Burgundy 2012 Day 4: Dinner with Fabrice & Friends

Our good friend Fabrice hosted a wonderful dinner for us and a couple of his winemaker friends in his beautiful house in Santenay at the end of the hectic 4th day in Burgundy. It was great to have a proper catch-up with Fabrice and to meet Claude Muzard (of Domaine Lucien Muzard) and Thibault Marion (of Domaine Seguin-Manuel) and taste some of their wines.

• 2004 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers 91 Points

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

  From a magnum, this was a pretty good wine that is just entering its drinking window. I liked the nose here, with its notes of honeyed musk and flowers, some sweet apples and lemon aromas and a nice touch of chalk in the background. There was a quiet sense of itensity on that bouquet. The palate was nice too, showing a soft mellowed roundness wed to fresh 2004 acidity that gave its flavours of sweet apples, pears and honey a nice purity to them. A good long finish rounded the wine off, with a touch of bittersweet lemon zest and green almonds mingling amidst some warm spice. Pretty good, and about the right time to start drinking, at least in a magnum format. It should be even better from a 750ml with a smidgen of more maturity.

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• 2001 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Macherelles 93 Points

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

  From another magnum, this was a delightful wine. It may not have been quite as weighty as the 2004 Vergers, but this was ceratinly the more ready of the two, and more than made up for its mid-weighted character with tons of charm. It had a lovely nose, with little laps of milk and vanilla poured over creamy white fruited scents, along with a suggestion of white meaty aromas - very nice. Delicious palate too, where a halo of warm spice and honey hovered around rich white fruited flavours, some brighter notes of sweet citrus lemons, and then a layer of cream and butter moving into a slightly nutty finish. While not the most powerful of Chassagnes, this had a surprising amount of depth for the vintage, and all through the wine, bright 2001 acidity lent a great sense of focus and precision that made it a delight to drink. This was lovely, and drinking quite at peak.

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• 2006 Seguin-Manuel Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru

  A well-constructed wine, this had a very pretty nose, with sweet strawberries and violets mingling with some earth and spice. The middle-weight palate was very much a child of the 2006 vintage, with bright, juicy flavours of ripe cherries and strawberries undergirded by a nice amount of high acidity and fine tannins leading into finish that held a certain firmness undergirding slightly bittersweet fruit pip notes. Very pleasant. This drinks well young, but should also improve with a few more years in bottle.

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• 2009 Seguin-Manuel Beaune 1er Cru Les Champs Pimont 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

  Another pretty good wine. This had a nice nose on it, with a touch of woody oak shading very Beaune-like aromas of strawberries and cherry chocolates fringe with some spice scents. The palate was admirably balanced for a 2009, with fresh acidity lending a clean, clear feel to its flavours of dark cherries and blueberries. Nothing really complex at first, with just some brambly herb and spice at the finish, but this opened up nicely with a good ring of purity in its fruit expression. A pretty good wine without being profound, this was ready for early drinking, but is also one that will reward a few years in the cellar.

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• 2010 Lucien Muzard Santenay 1er Cru Clos des Mouches 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Santenay 1er Cru

  This was a pleasant surprise - a nicely accomplished Santenay 1er. It had a very pleasing nose, where good bits of earth and meaty aromas were wed to perfumy wafts of flowers and cherries. Very young on the palate of course, but it showed quite impressively for a Santenay, with bright, juicy strawberry and raspberyy flavours flecked with just tiniest touch of candy on the attack. This then unfolded into a clean, clear, focused midpalate of cherries underlined by a nice note of mineral and earth. It finished in a nicely opened fashion as wel, with a good touch of spice sprinkled over the fruit. A very pleasant wine, and one that will probably improve over the next 4-5 years as well. A testament to the strength of the 2010 vintage.

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• 2003 Lucien Muzard Santenay 1er Cru Maladière 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Santenay 1er Cru

  This was really surprisingly good for a 2003 Santenay, and equally surprisingly, a great pairing for our chocolate dessert. The nose showed some of the toasty, roasted earth and mocha notes of the vintage, along with some mushroomy umami and a nice ripe waft of black cherries. Pleasant enough, but very 2003. After that though, the palate really surprised with a very decently balanced show of ripe black cherry fruit seasoned with some earth, spice and a twist of cocoa a the finish. The ripe black fruit and cocoa notes really help to make this an amazingly suitable pairing with chocolate. Saying that though, the wine by itself was a good testimony to how the 2003 wines seem to be coming into drinkability, showing freshness, structure and length - while not the greatest wine in the world, this was a very pleasant Santenay indeed.

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