2013 Grand Cru Horizontal tasting
Prince Wine Store, Bank Street, Melbourne
Tasted Saturday, January 14, 2017 by chatters with 897 views
Introduction
Finally, the most expensive tasting ever - for me that is. All the Grand Cru's in Burgundy from 2013. I saved all my pennies and made this my Christmas and Birthday treat as well. Even then I couldn't really justify the expense…that was until I tasted the wines.
Flight 1 - Bracket one - Cotes de Beaune Whites (7 Notes)
A difficult bracket with some wines approachable now but some obviously needing time. All wines served blind
It's easier to pick the disappointments than the winners here. Probably the Henri Boillot Criots Batard Montrachet made the least impression.
Flight 2 - Bracket two - Cotes de Beaune Reds (3 Notes)
All of these wines need an awful lot of time but, equally, all show at least some promise. Interesting bracket. All wines served blind.
Again loser rather than winners here - that Faiveley was pretty average here.
Flight 3 - Bracket three - Gevrey Chambertin (9 Notes)
Crikey. Some lovely wines here and a few not quite as lovely wines as well. A lowly village Gevrey Chambertin was the wine that turned me on to Red Burgundy and it was a pleasure seeing these 'top of the class' wines. All wines served blind.
Probably the Ponsot Chapelle Chambertin the loser here - all of the others would happily grace my table and, alas, evaporate before my eyes.
Flight 4 - Bracket four - lunch (1 Note)
Posh chicken pie. It was a bit of a surprise that they went with a white for lunch. A little misguided under the circumstances...I'd have probably gone to a reasonable village red...
Flight 5 - Bracket five - Morey St Denis & Chambolle Musigny (6 Notes)
Lunch has taken it's toll on my palate though my nose still appears to function. The majority of these wines showed at least some stalkiness for me and I found this to be the most disappointing bracket. Put into a tough corner and told to pick one (yes, I know being 'forced' to pick from 6 grand cru's isn't that tough a corner) I'd go with the Clos des Lambrays. All served blind...
Flight 6 - Bracket six - Flagey-Echezeaux & Vougeot (4 Notes)
After the last bracket this was a welcome and, albeit surprisingly, rather good group of wines. I picked the Jean Grivot (house style?) which I gave myself a pat on the back for. All served blind.
Flight 7 - Bracket seven - Vosne Romanee (6 Notes)
by this stage of the proceedings it was turning into a bit of a long day for me (430am rising to catch the plane down) but despite that this bracket was pretty fantastic and, as it was the last one, the wine got to sit a bit longer. The La Tache was fairly obvious on the first round but it was only time that revealed the superiority of the Romanee Conti which just got better and better and better...that's not to say that the other wines were not good but, on this tasting, not quite the same calibre. All served blind.
Flight 8 - Bracket eight - dinner first course & aperitif (5 Notes)
John Dory with samphire, fresh peas. Both of the Ravenneau's were stunning. The have the linear acidity of Chablis (which makes them shine with the food) but that is where the resemblance ends. Rather marvellous. Pity about the Meursault.
Oh, and the champagne was, well, champagne...
Flight 9 - Bracket nine - dinner second course (2 Notes)
Duck with shaved Spanish truffle and buckwheat. Both of the wines where good with the food (which was okay). The Rousseau was quite stalky - despite 12 years under it's belt - and I was informed that it was a vintage characteristic. With time it started to drop off a bit but was still more than present. The Volnay was pretty tidy, for me, but I like older wines as a general rule.
Flight 10 - Bracket ten - dinner third course (3 Notes)
18 month old Comte! Yum. The Cos was still a (relative) puppy for it's age and the Dominus a bit meh for me. The Barolo got better and better with time in the decanter and glass.
Closing
Okay. What can I say in conclusion. Actually it's quite reasonable to say that this was in my top tastings of all time. It was such a pleasant atmosphere as well. Brilliant. And it appeared to be a success so they said they will do it again next year so I guess I'm going to start saving now!
lessons learnt? Gevrey Chambertin & Vosne Romanee are where I need to be. Raveneau is the dogs bollocks as a producer. So is Jean Grivot. DRC deserves the hype.
The dinner was structured as a BYO so I brought the Pousse d'Or along...
2013 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru
Lemons, slight spice, mineral. In the mouth there are flavours of lemon, spice and it's juicy and long with some front of mouth and mid palate grip. Quite linear on the palate, very long with a touch of warmth on the finish. Nice.
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2013 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Orange blossom, slightly reductive. Polished oak, marzipan, stone fruit. In the mouth it's juicy and slightly tart and citrus backed by stone fruit. Quite savoury in this line-up and relatively structured with drying and slight gritty grip on the front of mouth. Drops a little intensity on the medium plus length finish.
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2013 Henri Boillot Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Cream, peach, slight vanilla, quite spiced. Butter. Juicy and zesty with citrus and stone fruit notes. Travels long with a slightly musty note and carries beautifully . Elegant. Very nice. Difficult to spit.
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2013 Henri Boillot Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
medium minus intensity aromas but with time revealing slightly dusty (dirty glass?) muted peach and sweet spice, touches of butter. Juicy and slight tart stone fruit is joined by buttery notes and a certain wet fleshiness. Some drying front of mouth grip. Hmm
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2013 Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils Bâtard-Montrachet
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
Wild ferment over floral notes, cool wet stone, toast, spice, cream and vanilla. More fruity and spicy on the palate. Difficult to spit. Generous, long, still a bit disjointed; needs time but very good. Some front of mouth grip. Quite tangy. Long. Lovely.
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2013 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru
Brooding. Rich, quite concentrated white stone fruit backed by spice. Mandarin peel. A sense of density and concentration on the nose. Quite worked and modern. Juicy and spicy with peach fruit, butter, cream, front of mouth grip, quite dense. Young.
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2013 Henri Boillot Montrachet
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
Peaches and cream, touches of marzipan/almond meal. Quite modern. Zesty acidity, drying tannins and touches of wild ferment wrestle the palate into submission. There is some fruit here but this needs so much time. Preposterously long.
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