Treasures from Burgundy

Peter and I brought back a couple of bottles from Burgundy to share with our friends during a trip in the autumn of 2012. Little did we expect that it would take us 3 years to find a time and occasion to get everyone together for a meal. Everyone else brought a nice blind bottle or two, with Pete crowning the night with an unexpected 1975 La Tache. This was great fun, with a neat little line-up of wines enjoyed in great company.

• 2000 Claude Cazals Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Clos Cazals 91 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Pretty good. Made primarily from vines planted in 1947, I found this to be an very interesting Champagne to be starting the evening with. It had a nice nose, rather intriguing and complex, with ripe red apples edged by a touch of browning oxidative funk and a clear whiff of honeysuckle drifting around the sides. The palate had some power its big, fleshy flavours of sweet peach and nectarine on an appley base, but it was also fresh and lively, with a surprising amount of juicy acidity for a 2000 Champagne. Nice finish too riding on a nice tail of mineral and honeysuckle tones. Only down side was that the mousse was on the rather coarser side, otherwise, this was a pretty nice Champagne, with plenty of character. Good for people looking for something off the beaten path. Drinking pretty well too.

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• 2009 Maison Leroy Bourgogne Blanc 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  As is often the case with Leroy, you pay for what you get. This was far better than a straight Bourgogne has the right to be, and we all naturally got it wrong when guessing blind, with people saying Village or even 1er Cru. On the nose, it was clearly young and very fresh smelling, with wildflowers, citrus fruit and fresh apples accents shaded with some nutty oak aromas. The palate, like the nose, was still primary, with fresh apples at the fore and citrus undertones beneath. There was good acidity and a great lining of wonderful minerality with a little blush of warm spice at the finish, - all nicely cut and very focused and precise. Simple flavours maybe, but this was a very complete wine for a Bourgogne, and carried a lot more weight than it should have. A nice drink young, but I suspect it will be even better a few years down the road.

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• 1994 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

  Lovely stuff – this was the pick of the whites. There was a nice matured character to the nose, with whiffs of biscuits and nuts and browned butter alongside the ripest appley aromas, almost shading into yellow fruit territory, and then little drifts of flowers and a bit of mineral. A lot going on there. After that, the palate was almost surprising with its clean, clear feel. It showed white fruit on a lemony backdrop, with nice acidity lending the flavours a lovely clarity and a nice sense of cut and precision – much like the Leroy Bourgogne that came before. This certainly had more depth though, clearly punching above its weight, even as the Leroy did in its turn. At the finish, a light seasoning of mineral, spice and some roasted nuts carried the wine into a pleasing end. A lovely drop, drinking well now. Lafon's Clos de la Barre is always one of the best village whites one can get in Burgundy, and he did really well in 1994.

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• 1971 Mallard-Gaulin Corton-Charlemagne Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

  A bit tainted unfortunately. Pity, because otherwise, this was still very alive for something more than four decades old. It still had a big nose, with buttery, biscuit scents and a whiff of beeswax and chrysanthemum hovering around a core of yellow-fruited nectarine flesh aromas, all this lined with some mineral and umami notes. It was only a disturbing twang of briny anchovies and a little telltale TCA cardboard smell that threw the bouquet off, otherwise, this was a nicely complex nose, reminded me somewhat of a Northern Rhone, say an old Hermitage blanc. The palate started off deceptively clean and clear, showing a decent weight and Grand Cru girth in its still very alive and juicy yellow fruit flavours. Unfortunately, these were traced by more of that corky taint on the midpalate, just before the wine slid away into a rather nutty end, with a twist of bittersweet almond skins and a bit of mineral at the finish. I think this has been rather scalped by the TCA, which is unfortunate. For 44 year-old dry white, it is quite remarkably alive and drinkable even then, otherwise, not a fantastic experience.

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• 1992 Domaine Jean Chartron Chevalier-Montrachet Clos des Chevaliers 92 Points

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

  A nice wine, but not up to the standard one would expect from a Chevalier-Montrachet from a strong white vintage like 1992. I did really like the nose though, with its notes of honey and sweet white fruit, flecks of creamy mascarpone and little floral drifts, all tied up with a slightly cheesy funk – I thought this smelt very Puligny indeed. The palate seemed to be on a slightly different page though. It was certainly bigger and weightier than one would have guessed from the nose, with a creamy texture and buttery flavours at the forefront giving way sweeter yellow fruit on the midpalate and a little spiciness at the finish. Balance was decent and the flavours generous, but I thought this lacked the cut and precision of a good Chevalier, showing just a slightly hint of the elegance one normally gets from the terroir. Served blind, I was not entirely convinced of its Grand Cru status either – it certainly had good weight, but I thought it lacked a touch of layered nuance. All in all, a nice wine, drinking quite well and showing a good bit of quality, but not one that captured the imagination.

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• 1969 Maison Leroy Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet

  Pretty good. This was another real pickle that no one got right in blind tasting though. For one thing, a red Chassagne is a relative rarity, but also, this really tasted a whole lot younger than one would expect from a 1969 Village wine. It had a beautiful nose, showing a dance of flower and spice aromas, a dash of ginseng and Chinese herbs, then typical Leroy notes of boiled red fruit, like raspberries and cherries – very pretty. The palate had a very elegant, almost ethereal feel to it, with strawberries and haw flajes and a slightly green sweetness – think chewing into a ripe guava or a piece of jambu air (aka water apple or syzygium samarangense) – lingering into a herby finish that was still held up by tight little tannins. I liked the lightness of touch and elegance on this. I normally associate reds from the white communes with rusticity, but there was none of that here. Altogether, a very decent drink, and a really interesting one to boot. While drinking well now, I would expect this to hold for quite a bit longer in the bottle as well – quite amazing for such an old Village.

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• 1990 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens 93 Points

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

  A completely different animal from the light, ethereal 1969 Leroy Chassagne Rouge that preceded it. This was about as masculine a Pommard as I have ever had. It was a really good wine though. From the start, the nose showed a really macho character, with bassy, dark-fruited aromas of berries and plums laced with earth and meat and stone and a little dash of spice. A very deep, masculine bouquet I thought. The palate reflected that as well. This was a true traditional Pommard, with a muscular structure of fine but firm tannins undergirding thick flavours of dark cherries and berries and more savoury tones of earth and meat and spice trailing away into a long finish. It was clearly made in a slightly more extracted style, but there was also a nice clarity and plenty of fresh acidity worked into the structure of the wine. Real quality here – this was already drinking decently on the night, but it is a very complete wine and could well go on aging for many years yet. I think anywhere between 5-10 years would be an excellent window to try it again.

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• 1975 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

  La Tache 1975. Now, this was truly something special. Served blind at the end of a dinner with some pretty decent wines, it was a showstopper that cast everything else into the shade. This had such a beautiful nose – no one was in any doubt that it was a Vosne, with its fragrant wafts of wood spice and petit fruits rouge, with sweet aromas of dried cherries and crushed berries, all garlanded by a lilting floral element at the sides of the bouquet. A wonderful nose – this was going off like fireworks in the glass. The palate followed on beautifully. It was at such a perfect place for drinking tonight, almost melting in the mouth with a silky rustle of softest tannins amidst wonderfully pure notes of red cherries and berries gently sprinkled with wood spice and roasted cocoa and fragrant smoke notes – a peacock’s tail of complexity quietly fanning out the mouth. With time, an earthy, mushroomy character started peeking out from around the edges as well. There was a slight difference in tone between the nose and palate I thought. While the bouquet was all sweet seduction, the palate was a bit leaner, more minerally, but somehow still very full and complete. Someone described it as playing like FC Barcelona on the nose, but more like Real Madrid on the palate. Whatever the case, this was just stunning. Pure, effortless, marrying sweetness of expression with power and elegance, it was a textbook description of a La Tache and everything a mature Burgundy should be. I really wanted to savour this slowly, but unfortunately, the small glasses I poured myself kept disappearing down the throat far faster than planned. Beautiful stuff.

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