Tag Archives: Burgundy

Louis Latour Montagny 1er Cru "La Grande Roche" 2006

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The first impression is of the circus: hot sawdust, popcorn, leather, saddle soap, and a hint of sulfur – hey, you need something to shoot a midget out of a cannon, right? There’s also a light dusting of minerals and chalk; there’s also a distant yeastiness, the smell of bakers just getting out of bed in the morning. Finally, there’s an overtone of pineapple, lychee, and soft white flowers, a soft halo of freshly baked brioche steaming next to freshly-cut fruit – exactly the sort of thing you’d expect at a French beach resort in, say, Tahiti. It’s all impossibly genteel, subtle, and elegant.Surprisingly, the wine turns out to be pretty substantial in the mouth, landing with the thwack of pizza dough slapped against a cool marble slab. Somewhat akin to butterscotch glaze on a Parker role, the wine is big, chewy, and supported by a thin, steely wire of subtle acidity that sets off the fruit to great effect here. The finish is lacy, hazy, lovely; it begs to be drunk outside in the long days of summer, shared with friends.Louis Latour
Price: $16
Closure: Cork

Domaine du Prieuré Savigny-les-Beaune Les Gollardes 2005

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I had to leave this wine overnight as, on opening, it seemed excessively sulphurous, to the point of being undrinkable. It’s better tonight, although there is a hardness that seems reluctant to depart. I’m not enough of a guru to know whether this is a technical fault or a function of fruit, so I’ll just call this wine as I find it.

On the nose, softly fruited with quite luscious plum and strawberry characters. There’s also an edge of minerality and an underlying hardness that speaks to me of woody stalks. It’s actually becoming less expressive as it sits in the glass, although what’s there is interesting in an elusive way. The entry shows similarly contradictory characters. There’s a thread of the same juicy fruit, but it’s almost completely overwhelmed with hard, savoury characters. Things remain thin through the middle palate, with a thrust of bitterness that obscures pretty much everything. There’s a bit of joy on the after palate, with some sweetly floral characters, before an astringent, hard finish.
I’m not really getting a lot from this wine in terms of enjoyment, though I will persist with it through the evening to see where it goes. 

Domaine du Prieuré
Price: $A36.30
Closure: Cork

Domaine du Meix-Foulot Mercurey 1er Cru Les Saumonts 2002

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First impressions consist of a freshly picked field mushroom tossed on last night’s campfire. Quite a puzzling nose, actually. Pleasantly so, for it’s elusive and smart, like a subtle conversationalist who prefers to hover at the edges of the discussion. I’m trying, a little unsuccessfully, to pick out threads. There’s the aforementioned mushroom and charcoal, but what is most striking after some time in glass is a thrust of minerality that sits right between sour cherry fruit and musk. This wine is making me work and I’m really enjoying it. 

In the mouth, an elaboration of the aroma with some elements filled out. The entry is subtle, consisting more of a sulphur-like prickliness than any sort of substantial flavour. This fans out to a decidedly savoury middle palate. There is fruit of a sort, again in a sour cherry spectrum, yet flavours are so integrated it’s unsatisfying to pick this out as a discrete thread. Rather, there’s a detailed tapestry of elements, all bouncing atop a layer of well textured acid. The whole is light bodied, lacking much in the way of bass notes aside from some vanilla-nougat oak. It tastes marginal, as if ripeness were only just achieved. Raspy tannins rattle along the tongue with increasing presence. Sappy flavours take off on the lifted after palate and persist through a peacock’s tail finish that resonates with attractive flair. 
I like this sort of wine. It never yells yet has so much to say. The way it is building in the glass suggests a happy future. 

Domaine du Meix Foulot
Price: $A41.80
Closure: Cork

Domaine Rapet Père et Fils Pernand 1er Cru En Caradeux 2000

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The aroma is fresh, smelling of baked things, almonds, goat’s cheese, coriander, minerality. It’s an intriguing mix of potentially rich notes within an architecture of lean elegance. There’s so much going on in the glass, yet it remains controlled. Very classy and, frankly, bloody nice to smell.

In the mouth, a rush of flavour that is truly satisfying. The attack is gentle and persuasive, taking a smoothly textural angle at first before fruit flavour begins to well up. Suddenly, a big wash of apple pie, delicate yellow peaches and mealy nuttiness fills the middle palate. Fabulous complexity that shifts and darts about constantly (even more so with food). Structurally, the acid is plentiful enough to contain such richness within a curvaceous yet taut figure. The after palate lifts beautifully, showing white flowers and a savoury kick. A nice, long, lingering finish.

What a fabulously drinkable wine, and likely to remain so for some years. Like a fascinating conversation with someone utterly hot.

Domaine Rapet Père et Fils
Price: $A60
Closure: Cork
Source: Retail

Sébastien Roux Santenay "Sebastien" 2006

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Somewhat sweet and yet savory on the nose, this wine throw out associations with spearmint, roses, strawberries, and dried straw. There’s also a hint of typically Burgundian sourness there, framing it all to somewhat more serious effect; I’ve enjoyed just smelling this for a few minutes without necessarily feeling compelled to drink any. If anything, it smells unusually ripe, which is a bit of a surprise given the fairly pail, almost milky color of the wine.Somewhat broad in terms of structure and tannin, there’s a somewhat disappointing lack of strong flavor here, buttressed by firm acidity on the finish and a disconcerting aftertaste of stale wheat crackers. Sadly, I’m at a loss to describe what exactly this tastes like other than “like mediocre Burgundy” – it isn’t bad, exactly, and yet it isn’t doing anything at all for me in terms of pleasure. Weirdly, the only thing that comes to mind is something called Crazy Cow, which was a 1970s breakfast cereal that turned milk into strawberry milk upon application thereof. There’s an industrial strangeness here which, paradoxically, comes from a wine which presumably isn’t industrially made. Could it simply be that unusual ripeness in this vintage is overwhelming what interest there is behind relatively full sugars? I don’t know, but I’ll take a pass on this one.Sébastien Roux
Price: $20
Closure: Cork

Jacques Cacheux & Fils Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas 2006

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It’s probably not the best idea to taste wine while you’re baking a cake, but as Philip White wrote recently in defense of mixing fragrance and wine: as if wine was always meant to be drunk in sterilised rooms. In fact, the smells of baking are stimulating my appetite in the most gluttonous manner, and I’d like to think this provides an

Domaine du Prieuré Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Les Lavières 2006

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I’ve popped the cork off a Pinot Noir in anticipation of a good match with roast duck this evening. The bird is resting, so I’ve a few minutes to swirl and sniff my way through this reasonably priced Burgundy from Savigny-les-Beaune. A very Pinot-esque purple/red/orange hue that is pretty and not especially dense. Colour’s one of those things I tend to gloss over a bit; with Pinot, though, I enjoy the paradox of a red wine that can often lack colour density but which, when it’s good, is intensely aromatic and powerful in the mouth. One of the charms of the variety, I guess.

A really nice aroma here. It’s pretty, floral, a bit confected perhaps, but this latter aspect goes to accessibility rather than quality. Fruit character is pretty straightforward. There’s a nice spicy edge too, and the whole is very perfumed and rewarding to smell, if not especially serious or challenging.
The palate is very pleasing. I’m getting a decent amount of astringency that appears to be whole bunch related and, being a sucker for some stalk, am enjoying it very much. It’s a light bodied wine, quite acidic, with accessible berry fruit flavour and spice. Perhaps a bit thin, the wine remains a light experience along its entire line, never filling out or becoming especially fat. But that’s ok, it seems to be a stylistic thing as much as anything else, and begs for food. There’s some complexity in terms of the flavour profile, and one would probably gain some satifaction by tasting more analytically. For me, though, this is a great bistro-style Burgundy that I’d be happy to throw back with mates over a good meal.
Update: on the second evening, a mellower wine, diminished in terms of fruit richness though still fresh-tasting. Drink now.

Domaine du Prieuré
Price: $A39.80
Closure: Cork

Domaine Robert Sirugue Vosne-Romanée Vieilles Vignes 2006

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Wine, for me, has been an acquired taste, or rather a series of acquired tastes that continue to accumulate the more I drink. Funny thing is, an acquired taste can be the most stubborn, displacing attractions that, at first, feel easier and more natural. So it is with Pinot Noir in general, and Burgundy in particular. I’m far from the most erudite taster, yet my first smell of this wine had the same effect as (for me) the smell of a Hunter Semillon, or a Coonawarra Cabernet. In other words, at least at first, the recognition of something familiar has as much to do with one’s pleasure as the absolute quality of the aroma. The accumulated experience of tasting makes the smell of this wine the summation of all the Pinots I’ve smelled. It is most curious to me, and something I’d like to explore further. If only I knew where to start.

There’s a burst of flowers, bright red fruits, vegetal funk, dusty vanilla oak and some volatility on the nose, and it all strikes me as absolutely varietal. There’s another layer too, deeper and quite meaty with denser berry fruit. Altogether complex and cutting as an aroma profile. I keep sniffing this wine and getting more out of it.

Domaine Bart Marsannay Les Champs Salomon 2006

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A dark, rich red with edges of purple. This wine’s nose is like a bunch of dark cherries being greedily, juicily eaten by a feral animal. There’s some stink that comes in waves, but the overriding impression is of fresh juice and tart, split berry skins. At the edges, an appealing, icing sugar-like powderiness that adds some detail and presence in the higher registers. This seems a darker wine overall, though not serious so much as rich and generous. I’m not sure the animalé is entirely terroir-driven; it smells as much of boiled eggs as it does wild Pinot. Certainly within tolerable limits.

Quite soft on the palate and a little shy on entry. Perhaps because the acidity is approachable, there’s not a lot of impact at first, and the wine takes its time to build fruit weight and presence. Build it does, though; the middle palate is deeply generous and fruit-driven, showing a flavour profile composed mostly of ripe cherries and spice. I don’t know that there’s much complexity, but it’s terribly well balanced for immediate drinking and I like its relaxed personality. Tannins aren’t very fine but descend sweetly on the tongue, reinforcing the wine’s plushness. A nicely tart thread weaves its way into the after palate, and the whole resolves cleanly through a satisfying finish.