CHASSAGNE VS. PULIGNY (2005S) - Hi-Time Wine Cellars - Costa Mesa, CA (7/9/2009)
I really enjoyed this tasting, mainly for the interesting contrasts between Chassagne and Puligny in these specific wines. I found myself liking the style of the Pulignys more because of their purity of fruit, minerality, and balance. The Chassagnes for the most part were quality wines but the aromatics and character of the fruit did not seem as attractive to me. I look forward to more tastings of this type as I think they are very educational for exploring white burgundy. From my perspective you can get a good feel on a constrained set of wines without the risk of being disappointed by expensive bottles.
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2005 Château de Puligny-Montrachet Puligny-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet
Pale gold and clear in the glass with a heady attractive nose of honeysuckle, citrus, chalk, and rain water; very pure with no distractions. The palate opens up with a nice full mouth feel and leads into stalky but sweet flavors of citrus and minerals, especially on the persistent finish. This is very well balanced with steely acidity, solid density, and attractive fruit. Although not the most complex wine there is tremendous purity and potential here. (91 pts.) -
2005 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet
Light yellow and clear. The nose on this wine is very distinctive and strange in a dirty way, loads of rice cake, biscuit, and smoke just waft out of the glass. The palate shows more of the same character along with full mouth feel, ample acidity, and a touch of sulfur. The fruit is somewhat lean and out of balance with the rest of the wine, seemingly in hiding at this stage. Quite a unique experience with intriguing components but I question where this wine is heading. 88? (88 pts.) -
2005 Domaine Alain Chavy Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Pale gold throughout. The nose is very delicate but with coaxing there are wonderfully pure aromas of sweet citrus, white flowers, nuts, vanilla, and stones. The flavors are very fresh with plenty of sweet citrus character including notes of preserved lemons, crushed stones, and tinges of oak on the somewhat short finish. This wine excels because of its admirable complexity, good balance, and understated purity. (90 pts.) -
2005 Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos des Murées - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Very pure gold color throughout. Right off the bat this wine explodes with complexity on the nose including notes of biscuit, slate, citrus blossom, dill, and cinnamon. The palate can first be described as a citrus explosion, once that settles down other flavors reveal themselves, including: lime, heady flowers (honeysuckle), and underlying minerals. This wine is very powerful and structured with ample acidity, density, and focus. (92 pts.) -
2005 Domaine Alain Chavy Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Platinum gold in the glass with wonderfully understated yet seductive aromas of fresh cut melon, botanicals, mint, and grains. The palate offers loads of fresh citrus and mineral essence flavor along with a persistent finish of spices and crushed stones. This wine is powerful at first impression but also becomes very elegant in the mouth because of the tremendous balance of fruit density, acidity, and minerality. (91 pts.) -
2005 Domaine Bernard Morey et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embrazees - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Pure gold in the glass with heady mineral infusion on the nose along with hints of floral perfume, botanicals, and grain or brush. The palate is all about the wonderful citrus-mineral mélange, which eventually leads into a long finish of spices and butter. I think the flavors in this wine show a great degree of understated complexity. The acid and mineral components are slightly more apparent than the fruit at this stage but this is a very solid effort. (92 pts.) -
2005 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ-Canet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Pale green gold and radiant throughout. There is so much going on with the nose of this wine that I do not know where to begin so let me just list some terms I scribbled down. Very pure. High toned essence. Heady. Floral. Understated sweetness. Lime. Honeydew. Grapefruit. The palate is pure velvet with tremendously smooth mouth feel and flavors of green apple and lime buttressed by a tremendous mineral thrust on the mid palate. The balance of this wine is effortless and the gorgeous fruit-mineral interplay really delivers for me. Delicate but substantial and the type of experience I hoped for but did not get when tasting their 2006 Les Perrières. (94 pts.) -
2005 Domaine Michel Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos St. Jean - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Clear bright yellow in the glass with similar aromas to the other Niellon wine in this tasting. Rice cake or popcorn with underlying citrus in a somewhat restrained style. The palate is more approachable and attractive with heady citrus fruit enhanced by notes of grain, underlying earth, and some oak on the finish. I would describe the overall style as stalky but engaging, mainly because of the acid-fruit balance in the wine. Like the 2005 Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet, I have reservations about the future of this wine. 90? (90 pts.) -
2005 Yves Boyer-Martenot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
Pale gold and clear throughout. This has one of the more unique and terroir infused bouquets of the tasting with aromas of gear oil, mineral essence, melon, herbs, and baking spice. What makes the nose even more special is that there is this gorgeous underlying sweetness to all the components. The palate shows elegant fruit flavors of sweetened grapefruit essence supported by substantial minerals, spices, and botanicals. The finish shows intriguing slate character with medium length. Like the Carillon this is delicate but substantial. (93 pts.) -
2005 Château de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Grandes Ruchottes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Vibrant yellow in the glass with complex aromas of light biscuit, honeysuckle, cologne, musk, and very pure powdered stones or chalk. The texture is very delicate and supple but the flavors are not, they show massive mineral-orange interplay and are complicated by clay, citrus blossoms, and spices on the finish. The individual components of this wine are quite heady but they are well proportioned to each other yielding superb balance. A very pure expression of Chardonnay and terroir. (93 pts.)
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