. OL's hotel and restaurant/tasting room in Puligny are models of perfect, slick, unsnobbish hospitality. The hotel is plusher and more expensive than Le Montrachet, and draws a much younger clientele. The video screens in the lobby, lounge and restaurant showing advertising for OL (playing his guitar, walking his vineyards...) and his products are as attractive or as repelling as the cabinets full of merchandise in the hallway: either you like them, or you ignore them, or you walk out backwards. We enjoyed our dinner visit, especially the friendly, heartily polite, genuinely welcoming staff, all of whom spoke perfect English.
Dinner and tasting together cost 50 Euros. The fixed menu was mainly acceptable, but I guess mostly bought in and reheated, not always successfully. The "home made" chocolate mousse was a disaster. But the wines were well presented, generously poured, and engagingly explained by young "sommeliers" (whose in-house training may be impeccable, but evidently had very limited experience of any wines not actually made by OL). This was a fun, educational evening, and that unique thing in Burgundy: a real bargain.
Flight 3 - Nasty surprises in Beaune (2 Notes)
Flight 4 - Tasting at Domaine Rodolphe Demougeot (9 Notes)
Our visits to this producer and to the négociant Camille Giroud were organised by Christina Otel, who accompanied us for the day and taught us lots. Her website "Goutez Bourgogne / Taste Burgundy" gives a good impression of her professionalism and genuine enthusiasm.
Flight 5 - Barrel and Bottle tasting at Camile Giroud (17 Notes)
Visited with Christina Otel. The négociant Giroud used to specialise in cellaring Burgundy until it was ancient and selling it to people looking for anniversary bottles. (Like Patriarche, and apparently the wine often tasted similarly ghastly). Then it was bought up in the early 00s by a consortium led by Ann Colgin (Napa) who gave David Croix, a brilliant French winemaker in his early 20s, straight out of college, free hand to sell off the dud stuff filling up the cellars and make real wine. Which he is certainly doing... As I'm not an experienced barrel taster, I deliberately marked conservatively; these were all strikingly good wines, especially in the context of the monstrosities tasted later at Patriarche (and indeed the disappointments at Bouchard P+F).
Flight 6 - Tasting at Patriarche (14 Notes)
An amazing building above ground; gigantic, never-ending cellars full of bottles ancient and modern downstairs. I mean literally miles of corridors to stroll around in, populated by tourists who had not secured appointments elsewhere and were delighted to be able to pay 10 Euros a head, walk-in. The tasting was, however, grim. Never have I seen so many appalled faces in a tasting room; never have I heard such open expressions of distaste and even polite disgust: "gee... I guess I just don't like pinot noir!"
Flight 7 - Tasting at Bouchard Père et Fils (9 Notes)
Another bombastic cellar, this one visited with an appointment. Very professional, English-speaking, guide.
Flight 8 - Various dinners (4 Notes)
Most of the restaurants we wanted to eat in were booked up weeks, or months, in advance. The following were, however, bookable, excellent and reasonably priced.
2008 Roux Père & Fils Saint-Aubin La Pucelle Blanc 85 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin
(9/13/2010)
Pleasant, clean but undistinguished and forgettable white burgundy. Little oak, little fruit, little taste, little finish. But there's nothing actually WRONG with it... 84P
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2005 Domaine Marc Morey & Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts 87 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
(9/13/2010)
Decent crisp Puligny - just a touch of oak rounds its intense minerality; short clean finish. Nothing special (especially at 13 Euros for a 10cl glass in a Puligny restaurant) but very good white burgundy. 87P
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2006 Pascal Prunier-Bonheur Monthélie 1er Cru Les Vignes Rondes 83 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Monthélie 1er Cru
(9/13/2010)
This "1er Cru" does little to distinguish itself. Acceptable thin pinot scent, but dead in the glass and about as exciting as stale water with food. Still, it "only" cost 6,50 Euros for a 10cl glass. Making a big allowance for terroir, tradition and the fact that it doesn't actually taste faulty, musty, or overly tannic (unlike a depressingly large number of "1er Cru" red burgundys I have had the displeasure to encounter in the past) 83P(-)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
2006 Domaine Marc Morey & Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot Rouge 85 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
(9/13/2010)
Forgettable watery red burgundy, a mockery of the term "1er Cru". Not much red fruit on offer, inoffensive but unripe tannins and a short finish in which the sourness won the battle over the fruit hands down. (Mis-)chosen for me by the sommelier at the otherwise excellent restaurant "Le Montrachet" in Puligny, this feeble juice tasted lousy in combination with a dish of of steak tartare and rare fillet steak. 85P(-)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue