TN: A tale of two Bastards

WINE TALK
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Of Bastard Montrachets of course. We all chase the wine dragon and last night was a great example of why we do. We long ago decided a to have crab cakes and white burgs and boy did both sing. The crab cakes were simply great with a perfect spice level to give some tang, yet no lingering heat to interfere with the wines.

2004 Ramonet Montrachet: I have had plenty of this producer’s Batards over the years but not the 2004. It started off young, flamboyant, and quite powerful. Lighter in color than the Pierre Morey 2000 as one would expect. In fact at first the two were really quite different but then after an hour or so the Ramonet slimmed down and became more linear while the P. Morey did the opposite and filled out a bit. After 3+ hours it had pulled together wonderfully with classic tropical fruits, body, and a very long finish. Powerful as one expects from this producer’s Batard yet I recall no spearmint.

2000 Pierre Morey Batard: This was the first P. Morey Batard that has really sung. Clearly I have drunk others way too early. And how did it sing with three hours of air. At first quite tight, mineral driven, with some sulphur as I always find. After an hour the wine filled out gaining a bit of white fruit, and remaining excellent tension. This trend continued as both wines, and this one in particular, were chameleons which makes this so fun and educational. By three hours this wine has gained so much power as to be simply silly and quite stunning. On this night this bottle was the best bottle of white burg I have had in years and I could only compare it to a great Montrachet. The power and length of the finish actually made me close my eyes to relish the moment. This is a great example of why we chase wine and white burgs in particular.

At the end of the night we both remarked how lucky this evening’s food, wine, and company were. We noted how no (or virtually none) reds can compete when white burgs play like they did on this evening. Anyone who has been to tasting where white Monty is the closer will understand :slight_smile:

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Interesting- a recent bottle of the Morey was only just hanging in there.

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I thought you were talking about the Bastardo variety. [wow.gif]

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I think good white Burgs can respong VERY favorably to hours of air time. I recently opened a 2000 Bouchard Corton Charlemagne 6 hours ahead of time, and it was absolutely lovely at dinner time.