Goodness gracious... Again, after the fateful Clos des Lambrays incident in which I lost my newly christened wine tasting notepads complete with its gadget-pen sidekick in the same week, I thought I did it again at this event.
In honour of our beloved Indo friends, Arif and Jonathan, and our tireless thirst for all things burgundy, the gang got together at Crystal Jade Golden Palace restaurant to do a mixture of (i) the usual BYO blind tasting, (ii) a semi-blind of a couple of related wines Andy supplied, and (iii) a mini Bonnes-Mares shootout 2002 between Frederic Magnien and Comte de Vogue. The wines, as usual, came fast and furious...
Aperitif came in the form of Coutoux's Meursault 1er les Genevrieres 2000. This bottle again regretfully proved my theory that a majority of the 2000 white burgundies are going south. Fatigued, spirity nose was followed with semi-retired palate supported by rather lowish acid. For what the critics thought it's worth when they were released, I found nothing special, and everything worrisome about this bottle. Not dead though not far from it...
Chris volunteered his bottle to be presented first, thinking that it might be a tad lighter than the semi-blind flight bottles. Once poured, there's undeniably an aged aroma but the pitch was clearly Cote de Nuits. The wine was soft in the palate and finished with a distinctly cool finish. Quite delicious. I thought this was a poorly stored Gevrey from, say, 1998 -- but grand cru calibre no less. Turned out to be Robert Arnoux's Echezeaux 1996. Now this is _very_ different from all the other bottles I've had before. Arnoux's Ech almost always have the meatstock elements and this is particularly evident in 1996 (most deserving 1996s should show such earthy characteristics at this point in life), yet I found none of this. I also did not find the steeliness and acid-bite typical of the vintage. When he revealed half-way that this was a Vosne (well, for convenience, the group usually categorizes Ech and Grands-Ech into Vosne) my thoughts went into Romanee-St-Vivant due to its softness and femininity. Nonetheless this is a wine I spend some time thinking about well after the last drop as it defied the pictures it's set in my mind per my past experiences.
Chee Wee's came next and this wine too was soft and all feminine. It was more minerally than the first wine -- in fact Gevrey like -- and easygoingly sweet. The density might suggest it was a grand cru . Again I guessed the commune wrong (I thought Gevrey) as this was a Chambolle(!) At this point I was immediately inclined to think this was a 1er -- Chambolle only had two grand crus and this resembled neither IMHO. Vintage wise I thought this was not too far back, coming from a rather hot and ripe, easygoing vintage such as 2000 or 1997, but I was more inclined toward 2000. It turned out to be Frederic Mugnier's Bonnes-Mares 1997. If I spent time thinking about the previous wine, this one I contemplated on it a whole deal longer... It was undoubtedly delicious, showing a good deal of transparency and red fruits (both very Mugnier on hindsight), but I had trouble reconciling the fact that it was a Bonnes-Mares. So either my understanding on Bonnes-Mares had been wrong, or I was just plain lucky to find a new dimension/expression of it. I think the second reason is more like it. In any case, it is indeed true therefore that Mugnier always does not try to hide the characteristics of the vintage. FWIW, this is quite 1997 in character. What an education.
The flight of the semi-blinds was next. A quick run-down...
The first bottle had a meaty and somewhat minerally nose, and raspberry tinged flavour. A grand cru, I thought. While it seemed rather solid initially, this collapsed rather quickly revealing aged tea-like flavours later on. Hudelot-Noellat Clos Vougeot 1997.
The next had a somewhat formidable yet aged character on the nose, revealing punchy and dense red and black fruits with a somewhat oily (oak-influenced) texture. Another grand cru for sure. Louis Jadot Chambertin Clos de Beze 1988.
Again, meats and slightly advanced aromas which were not minerally (and so it ruled out Gevrey for me). Quite stemmy red fruits flavours leaving some residual sweetness and slight warmth at the back. Coche-Dury Volnay 1er Cru 1998.
A shift into youthfulness and deeper colour marked the next wine. Deep purplish red this carried almost roasted fruits. Oily textured and quite extracted. This had a tinge of some raw rice akin to a Sangiovese. Slightly dry and monodimensional in the mouth. Comte Armand Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 2002. (This is markedly different from the first bottle I had a couple of months back which convinced me it was the most special Pommard I'd ever had.)
The next wine was decidedly stemmy and somewhat floral. Almost Vosne-like in the juiciness but otherwise doesn't have pointed characteristics beside those I've mentioned. Nicolas Potel Latricieres-Chambertin 2001.
Louis Jadot Clos Vougeot 1988 had a slightly tomato-ey nose with a suggestion of reduction. The colour is still dense and this had a notable meaty aroma. A somewhat muted performance, in my opinion.
The last of this flight was -- coincidentally or not -- very special. Vitamins, fresh meat and soft plush fruits. Though not huge in size nor especially complex, the whole charm of this wine was in the balance. This had sap and very high-pitched. I knew it was a Cote de Beaune but didn't expect it to be Louis Jadot Volnay Clos de la Barre 1996. Fabulous!
The next two wines were what I brought along. Bertagna's Corton les Grand Lolieres 2002 was candied and clearly modern schooled. This neither had the grandiose nor flavour clarity I would have expected from a Corton. In fact this seemed almost too rich and too ready for such a youthful Corton.
My early worries were confirmed for the Faiveley Chambolle-Musigny La Combe d'Orveau 2002 after I first opened it. It was tight as hell at first and it was still tight as hell. A Chambolle with a spine of steel -- this had everyone fooled (except one) of its origin. High-pitched, very pure, minerally and raspberry tinged fruits. Austere, unforgiving and so awkwardly lean at this point.
The evening concluded with a very nice bottle of Henri Bonneau Chateauneuf du Pape 1994. Not particularly a strong year, this wine demonstrated yet again what this maestro could do. Very few individuals manage to turn out stellar performances year after year. This wine was ready to drink, showing raspberry liqueur, garrigues and an ultra-cool finish. I shook my head as I reflect how many illustriously named producers continue to produce warmish CdPs even in the greatest vintages.
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