Wine Guild of Charlottesville Epic Burgundy Tasting

Another Wine Guild Epic tasting, this time of high end burgundies for major burghounds and those aspiring to be. These are currently available wines from a variety of distributors that serve the Guild. Some fantastic wines were enjoyed, and a great time was had by all...

• 2005 Domaine François Mikulski Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières

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

  I found this wine to be extremely well integrated, combining the light use of oak, yeasty, rich Meursault flavor and clean minerality. A composed style with a classic nose and elegant follow through of medium length. For those who like a fine white with delineated flavor, acid and minerality as opposed to the fat, lactic, unbalanced oak styles that need to be aged long periods of time to harmonize, this is a Meursault to enjoy now and over the next 3-5 years.

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• 2006 Domaine Jean-Claude Bachelet et Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Sous le Puits

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

  This wine and the next were found to be the two favorite whites of the evening and for some, of the night. The Puligny has a classic, rich and expressive nose. A million times over I would have guessed this one in a blind tasting as Puligny, it is everything you want out of the wine. Full bodied with a creamy chalk minerality, buttery acidity and a fatty, light smoke note with rich yeasty toast qualities. Just a fantastic wine showing a power now that many thought needed to harmonize with a few more years but of which all agreed was the excellent stuff of this region. A great buy for the cellar, maybe 3-7 years, but a powerful drink now Burgundy for those who like the intensity of flavor.

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• 2004 Domaine Jean-Claude Bachelet et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Blanchots Dessus

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

  Now many believed this to be the finer of the two. The first thing to note is that it is a 2004 which was a pretty classic vintage in Burgundy for white wines. Thus, the wine showed pretty classically. A much softer nose revealing the dusty mineral and lemony richness of the wine. Age has brought together the mineral structure and rich honey-lemon fruit given it a tone of toasted nuts and the result is an almost complete integratration and harmony. A fantastic wine for drinking now with some potential for development over the next 3-5 years.

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• 2006 Domaine Jean-Claude Bachelet et Fils Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru

  It is difficult, as a man of humble means, to evaluate a wine like this. I'll stick to the facts. The nose and palate both strongly express flavors of Honey Butter, Coconut and Fois Gras without any stretch of the mind, other tropical notes also preside but the honey butter is king. The wildness and intensity of these flavors leaves one feeling that the wine has all the guts to age into a top flight Burgundy. A fantastic wine that will need age to mellow its intense parts into a complex whole but certainly a wine that will achieve the greatness of its vineyard.

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• 2005 Nicolas Rossignol Volnay 1er Cru Chevret

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

  A smokey bacon and sappy rich fruit nose unlike anything I would expect from a Volnay delighted me in that I have often not enjoyed the over delicate style of many wines from this area. This is a Volnay on steroids. As the wine opened up notes of toasted sesame became predominant in the nose and the intensity of fruit here was sharp and classic light cherry and spice notes but with a lot of white wine type fruit. This is almost a new world style Burgundy and I highly recommend it for Pinot Noir fans of every sort, it will definitely take on some complexity with age but can be enjoyed for its intensity immediately.

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• 2006 Domaine Armelle et Bernard Rion Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

  The Vosne Romanee took the entire day to open up in a decanter. The nose is beautiful, perfumed and some how light and dark at the same time. There is plenty of classic purple fruit with thick skinned black grape and spice and a rose petal quality to the acidity. For all it's virtues this was a difficult wine to judge as I believe it was a bit closed down. What was there was beautiful but I can not attest to the intensity, the flavors it offered are what I like best about a Burgundy and I can not help but put a couple of these in my cellar to taste in another 7 years. One for the cellar.

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• 2006 René Bouvier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  The #1 red of the evening for the majority of tasters. Beautiful and classic Gevrey fruit that, for me, took a little while to develop in the glass. When it did I understood this to be an excellent Gevrey that will need a full 5-7 years to become the obvious beauty that it is. The flavors given were of cassis and dusty cocoa with mixed berry fruits and a green tea quality to the tannins. Medium in weight but long in palate, I found this to be a refined style for what I expect to be a more rough and rugged area and was pleased by the education in elegance. A fine cellar pick maturing in 5-7 years but capable of much more.

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• 2000 Hospices de Beaune Corton-Cuvée Docteur Peste François Mikulski

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru

  OK, so this was my favorite of the evening but how could it not be? We were glad to have the new Veritas Vineyards sommelier there last night (thanks Thomas!) whose knowledge of many of the vineyards explored during this evening was quite helpful and who explained to me the significance of the Hospice de Beaune labeling on the bottle. In short it is the wines submitted to the famous Hospice de Beaune auction every year that set the price for the wines in the given vintage, thus it behooves each producer to submit their best. This was a fantastic Corton! The nose was that of an aged Burgundy: Anise, even licorice, purple and black fruits, soy and yes a dose of that funk and earth that some call barnyard and others the very soul and being of the harmony of earth and wine. An inner sap from a medium weight and finish. I believe that this wine will improve for the next 5 years but it is certainly one to approach even now, A perfect "great bottle" for Thanksgiving and the holidays!

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