Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet Blindtasting Dinner
Le Zinc Bistro, San Francisco, California
Tasted Wednesday, December 16, 2009 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,110 views
Introduction
This was the second stage of our exploration of the Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet Grand Cru vineyards. We started a few months back with an all-Montrachet/Le Montrachet blindtasting, and dishes specially cooked to match, at Stephen Gold's home. The wines that night amazed us with their power and depth across the board, and we were particularly surprised that none of the wines that night were oxidized or flawed. That flaw-free luck did not hold for our Bienvenues, and we had a particularly bad run with our '96s--a vintage that, of course, is one of those that has been plagued with premox--three out of four of ours were oxidized. Our Leflaives and Pernots were the stars of the evening, with the '97 Pernot coming in as the group's #1 for the night; the '00 Pernot, with its longer finish and racier acidity, was my WOTN. The '99, '96 and '02 Leflaives garnered virtually all the rest of the votes for WOTN. All of our Bienvenues were poured blind, in random order, and we did not unveil the wines until the end of the last flight.
Bienvenues is usually said to be the most approachable of the Montrachet vineyards in their youth (and to follow a faster maturity path thereafter), and we found this to be generally true of our set of wines. They also clearly lacked the power and, in most cases, the depth, of the Montrachets we had in our prior tasting. Clive Coates describes the typical Bienvenues as having "a fatness, a honeyed or honeysuckle fragrance and a certain delicacy." I definitely picked up a honeyed or honeysuckle nose on several of these wines, and they were certainly more delicate than our Montrachets. If Coates is correct about the typical nose and palate fatness, then our Latour, the '00 Pernot and the '02 Leflaive may have been the most "typical" Bienvenues in our tasting.
Kudos to Stephen for launching this Montrachet exploration, which we're planning to continue on a quarterly basis, and for organizing this dinner. Special thanks to Joe for his contribution of two Leflaives.
Flight 1 - Fleury Champagne Flight (2 Notes)
This is a very unusual Champagne in that it contains Pinot Blanc (a third of the cuvee).
Flight 2 - 1st Bienvenues Flight (3 Notes)
By random chance, we ended up with three of our Leflaives in the same opening flight. Despite all being from the same producer, there was remarkable difference, showing the influence of the vintages. Our dish for this flight was a fish consomme.
Flight 3 - 2nd Bienvenues Flight (4 Notes)
This flight contained our plurality WOTN, the '97 Pernot, and a very good '99 Latour, along with a weak, somewhat oxidized Ramonet and a badly corked Remoissenet. Our dish for this flight was a Croustillant de Camembert, warm camembert in a crispy Moroccan crepe with black truffle oil.
Flight 4 - 3rd Bienvenues Flight (4 Notes)
This was another strong flight, despite an oxidized '96 Pernot, and a rather simple Sauzet. The '00 Pernot and '02 Leflaive were both stunning. My dish for this was Cabillaud Dijonnaise, California black cod and warm potato salad w/chives, shallots & mustard vinaigrette.
Flight 5 - Sweet finish (2 Notes)
1996 Champagne Fleury Champagne Brut Millésimé 93 Points
France, Champagne
Light orange color; light citrus, orange, caramel, peach, ginger nose; focused, tart citrus, tart orange palate with a touch of caramel; meidum-plus finish (1/3 Chardonnay, 1/3 Pinot Noir and 1/3 Pinot Blanc)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2000 Champagne Fleury Champagne Cuvée Robert Fleury Brut 91 Points
France, Champagne
Light golden yellow color; ripe lemon, ripe peach nose; tart peach and mineral palate with tangy acidity; medium-plus finish 91+ pts. (1/3 Chardonnay, 1/3 Pinot Noir and 1/3 Pinot Blanc)
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No