We’ve been slowly eating our way through a good first harvest of chanterelles. We’ve had chanterelles in frittata, tortilla, in soups, with halibut, and over fresh tagliatelle. And chanterelles mean chardonnay, a very fine match – repeatedly confirmed with these dinners. So over the past couple weeks or so, I’ve had a bunch of white burgs and Oregon chardonnay. The wines, and my impressions of them:
2016 Vincent Ribbon Ridge Chardonnay – Needed half an hour in the decanter to really come around. My first time trying this since the release tasting, and it showed very well. Has both acid and richness – with the structure to last, I’ll save my remaining bottles for a good few years. Starting in 2017, Vincent now labels this bottling as “Brick House Vineyard.” Worth looking out for.
2000 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis La Forest – Showed very nicely, but I won’t hold my remaining bottles much longer. Had that note of gruyere that I love in old Chablis.
2000 Blaine-Gagnard Batard-Montrachet – A grand bottle, showing both finesse and power. If I had to pick at a fault, it would lack of delineation, but that would be picking nits. Great concentration and a core of golden fruit. At peak, but not in danger of decline.
2016 Evening Land Chardonnay Seven Springs – Really a very nice bottle, but it suffered a bit by comparison with my memory of the previous evening’s Batard.
2007 Chandon de Briailles Pernand 1er blanc Iles des Vergelesses – More richness than one usually calls to mind for white Pernand, paired with impressive acidity levels, made this wine a treat.
1996 Domaine Pinson Chablis Montmains – This bottle knocked my socks off. I’ve had several other '96 white burgs (both Chablis and Cote d’Or) this summer, and most have been in the ought-to-be-drunk-soon stage of life if they weren’t outright premoxed. This wine showed great freshness and lots of mineral zing. Just really impressive. The last bit in the bottle showed well the next day, but not as well as the day it was opened. I know I’ve had this at least once before, and wasn’t nearly so impressed. Maybe it just needed the extra time. Sadly my last bottle.