TN: A lost Friday afternoon gathering – Burgundy, Piedmont, Riesling, Champ and Sautenres

A LOST FRIDAY AFTERNOON GATHERING – BURGUNDY, PIEDMONT, RIESLING, CHAMP AND SAUTENRES - Blacksalt, Washington DC (9/2/2016)

Six of us got together to drink some nice wines. The chef did an excellent job creating a tasting menu and the wine service was perfect.
Champagned

• 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Oenothèque - France, Champagne
  This has been really consistent. However, some are more decadent where others are fresher. This is a more decadent example. Dense sweet yellow fruit driven nose, lemon curd, cooked apple with a hint of cinnamon, honey, sesame and mineral. Excellent concentration, dense yellow fruit driven palate, bright acidity, good mineral presence and long clean slightly toasted sweet finish. A couple points lower than usual for not finding the freshness. (95 pts.)

Richebourg

• 1971 Gustave Gros Richebourg - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
  I bought this from the Roy Welland cellar auction after drinking a couple bottles of the 71 Gustave Gros Grand Echezeaux which were incredible. Very earthy and mostly red fruit driven nose, a bit of dirty cellar detracts the purity, dry red cherry, a hint of balsamico, mushroom, licorice, sous bois and damp earth. Excellent concentration, dense and a bit too earthy, good acidity and slightly impure finish. The second bottle and once again a bit disappointing. (90 pts.)
• 1991 Domaine Jean Gros Richebourg - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
  Subtle yet polished nose displaying red fruits, strawberry, a hint of blackberry, sap, mushroom and mineral. Polished and precise palate, medium concentration, still a hint of coarse tannins and clean finish. A couple hours later, showing noticeable oxidation which is surprising. Not the most complex Richeboug but perfectly mature one. Really enjoyable. (94 pts.)

Reveneau Butteau

• 2007 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
  Nice to compare to the 08 as both nicely reflects the vintage characters. Very floral and pure nose displaying lemon curd, lemon zest, cool mountain stream, light honey, wet stone and seashell. Medium concentration, very pure and cool palate, bright acidity, strong presence of mineral and lovely cool mineral driven finish. Some tasters comments that this is tighter. For my palate, this is slightly less concentrated and coiled but fresher and cooler. Excellent showing which is not surprising for Raveneau. (93 pts.)
• 2008 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
  This really reminds me the 08 Les Clos drank in 2014 and 2016. Very tightly coiled and perfectly precise nose displaying saline, honey, spicy and limestone. Excellent concentration, dense and oily, bright acidity, strong presence of mineral and incredibly long oily and mineral finish. This seems riper, oilier and tighter than the 07. This is also more concentrated. Excellent showing but should improve with a few more years of cellaring. (94 pts.)

Meursault

• 2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
  The wine that I really loved. Starting to show some maturity, succulent generous yellow fruit, lemon and some tropical fruit, sweet spices and limestone. Excellent concentration, round and warm, generous ripe sweet yellow fruit driven palate impression, good acidity and long sweet generous yellow fruit driven finish. It has reach the peak but will drink well for awhile. (93 pts.)
• 2011 Lucien Le Moine Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
  Ripe and opulent nose displaying ripe yellow fruit, a hint of flint, noticeable luxurious oak and sweet spices. Excellent concentration, ripe, warm and oily, dense ripe yellow fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity and long sweet finish. As usual for Le Moine, very ripe and sweet. (93 pts.)
• 2011 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
  Quite a contrast to the Le Moine version. The color is remarkably lighter. Very fresh and cool, mostly light citrus, saline and wet stone. Medium to light concentration, cool subtle white fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity, strong presence of mineral and cool clean finish. Like most of the 11 whites, slightly lack concentration but quite pure and fresh. (92 pts.)

Richebourg

• 2001 Domaine A.-F. Gros Richebourg - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
  Dense masculine nose displaying deeply toned red fruit, a hint of smoke, dark spices and earth. Excellent concentration, deeply toned concentrated blackberry driven palate impression, good mineral presence and medium long dense finish. Considering the vintage, I am surprised by how masculine and innexpressive this is showing. Cellar for another ten years and hope for the best. (92 pts.)

Barolo

• 1952 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  The color is almost yellow orange and the nose and palate clearly reflects that. Shy cherry fruit, a hint of licorice, orange water, rust and leather. As expected, the fruit is mostly fading at this stage and mostly tertiary. Not a big fan of Borgogno wine. Interesting showing. Expect really old school Barolo. (91 pts.)
• 1971 Brero Barolo Riserva Monvigliero - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  Amazingly youthful nose displaying sweet red fruits, dry cherry and raisin, leather, caramel, nutmeg, cinnamon and sautéed Porcini. Excellent concentration, nicely layered fruits, still quite unctuous, good acidity, fully integrated tannins and lovely long sweet finish. Really a fantastic surprise. (95 pts.)

Sticky

• 1988 Château Climens - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac
  Served from a half bottle, really cool, steely and precise. This particular botte shows lesser fruit and more steely mineral, very Climens I suppose. Love to see a bit more Apricot. Very sophisticate showing. (95 pts.)
• **2001 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Auslese *** - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
  Fully mature nose displaying baked apple, peach, burnt sugar, sweet spices and mineral. Good concentration, ripe yellow fruit with a hint of burnt sugar driven palate impression, bright acidity and long finish that is quite acidic. As David noted, surprisingly dry. Based on this example, no need to wait. (92 pts.)

As usual, a great time was had by all and by the time when we were done, the happy hour crowd was gathering.
Posted from CellarTracker

Fine and helpful notes as usual Kevin, thanks. The Brero, wow, quite the surprise. That Climens is so delicious, but not in the league of the otherworldly 71 I recently had - worth looking for.

Kevin,

Thanks for the write-up, and it was really nice meeting you. My favorites were the 2010 Lafon and 2008 Raveneau, with the Brero and 1991 Richebourg both really great surprises. I probably enjoyed the Dom more than you, but that’s likely because it was my first taste of that wine, which it clearly wasn’t for you! I also think the oak on the Le Moine was overbearing, but that may be as much a function of the leaner vintage than anything else.

Cheers,

Bill

It was fun to join everyone for lunch and to finally meet Amy. I do not drink much white Burgundy so a long lunch is a great way to gain experience. There were some strong wines but the Dom, Brero, and Climens were my top.

Aaron

That 2001 Selbach Auselse was never a big or particularly sweet wine, even on release. I would never put it anywhere near an actual sweet wine/dessert wine.

I am opening a couple of Selbach 2001s this week. We will see how they are doing.

very interesting. Thanks for posting.

Right. Very few “regular” 01 auslesen are dessert wines. Muller-Catoirs is about it (of producers I regularly drink). Otherwise you need stars or gka (and even those might seem dey next to 88 climens).

And the Himmelreich is a pretty small Auslese for the vintage despite its “*”.

Hi David,

I completely agree based on the results. However, this was a surprise to me. My experience with more recent vintages of Selbach is that they are on the sweet side for German pradikat wines.

So the question is, when did they start to amp up the residual sugar and sweetness or did this happen gradually over time.

Also, I don’t think either wine suffered by being served together. They were served with cheese and it wasn’t too difficult to go back and forth.

For my palate, the 88 Climen is very mineral driven wine with only a hint of sweetness.

I had an excellent 2001 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr auslese * in december 2012 (AP5/02). Everything but massive for an auslese (light, fruity; quite dry, actually).

Climens 1988 is a genuine elegant wonder. Great bitterness without any heavyness.

Selbach, like many producers, went through a period of ripe vintages and ramping up RS. For me it started with 2003. That being said, the wines age very well.

And overall the sweetness really depends on the specific wine. Johannes does not make all “sweet.” He works across the spectrum.