White Burgundy Blindtasting: 2004-2008 Puligny- & Chassagne-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet
TJ and Nancy's, Los Altos Hills, California
Tasted Sunday, April 17, 2011 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,329 views
Introduction
This was my first time tasting, as a guest, with the Peninsula Wine Tasting Group (PWTG). This group was formally organized some time ago, has bylaws and membership, and a number of rules regarding tasting events. The setting was TJ and Nancy's lovely backyard, around their pool, in the Los Altos Hills, which had a gorgeous view of the hills and flowers blooming on this lovely Spring day. I don't think, however, that the number of wines, and the time allotted by the group's rules to taste and vote on rankings, was an ideal way to taste through and appreciate relatively young premier cru and grand cru white Burgundies. These wines, especially the grand crus, can take 45 minutes to an hour to open up in the glass and really show their pedigree and complexity. Since we had only 10 minutes of silence to taste through each flight, and maybe five minutes or so additional beyond that, I don't feel there was enough time to properly appreciate the wines in the glass. A great deal of our time was spent in having all 22 or so attendees report their ranking of each wine, and I have to think there's a faster way to collect this information. There was virtually no time allotted to discussing the wines, which felt like a real gap to me. I also think that trying to taste through 16 wines of this type and quality level was too much for a three-hour or so afternoon tasting. This kind of format and the time limits on tasting would work well for a lot of wines, like the rosés the group was planning to taste at their next event and a lot of California wines. I just don't think it works for high end white Burgundies, given the time usually required in glass for such wines to show everything that's there. In retrospect, reducing the tasting to two flights of five or six wines per flight, and taking more time to taste, rank and discuss the wines, would have worked a lot better for me.
The tasting was irresistible for me because it included four wines from the great and benchmark producer Domaine Leflaive, three from J.M. Boillot, three from Thomas Morey and three from Bernard Morey. I was less interested in the Paul Pernots, but there were three of those as well.
Domaine Leflaive makes amazing white Burgundies, and owns some great vineyard sites, including a tiny parcel of Le Montrachet, a nearly two hectare chunk each of Chevalier-Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet, more than a hectare of Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, and large parcels of four great Puligny-Montrachet premier cru vineyards, including 3.05 hectares of the great Les Pucelles. The domaine has been farmed biodynamically since 1997. The wines are fermented and raised in barrels for one year, and then matured for another year in stainless-steel tanks.
Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot was established in 1985. Boillot previously made wine for Olivier Leflaive. He inherited one-third of Domaine Etienne Sauzet in 1991. The domaine currently owns 11 hectares, and Boillot also purchases grapes for a number of negociant bottings. The whites are whole-bunch pressed and then placed in barrels, 25 to 30 per cent of which are new. The lees are stirred weekly.
Bernard Morey's last vintage was 2006, following which his holdings were divided between his sons Thomas and Vincent. Thomas now has nine hectares. Bernard's wines were on the rounder, fuller side; Thomas uses little battonage and is aiming for racier, higher acid wines.
Paul Pernot owns 20 hectares, including 15 in Puligny-Montrachet. I tend to find these wines to be richer and heavier than other makers from the same vineyards, and that proved to be the case with our 2004 and 2006 Bâtard-Montrachets from Pernot. Our 2005 version of this wine was, unfortunately corked
We started with a couple of red Burgundies, then launched into our first blind flight of 2004 white Burgs. The surprising winner of that flight was the village Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet. We then moved on to a blind flight of six 2005s and 2006s, where the Bernard Moreys dominated for me. We concluded with six more 2007s and 2008s, where the wines from one of the successors to Bernard Morey, Thomas Morey, came out on top for me. For more on each flight, and detailed tasting notes, see below.
Flight 1 - Pre-Tasting Red Flight (2 Notes)
We started with these two vieilles vignes bottlings of red Chassagne-Montrachet. The older version, from Colin-Deléger, was definitely the most appealing of the two for me.
Flight 2 - 2004 Blind Flight (4 Notes)
Our first flight, 2004 Burgundies, included two Bâtard-Montrachets and the great Puligny-Montrachet premier cru Les Pucelles. Surprisingly, the Domaine Leflaive village Puligny-Montrachet showed the best of this flight, coming in first for the group and for me. Given my prior experience with young grand crus, I think it's very likely they didn't show that well because we didn't give them enough glass time to show their stuff. The Leflaive Bâtard was also a little oxidized, so was last for the group but second for me. The group's number two was the Leflaive Les Pucelles, which was pretty gorgeous, and might have shown even better had it had a chance to really open up in the glass. The weakest of the flight for me was the Pernot Bâtard.
Flight 3 - 2005 and 2006 Blind Flight (6 Notes)
This was quite a tasty flight overall. The 2005 Pernot Bâtard was corked, but the other wines showed well. Best for me was the 2005 Bernard Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Les Caillerets, which was number five for the group. The group's favorite was the '06 version of the same wine, which was number three for me. My number two was another 2006, the Bernard Morey La Truffière, which was only number four for the group. The group's number two was the 2005 Leflaive Les Pucelles, which I liked, but ranked fifth. Ultimately the Bernard Moreys were all at the top for me in this flight, owing to their floral qualities and relative delicacy and elegance. The others were good but lacked that delicate touch.
Flight 4 - 2007 and 2008 Blind Flight (6 Notes)
Our last blind flight was our youngest group of wines. The 2007 Thomas Morey Les Baudines was unfortunately corked, and the 2008 J.M. Boillot had a very peculiar nose and palate, owing to a fault of some kind. The other four wines were all terrific, but my favorites in this flight were the two non-flawed Thomas Moreys: 2007 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot and 2007 Puligny-Montrachet La Truffière. Both were poised and complex. The Morgeot was surprisingly good for this huge premier cru vineyard, which totals over 58 hectares in size.
1997 Michel Colin-Deléger et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge Vieilles Vignes 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet
Bricking medium red color with pale meniscus; mature, ripe cherry, raspberry, very pretty nose with a touch of soy sauce; mature, tart red fruit, mineral palate with largely resolved tannins; medium-plus finish 91+ points
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2007 Domaine Thomas Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge Vieilles Vignes 88 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet
Medium red color with pale meniscus; forest floor, tart cherry, cinnamon nose; very tight, tart red fruit, mineral palate with medium acidity and firm tannins; needs 4-5 years; medium-plus finish 88+ points
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