Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
Nick A's Burgundy Series, 2011 Edition, kids table
Tasted October 14, 2023 by lozatron with 40 views
Introduction
I really enjoy these dinners, and when I can't attend I really enjoy the notes. Many wine dinners I think of non-nerd friends who love food and wine and think "oh I wish they could come and join the fun". This was not one of those dinners - wonderful food and companionship but also the wine *was* the thing, and we were here to taste as well as to enjoy.
Flight 1 - Cheese sauce stuffed Gougères - a modern miracle (1 note)
White - Sparkling
2011 Laherte Frères Champagne Extra Brut Les Vignes d’Autrefois
Perky, expressive nose. Some apple - not sour, not over ripe - in the middle. On the palate - leaning towards the ripe. Enjoyable now but I suspect that if you got 'em, now is the time to drink 'em.
Flight 2 - Haddock and Onion Bhaji Salad (2 notes)
White
2011 Domaine Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles
Wonderful nose. Some discussion of reduction at the table - yes perhaps a hint, but blows off. Clean and linear, some lovely citrus hints but it's also relaxed in its skin. This is what white burgundy is supposed to be about.
White
2013 Domaine du Chateau de Meursault Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières
An endearing nose - someone mentioned honeysuckle and I immediately smelt it. It's broad in the middle with that butteriness I associate with Meursault, but somehow pulls itself in at the finish and you're left with a lovely clean, somewhat acid aftertaste.
Flight 3 - Pheasant and Wild Mushroom Lasagna (2 notes)
Red
2010 Domaine Joliet Fixin 1er Cru Clos de la Perrière
My bottle. The 2010 brought by mistake to the 2011 dinner. Mea maxima culpa. Some discussion at the table as to whether this tasted "2011" or not - I strongly felt it didn't but perceptive palates disagreed. I really enjoyed this - "good honest burgundy" if that isn't faint praise, some structure there to merit the status but I think it's the most youthful of the reds. I suspect we enjoyed this more than we would have the wine I was supposed to bring...
Red
2011 Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Poissenot
Lovely nose, earth, red fruits. On the palate, a little bit confected perhaps? A hint of parma violet, all in balance, a really nice drop. Of the two wines of the flight this was the better, but the difference wasn't huge (perhaps the difference between a B+ and a B-) - I rather suspect that swapping it round, the 10 Geantet-Pansiot v the 11 Joliet would have led to a much bigger disparity. Really enjoyed this and sadly, as with all Burgundy these days, a quick trip to wine-searcher puts me right back in my box.
Flight 4 - Pigeon Pithivier (3 notes)
Red
2011 Arnaud Ente Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-Du-Milieu
This is lovely - and thank you to my tablemates for their generous endeavours in helping me pronounce the name of the producer. Again, a hint of florality - parma violets, rose petals perhaps? There's a purity to it but it's fully ready to drink - not plush but at least as much to be enjoyed as to be admired. Properly classy - put me in mind of some of my earliest Fourrier experiences.
Red
2011 Francois Gay Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Serpentières
So I found this a decent enough burgundy but there was a certain character to it - some kind of burnt leaf perhaps - that made it hard for me to engage with. I wonder if there's a certain chemical I am uniquely sensitive to - I remember something similar with a case of 1996 St Emilion, which my wife and friends loved but which I really struggled to get on with.
Red
2011 La Pousse d'Or Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets
A bit more youthful, a bit more vigourous. Something bright yet accessible there - blackcurrant chewit? Do they make cranberry chewits? If they did they would taste like this wine. My mouth is watering thinking about this wine - lovely stuff. I think there are probably two or three reds at the dinner I preferred, but none of them summons themselves to memory as easily as this one. Would love to drink again.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Flight 5 - Cheese (3 notes)
Red
2011 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanée
Enjoyed this - the nose really pulled you in, the palate perhaps a little less engaging - this is clearly a very classy villages wine.
Red
2011 Maison Sylvain Loichet Clos Vougeot
This wasn't quite right - some discussion at the table, there was a kind of reductive character that didn't blow off, really stayed the same. My sense was some kind of bacterial or fungal flaw.
Red
2011 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Roncières
I suspect i've just been lucky but I seem to have an incredibly good hit rate with Chevillon (and Gouges for that matter). Super engaging, really well put together - the purity of the 11s but somehow broader, easier to engage with. If someone said they'd blended in a proportion of '10 or even '09 I'd believe them. WOTN? Maybe, but it would be close with the Ente.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Closing
Wonderful dinner and I have to say that the kitchen at Noizé goes from strength to strength. The food works so well for dinners like this.