I stepped in late at Ming San's residence, running into Ming San, Hee Hon and the house maids trying to get Princess, the Alsatian, into Ming San's SUV for an emergency trip to the vet. A chicken bone apparently found itself into Princess' tooth/gum(?) just minutes prior to my arrival. Ming San told me to join the rest of the gang and enjoy the wine in the meantime.
I was greeted with a delicious, blind (white) bottle which had a somewhat heady toasty aromas and ripe high-toned pineappley kind of flavours. The finish was strongly acidic however, in a manner I was not too familiar with. The midpalate was lacking, perhaps even slightly dilute (reminded me of Ramonet's less than stellar attempts in 1999 and 2000 vintage here). Some suggested this was a villages Meursault. I thought this was a little bit more like a Chassagne, though to be honest this was quite Meursault like on the nose too -- but I was quite sure this was a 2000. And then someone else suggested this might even be an Aligote. Right on... It was Coche-Dury Bourgogne Aligote 2000, fruit source unknown.
We started the dinner with a duo Puligny-Montrachet 1er les Perrieres 2000 from Carillon and Sauzet. Both whites were served out of decanter, semi-blind. The first one had an exotic nose, mixing almost tropical fruits with lemon tea and oak. This wine was also quite warm though was quite generous in the mouth. Again, like most 2000 whites I've had of late, this was rather evolved. An easygoing, crowd-pleasing wine. This turned out (expectedly) to be Louis Carillon's example.
The other Perrieres (Sauzet) was immediately firmer and structured even going by the nose. Bracing and penetrating hints of lemon skins in the nose and quinine at the finish, this wine had an almost painful intensity and excellent penetration in the mouth. It also developed and became richer as time moved on. A powerful wine with palate staining finish yet still retains its Puligny delicacy. Lovely, and improving.
The second flight comes in the form of two premier crus. Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges les Pruliers 2000 had an intriguing mix of crushed raspberries and spices, rather sauvage nose. The same wildness was detected in the mouth, which otherwise it would have been quite Chambolle-like. Finished off with slight rusticity. I liked the linearity of flavour this wine sported. Lightweight as it might be this was a serious wine, and a rather elegant Nuits. I like it!
Les Gaudichots has an illustrious heritage. It is believed (deductively) that Nicolas Potel purchased his Gaudichots grapes from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti since the latter still owns a parcel of this prized land which over time had been gradually annexed to La Tache. A poor man's La Tache? Well, not exactly, mostly because the price of les Gaudichots bottling isn't exactly within a poor man's reach... Nonetheless, the Potel Vosne Romanee les Gaudichots 2000 initially gave off a brett-inflected nose which fortunately cleared up after some aeration. Obvious stemmy and pungent meaty character at first leading to a plush, dense, generous dark fruits and a slightly alcoholic finish. This wine showed breed and volume but I found the oak treatment did not allow it to carry its flavours cleanly to the finish. While this was obviously classier than the preceding wine, I just didn't find it to be quite as 'honest' as Gouges' les Pruliers... But then again, we're comparing apples vs. oranges here.
We moved on to the next flight of the 'ubiquitous grand crus' -- a phrase I realise is an oxymoron. Nonetheless, when we are considering Clos Vougeot and Echezeaux, is that not quite true? Well, generally speaking yes, but when one looks at these two producers we are really talking about the exception to the norm.
Hudelot-Noellat Clos Vougeot 2000 gave off an earthy, meaty nose initially which very quickly led off to a classy icy, candied and briary nose of black cherries and plums. Square and dense in the mouth with bright dark fruits to boot. An impressive Clos Vougeot, but like even in the best examples, of which this is clearly one of them, this was rather charmless, and I honestly thought this was a function of its terroir more than anything else.
Georges Jayer Echezeaux 2000 is Henri Jayer's wine ultimately as he oversees the winemaking at this estate, and every wine by Jayer is a rare treat. This one is no exception. Delicate dark cherries, and textural linearity that brought me to my knees. This is a perfect marriage of delineation of flavours, straight-line entry-midpalate-finish-innermouth-perfume, and utterly cool, satiny texture. Very penetrating yet unbelievably gentle. The most elegantly rendered spicy Vosne fruits with nobility and unsurpassed gentleness. (I know, I know, I keep saying that this wine is gentle. But this is precisely what makes it so special.) Cleansing, highly perfumed finish that wouldn't quite and literally weightless in the mouth. A humbling experience. (I pitied Noellat's Clos Vougeot put side by side this wine, not that it was even bad to start with!)
The battle of the titans? Well, almost. We're seeing a Chambertin Clos de Beze shootout between Armand Rousseau and Louis Jadot next, served semi blind out of the decanter. The first wine had a very candied and red fruited generosity in the nose. It was creamy, had slight confectionery and deceptive fruity simplicity but I sensed a brooding reserve underneath. It finished with soy-like finish and oily texture emerged after extended aeration. This was a spicy and classy Chambertin which was already approachable. I wonder what it would be like in a few years time. I believe there'd be some upside. And most got it right: this was Armand Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze 2000. I liked it, but this just didn't have the pitch, cut and formidability of his Le Chambertin (one of my best burgundy experience I must confess).
Jadot's rendition couldn't have been more different. (Again, tonight it seemed we were playing a game of contrasts in flights of similar wines... How fun!) High-pitched, enclosed, oily, very complex and minerally Gevrey on the nose (although more rounded than the typical examples -- but then again, this was a Clos de Beze). In the mouth, intense deep red fruits with an aristocratic structure, velvety texture, cleansing and sweet. I revisited this wine many times over that night (there was quite a lot left in the decanter, so I presume this couldn't have been the favourite of the table), and close to an hour later, this put on that Jadot-esque savoury, meaty and slightly minty aftertaste. As Darth Vader would say, "Impressive... Most impressive..." Wonderful juice and one that I thought about a lot afterwards.
Phew... And now we're going to the hallowed moment where we would compare the incomparable Musigny from the house of Comte de Vogue and J.F. Mugnier. Again, in semi blind. The first wine sported the tell-tale Chambolle nose of creamy raspberries but with some oaky density which was all rendered in class and finesse. Voluminous in the mouth but not quite as focussed and pristine as the... second wine, which also had a creamy raspberry flavours and a very transparent spine of fruits. Very sweet on the verge of (but short of) stickiness, this continued to showcase admirable luminosity and high-pitched minerality in its fruits. There was a sense of plush royal presence that was unmistakably... Musigny. This second wine had a purity of fruits that the first wine could not overcome. Musigny wine #1 was de Vogue and #2 was Mugnier. I suppose when wines like these were put side by side can one begin to appreciate the difference in the details that the domaines impart or highlight to their wines. While de Vogue's Musigny had every right to be a le Musigny, so to speak, it was more massive and less transparent and delineated than Mugnier's. Having said this, I know de Vogue's Musigny is a strange beast, in that in the typical burgundy tradition, they would put on more clarity and expand its layers several years afterwards. It was highly likely that we were not catching this 2000 in its upcurve slope yet. Having said that, regardless of the potentials, Mugnier's Musigny was something else. His approach of purity of fruits above all else, and a standard treatment of skinny percentage of new oak even at this level had produced an expression that was entirely lovely yet regal, and ultimately an ultimate Chambolle-Musigny wine -- lush, structured, commanding, seductive, rich, minerally, and, to say the least, the complete burgundy. I shudder to think what he could have released in the other more favourable vintages...
Ming San cracked another bottle open for the fun of it. This one was certainly aged. Unfortunately -- I don't know if it was the cold temperature of the wine, or the fact that there was some sediment disturbance -- this wine came across as rather lean and ungiving. It was nicely structured however, but should have come from a hot vintage, probably a less illustrious one. Meatstock aromas with stemmy acidity and fairly persistent. I guessed '7os... probably '78 Gevrey but premier cru? I mean, I had no idea about this decade, and so I just took that shot. He said it was an '83, which he thought now behave quite similarly to the '76s, and it's a grand cru from Vosne. It was Gros Frere et Soeur Richebourg 1983.
And so the night ended and I had a lot of fun just sitting there, sipping, and thinking about each wine as I savoured them. All the wines showed typicity of its communes and well deserved their cru standing. There was no disappointment, as even the 'weaker' wines displayed its origin and its flaws weren't unexpected (e.g., Carillon's). This is a tasting I contemplate often after the event for the sheer education it afforded me, and I am still thinking about it even as I write this.......................
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