Lucien Boillot 2006 “Les Grands Poisots en Souvenir du Beurot” (Burgundy) – My last bottle of this was clinging to life by its well-chewed nails. Not so this one, though it most definitely shows the early tendency towards oxidation common to pinot gris from all but the most ideal sites. Waxed almond and a golden sunset glow still indicate a wine in the waning hours of its life, but at least it’s now clear that a bottle performing up to abilities will show quite well. (6/11)
Browse Tag
burgundy
Rully good
A&P de Villaine 2006 Rully Les Saint-Jacques (Burgundy) – Exquisitely balanced and poised, yet the wine’s more of a warm embrace than it is a chiseled statue or graceful ballerina. Supple fruit with swirls and shades of amber, copper, and silver floats in complete serenity amidst a deft collusion of acid and gentle, antiqued wood. This is breath-catchingly lovely. (6/11)
Miss
Domaine de la Cadette 2007 Bourgogne Vézelay “La Châtelaine” (Burgundy) – More advanced than I’d expect…maybe the dreaded premature oxidation, maybe a sign that the wine wasn’t meant to age, maybe just this bottle. It’s still OK, after a fashion, it’s just heavy and ambered in a way that doesn’t really suit the sharp-edged raw materials. Lemon still hangs about, tart and biting, but then there’s thus thud of bronzer.(6/11)
Domaine de la Cadette 2008 Bourgogne Vézelay “La Châtelaine” (Burgundy) – Salt-spicy but hollow, and a little metallic. There’s more water here than wine. Probably the worst bottle I’ve had yet, so it’s either closing or dying; I lack experience with the wine over longer periods to make an informed guess. (9/11)
Les Clous train
de Villaine 2005 Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise Les Clous (Burgundy) – I’ve an odd sensation drinking this, as if I’m confronted with the rush of a suddenly-returned memory I didn’t know I’d forgotten. I drink precious little chardonnay of any non-sparkling type, and even less white Burgundy, but my more formative wine years were full of the stuff. Some sort of…well, I wouldn’t call it a “need,” exactly, but more of a satisfied conclusion, has been fulfilled by this wine. It doesn’t hurt that it delivers so much of what I actually like about good white Burgundy without burdening itself (or me) which the majority that I don’t. Beige earth, French horn mushrooms, ripe in both the agricultural and temporal senses of the word, draped with “fruit” but really much more about beautifully-rounded texture and poise. (5/11)
Hello to Pa, too
Haisma 2007 Gevrey-Chambertin (Burgundy) – Dark fruit, though far from opaque, with the slender musculature of a runner. Mushroom dust, some earth. There’s wood, yes, but it’s young Burgundy. Wood’s not uncommon at this stage. Structurally sound. I’ve never heard of this guy, but on a sample size of one, he might be worth watching. (3/11)
Tripoz fermented
Tripoz Crémant de Bourgogne Brut “Nature” (Burgundy) – I forget to search for a lot number before this bottle hits the recycling, but based on some hints (the presence of a different, and more modern, label in the same store where I bought this), I think it’s probably the release previous to whatever’s current as of February 2011. In any case, it’s like a dog that quickly lifts its head to see who’s come into the room, realizes it’s no one particularly interesting, and returns it chin to a position of paw-top boredom. I saber this open, and so the first sips are full of froth and rapidly-expelled aromatics. There’s grass, yellowish melon, some tartness. But then, as the bubbles settle down to a more restful stream, the wine turns innocuous. It’s pleasant, agreeable, easily digestible, easily forgotten. The Doris Day of crémants. (2/11)
The imaginary invalid
Girardin 1996 Santenay “1er Cru” La Maladière (Burgundy) – Completely overwhelmed by soupy woodiness. Bad wine, bad winemaking, bad bottle…don’t know, but this is wretched. (12/10)
Boillot boy
L. Boillot 2006 Bourgogne (Burgundy) – Corked. (12/10)
Snip, snip
Davenne 2008 Saint-Bris “Vieilles Vignes” (Burgundy) – Extremely restrained. There’s a lovely undertone of minerality, but it’s papered over, and there’s nothing going on above it. This could be a lot more interesting than it is, I suspect. (11/10)
Miss Châtelaine
Domaine de la Cadette 2007 Bourgogne Vézelay Blanc “La Châtelaine” (Burgundy) – Sharp, angrily acidic, full of underripe heirloom pommes and none of the helter-skelter terroir that has so often characterized this wine, which I very frequently adore. Bad vintage, or bad batch? Doesn’t matter…after two bottles of identical form, I’m fobbing the rest. (10/10)