I had the delightful opportunity to join a winetasting group called Coterie de Dionysus on a certain Friday night. The theme was quite appropriate, of course, and it sought to compare and vote for the preferred wines made of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes hailing from Burgundy and New World areas. There's a budget to each wine, however (in the range of S$60 a bottle, I think...) and so the comparison exercise is geared towards finding the best drinking and best tasting wine for each flight. Each flight is composed of one wine from the new world and one wine from the old world -- served fully blind. At the end of the tasting, a poll count is taken to see whether the old world or the new world won the night.
I never thought the turnout would be so large. I mean, this was a massive party! Everyone was in the mood for fun and a great tasting experience. In fact I've never attended a more interactive session than this (at least not at this size -- around 40 pax). There was a lot of exchange and play. In short, a very fun evening.
The line up by flight and my personal comments follows...
ROUND ONE - Patrick Javillier Mersault ‘les Tillets’ 2002 vs. Petaluma Chardonnay Piccadilly Valley 2003
It's not exactly easy to tell which was new world and which was old world. There was however a distinct stylistic difference. Wine 'A' was cold and reticent on the nose. Pear and some banana skins could be detected with some warming up. Leaner on the palate than 'B', this had greater linearity, pure fruited sweetness and better midpalate presence. It turned floral afterwards. This had to be old world, I thought. Wine 'B', on the other hand, was immediately more gratifying with a spicier (hints of anise and dill) and richer nose. Oakiness was evident. In the mouth it was also very generous with fuller body and noticeably layered textures. Orange peels hints emerged later. Bigger wine than 'A' but maintains a sense of elegance. What it did not have was the focus of 'A'. I prefered 'A', but most voted for 'B'. 'B' was the Petaluma and 'A' was the Meursault. Score: 23 vs. 14 in favour of Petaluma.
ROUND TWO - Wantirna Estate Lily Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2004 vs. Joseph Roty Marsannay Champs St. Etienne 2003
This was a lot easier to tell apart which was which (not necessarily what the exact wine, though). Wine 'A' had red plum and spices on the nose. On the palate however this had a stewey rose-syrup like flavour which I do not like. Soupy texture but still had some brightness, this was decidedly wooded yet well-made. Finished with cloying sweetness. Must be Aussie from a hot region, I thought. Wine 'B' was corked but fortunately there was a spare bottle. What a contrast -- crushed red fruits, cherries and minerals, steely and high-pitched. Must be a northern Burgundy. Ended with a lovely mouthwatering sappiness. 'A' was the Yarra pinot, and 'B' was the Marsannay. No prize for guessing which one I preferred. Burgundy was a runaway winner with a score of 30 to 8.
ROUND THREE - Domaine Bruno Desauney Bissey Gevrey Chambertin 2003 vs. Dog Point Vineyard Malborough 2004
This turned out to be a very close fight. Wine 'A' sported ripe black fruits, with a very ripe and spicy tendency. Plush and round in the mouth with reasonably good grip -- in fact, rather Vosne-like to me. With air, liqueur-like elements merged, indicating this came from a very hot vintage (which it was, as we learned later), and a rouch of rusticity framed the finish. A certain amount of volatile acids was evident throughout. Wine 'B' had a soupy, stemmy nose. Fairly spritzy (some CO2 trappings?), this needed a hefty amount of swirling and patience to blow off. This was decidedly new world to me (in comparison, I wasn't sure if 'A' was old world initially, except for the rustic element later on which let the cat out of the bag for me). Textured, weighty and voluminous with a tomatoey hint in the mouth, for which I marked 'B' down. But compared to the new world pinot of the previous flight, this was certainly cleaner and tighter. Because I had to make a decision, I still liked 'A' a tad more, and yes that was the burgundy. Burgundy won with a narrow score of 19 to 18.
ROUND FOUR - A.P. de Villaine Mercurey ‘les Montots’ 2004 vs. Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir 2004
As the round progressed, the wine pairing became more difficult to distinguish -- coincidence or not. Wine 'A' had a somewhat reticent nose dominated by dark berries. Quite tight with a nicely integrated acidity but fell short of having that 'finesse' factor -- which ruled out Cote d'Or, making me think this was some satellite appellation wine from the southern part of Cote-de-Beaune. A rather flamboyant burgundy with a gregarious fruits in the mouth, I thought. Wine 'B' smelled distinctly whole-cluster fermented with pronounced stems. Fruits were rather dark and plummy, with distinctly new-worldly flinty wood. The stemmy character gave way to an overt (in my definition at least) floral impression. In the mouth this was rather warm and fleshy and had a volatile backend. Surely a new world where the winemaking was executed in an over-eager manner. True enough this came from a new 'happening' Pinot place in NZ. The burgundy narrowly won again with a 19 to 18 score. What did I vote for? 'A' of course, given the context of comparison.
ROUND FIVE - Saintsbury Reserve Pinot Noir 2000 vs. Domaine de Perdrix Nuits St. Georges 1996
Ah, the contrast returned... 'A's nose unmistakably read spicy oak, plums and raspberries. In the mouth it was rather abrasive although concentrated, with a stemmy almost soapy flavours. Nothing much to discover in here -- rather clumsy and overblown new world pinot (I was sure), I thought. Interestingly 'B' was also rather idiosyncratic. What was clear about 'B' was that it was old world. Rather musty, stinky nose -- almost reductive -- and this wine was also quite stemmy. On the palate, however, this gave off a cosy savoury, earthy flavours. Not complex, in fact rather simple, but quite cleansing and finished with a certain degree of salinity. Delicious but not great. I voted for 'B' and so did the others. Burgundy won hands down 34 votes to 3.
What was most heartening to learn tonight -- besides the fact that burgundy won (yay, yay, yay!!!) -- was the fact that I got the sense that as the audience discussed and carefully assessed the wines over the course of dinner, I saw a shift from new world tendency to the old world. Understated qualities that don't speak of in-your-face sensations, such as tactile impressions, the taste of the soil, etc, began to be noticed. I think this would be the beginning of many a joyful burgundy discoveries for many. But whatever the results was, it was clear that everyone walked out satisfied, merry and I'm sure this would be a discussion topic for many of the attendants for some time to come.
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