White Burgundy at Helsinki

Our group gathered to taste some great white Burgundy from some of my favorite producers. There was also a mini vertical of my favorite BdB Champagne.

• 2000 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 93 Points

  France, Champagne

  Very nice deep nose with some oak influence. In the mouth wonderful deep and fresh, complex fruit. Very young. A great BdB.

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• 1998 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 91 Points

  France, Champagne

  Also some oak on the nose. Interesting aromatics, but not nearly as refined as the 1995 or 2000. Some people thought this was an off-bottle. I liked it, though.

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• 1995 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 95 Points

  France, Champagne

  A wonderfully complex nose with sweet fruit, minerals and forest floor. A nice hint of maturity already, even though this is still very young. A genuinely great Champagne.

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• 2009 Domaine Roulot Bourgogne Blanc 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  A pure nose. Very nice, but not really distinctive. Gets better with time in the glass, but doesn't quite get to the level of the others in this flight.

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• 2009 Domaine Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  A wonderful Bourgogne once again. The nose has fine Puligny aromatics and in the mouth this has a really nice mouthfeel. Wonderful balance. Very long also.

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• 2009 Coche-Dury Chardonnay Bourgogne 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne

  This has great concentration for a Bourgogne. Fine aromatics, but a bit disjointed at first. Needs a lot of air, but improves well. The leftovers are the best. A great Bourgogne.

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• 2002 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles

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

  Partial premox. Drinkable, but tastes like a tired old Champagne. Not at all like the other vintages in this flight.

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• 2000 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 94 Points

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

  A wonderful nose of Puligny essence. A great mouthfeel with fine concentration and complexity. Truly fine balance. A fabulous white burg.

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• 1999 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 93 Points

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

  Not as pure as the 2000, but really complex. This has an impressive glyseral structure with a viscous mouthfeel. I prefered the 2000 for its etherealness, but this was great in a different way. This also seems to have more upside to be gained from further cellaring.

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• 2001 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 93 Points

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

  Ripe and powerful. Complex with some lovely herbs on the nose. Very different from the Leflaives, but a truly fine 1er Cru in its own way.

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• 2000 Etienne Sauzet Chevalier-Montrachet 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Great chalky minerality. Very primary. Opens up nicely with air. Intensive and very classy. If this would have been drank without the Montrachet next to it, it would have been a real winner. Now, though, it was a bit shadowed by competition.

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• 2000 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet 96 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru

  Terrific concentration and depth. Great length. Very complex with ripe fruit and liquid stone. Amazing mouthfeel. A really complete wine still on the young side.

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This was a very successful night and again most of the wines met or exceeded expectations. There was only one real disappointment (the 2002 Leflaive Pucelles) that reminded us about the scourge of premox plaguing so many wines of this genre these days. So, perhaps it is possible to evade the plague by choosing right producers and/or right wines. So far so good.