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White Burgundy at Helsinki
Classic Wine Cellars, Helsinki, Finland
Tasted May 4, 2012 by VHJV with 607 views
Introduction
Our group gathered to taste some great white Burgundy from some of my favorite producers. There was also a mini vertical of my favorite BdB Champagne.
Flight 1 - Champagne (3 notes)
White - Sparkling
2000 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
93 points
Very nice deep nose with some oak influence. In the mouth wonderful deep and fresh, complex fruit. Very young. A great BdB.
White - Sparkling
1998 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
91 points
Also some oak on the nose. Interesting aromatics, but not nearly as refined as the 1995 or 2000. Some people thought this was an off-bottle. I liked it, though.
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White - Sparkling
1995 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut
95 points
A wonderfully complex nose with sweet fruit, minerals and forest floor. A nice hint of maturity already, even though this is still very young. A genuinely great Champagne.
Flight 2 - Bourgogne (3 notes)
White
2009 Domaine Roulot Bourgogne Blanc
89 points
A pure nose. Very nice, but not really distinctive. Gets better with time in the glass, but doesn't quite get to the level of the others in this flight.
White
2009 Domaine Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc
91 points
A wonderful Bourgogne once again. The nose has fine Puligny aromatics and in the mouth this has a really nice mouthfeel. Wonderful balance. Very long also.
White
2009 Coche-Dury Bourgogne Blanc
91 points
This has great concentration for a Bourgogne. Fine aromatics, but a bit disjointed at first. Needs a lot of air, but improves well. The leftovers are the best. A great Bourgogne.
Flight 3 - Leflaive (3 notes)
White
2002 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles
Partial premox. Drinkable, but tastes like a tired old Champagne. Not at all like the other vintages in this flight.
White
2000 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles
94 points
A wonderful nose of Puligny essence. A great mouthfeel with fine concentration and complexity. Truly fine balance. A fabulous white burg.
White
1999 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles
93 points
Not as pure as the 2000, but really complex. This has an impressive glyseral structure with a viscous mouthfeel. I prefered the 2000 for its etherealness, but this was great in a different way. This also seems to have more upside to be gained from further cellaring.
Flight 4 - Sauzet (3 notes)
White
2001 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes
93 points
Ripe and powerful. Complex with some lovely herbs on the nose. Very different from the Leflaives, but a truly fine 1er Cru in its own way.
White
2000 Etienne Sauzet Chevalier-Montrachet
94 points
Great chalky minerality. Very primary. Opens up nicely with air. Intensive and very classy. If this would have been drank without the Montrachet next to it, it would have been a real winner. Now, though, it was a bit shadowed by competition.
White
2000 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet
96 points
Terrific concentration and depth. Great length. Very complex with ripe fruit and liquid stone. Amazing mouthfeel. A really complete wine still on the young side.
Closing
This was a very successful night and again most of the wines met or exceeded expectations. There was only one real disappointment (the 2002 Leflaive Pucelles) that reminded us about the scourge of premox plaguing so many wines of this genre these days. So, perhaps it is possible to evade the plague by choosing right producers and/or right wines. So far so good.