White Burgs and Dim Sum? Montrachet and More
NBC Seafood, Monterey Park, California
Tasted Saturday, December 4, 2010 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 957 views
Introduction
This was an excellent tasting and fun luncheon, with old friends in L.A., which included two Montrachets, four other Grand Cru white Burgundies (including three from other Montrachet Grand Crus), and several other tasty white Burgs. The dim sum at NBC Seafood was, as usual, terrific, and we very much enjoyed the two special dishes they made for us from a huge, live King Crab (pictured below, before and after). Many thanks to Bonnie and Joe for organizing our party, and private room.
So does white Burgundy go with dim sum? I must admit I was a little surprised by the theme, as I've done many Champagne dim sums (which have usually included a little red Burgundy as well), and Riesling/Gewurtz-themed dim sums, but had never tried a white Burg-themed luncheon of this kind before. It helped that we stayed very much with the seafood and vegetarian offerings, as opposed to a lot of beef and red meat. If you minimize the red meat, I think white Burgs worked very well with dim sum. It always helps, of course, to include Montrachet. ;-)
We began with a flight of two Grand Cru Chablises. The '02 Fèvre Bougros showed particularly well, whereas the '06 Drouhin Vaudésir was quite young and tight yet. In our flight of the Montrachet AOC's other Grand Crus (e.g., Bâtard-Montrachet and Chevalier-Montrachet), the '00 Ramonet Bâtard was one of the best wines of the day, and surprisingly youthful, but the '01 Henri Boillot Criots-Bâtard was also delicious. Our '00 Bouchard Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte was a little oxidized by comparison. In the flight that followed, an '06 Girardin Corton-Charlemagne Quintessence was gorgeous, and a '93 Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet impressed everyone with its mature balance and aplomb. The highlight of the lunch, of course, was our flight of two Montrachets--an '03 Louis Latour and an '02 Bouchard. The Bouchard was the wine of the day, with many, many years ahead of it. The Latour was good, but seemed a little botrytised. We ended with a couple of sweeter wines that departed from the white Burg theme, and these were okay, but were totally eclipsed and outclassed by the great wines that had gone before.
Martin, Richard, Carol and Bonnie
Flight 1 - Chablis flight (2 Notes)
Flight 2 - Chassagne-Montrachet flight (2 Notes)
Flight 3 - Grand Cru Montrachet flight (3 Notes)
Flight 4 - More white Burgs (2 Notes)
Flight 5 - Montrachet flight (2 Notes)
Flight 6 - Sweet finish (2 Notes)
2002 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Light medium golden yellow color; lovely lemon, lanolin, almond nose; delicious, poised, tart lemon, mineral, lanolin palate; medium-plus finish 93+ pts.
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2006 Joseph Drouhin / Drouhin-Vaudon Chablis Grand Cru Vaudésir 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Light canary yellow color; floral, bright lemon nose; tight, creamy, lemon, mineral palate, needs 3-4 years; medium-plus finish 91+ pts.
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