Last night, a friend had invited to his house for some white and red wines from the Pinot family, all drunk blind (we did not even know what the grape variety was). We started with some whites. For the first two whites, it was really difficult to guess what they were. Guesses from the group were all over the place, ranging from White Bordeaux (me, embarassing), Grüner Veltliner to Loire Chenin Blanc. Only at the last of the three whites, we got it right that it’s a Chardonnay.
I’d say the Wieninger was already a bit past its prime. With air it improved, but it never got me wanting to drink more than half a glass of it. The Rebholz Pinot Blanc started out with difficulties, but also improved with air. It’s considered to be the best Pinot Blanc from Germany, I’ve only had the 2001 aside from this 2002, but I liked both. Don’t know if it’s really the best Pinot Blanc (I may prefer Pinot Blanc from Baden), but it’s definitely high quality juice. It was definitely not on par with the J.C. Bachelet St. Aubin Dents de Chien though. I’ve had some really great St. Aubins recently from the likes of Henri Prudhon, Sylvain Langoureau, Jean-Claude Bachelet, Marc Colin or Hubert Lamy, but this one was better than all of them. It was pure harmony, understatement and was almost perfectly balanced.
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1996 Wieninger Chardonnay Grand Select - Austria, Wien
Deep golden yellow. In the nose, this seemed a bit over the hill at first with smashed apple and oxidative notes. With some air it got more and more agreeable, the oxidative notes retreated and honey, lime blossoms and ripe, but fresh apple notes showed. On the palate, it seemed a bit over the hill at first as well, a bit austere, with a hole in the middle, bone dry and dusty. Also here, air helps and gave the wine some volume, the acidity is fairly mild, honey notes also show in the mouth. Bitter notes in the finish. This was ok, but I didn’t get crazy over it. -
2002 Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz Siebeldinger Im Sonnenschein Weissburgunder Großes Gewächs - Germany, Pfalz
Medium yellow. In the nose, there’s some cat pee at first, but it goes away rather quickly. Then it gets finer and finer with aromas on the vegetal-herbal side (fennel, verveine) plus some pear and dried hay. On the palate, this is nice, rather soft, silky, grapey with mild acidity, no perceivable minerality. Good length with bitter notes in the finish. This aged really well. I might prefer 2001 by a margin. -
2005 Domaine Jean-Claude Bachelet et Fils Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Murgers des Dents de Chien - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Saint-Aubin 1er Cru
Light to medium yellow. In the nose, this is super fine, almost perfectly balanced, complex, there’s some quince, pear and apple, but nothing sticks out, all is in harmony, the fruit is refined, there are traces of wood, but everything is elegant. On the palate, it’s also extremely fine, very well balanced with fine acidity, some quince again, fine minerality. The finish is long and persistent as well as very delicate. This is no powerhouse like many 2005 white burgundies are, but is pure understatement. Great wine, I wouldn’t have thought that it’s “just” a St. Aubin.
Then onto the reds. For the first red, I could have sworn that it’s a Barolo from a year like 1996. It wasn’t. It was a Spätburgunder from Müller-Catoir from the era of the great Hans-Günter Schwarz. I liked it a lot, but I didn’t find it too Pinot Noir typical. As the second wine we had a Barolo as a “pirate” wine. I swore as well that it’s a Barolo and even got the year right, not the producer and wine though. The range of five Burgundies afterwards was top-notch, almost all wines showed great. I particularly liked the Voillot, which was nicely accessible for a 2005 and the Fourrier Vougeot. The Fourrier Chambolle was nice, too, but it had its limits. For the Chevillon Vaucrains it was still way too early, so the wine was rather harsh in its tannins. That wine will be great at some point in time though, I’m pretty sure (2002 Chevillon Vaucrains was not ready earlier this year either, that wine needs plenty of bottle age). I wasn’t crazy about the Guyon Chorey-lès-Beaune. It started out really well, but then it fell apart.
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1996 Müller-Catoir Spätburgunder Spätlese trocken - Germany, Pfalz
Ruby red, only slight notes of age. In the nose, this is very fine, floral, with some rose hip, red currant, fine balsamic notes, it seems a bit stemmy in the back of the nose. On the palate, it’s fine, yet with fairly prominent acidity, there are rose hip notes again, the finish is delicate, but shows some tannins in the back end. This is very well made and has aged really well. -
1989 Conterno Fantino Barolo Sorì Ginestra - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Cloudy rusty red, lots of depot. In the nose, this is clearly aged, there are fine notes of fresh figs marinated in balsamic vinegar as well as notes of noble furniture polish as if you’d walk into an antique shop. There are cherry liqueur notes as well. On the palate, this is very fine, very persistent, very aromatic, slightly sweet, there’s lots of extract, the acidity may stick out a bit, fine bitter notes dominate the finish. An excellent aged Barolo. -
2002 Domaine Fourrier Chambolle-Musigny Vieille Vigne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny
Clear ruby red. In the nose, there are fine tea notes, some Rooibos, raspberry, hibiscus, it’s very red fruited, fine delicate, transparent. On the palate, it’s also very fine, delicate, transparent and airy with fine acidity, no perceivable tannins, but slightly brittle tea notes in the finish that could be longer. I liked this a lot, but it’s not super great. -
2002 Domaine Fourrier Vougeot 1er Cru Les Petits Vougeots Vieille Vigne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vougeot 1er Cru
Ruby red. In the nose, this is very fine, nicely balanced, complex with raspberry notes, peach and white currant, earthy undertones. On the palate, I like it a lot, it’s mineralic, tickeling, has fine to medium acidity, is nicely balanced, fresh and red-fruited. Very fine. Long finish. Excellent. -
2006 Domaine Guyon Chorey-les-Beaune “Les Bons Ores” - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chorey-les-Beaune
Ruby red. In the nose, this starts out fine and elegant with red currant notes, earthy undertones and pleasant tea notes. On the palate, it also starts out well with good balance, good transparency and lots of finesse. It quickly falls apart though and the nose and palate get diffuse and unprecise with lots of different elements sticking out and the wine losing its consistency. This doesn’t seem old, but it seems to have no stamina. -
2006 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Vaucrains - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
Shiny ruby red. In the nose, this is fairly strong, you seem to smell the tannin, there’s some oak and also some cherry. The overall feel is of a strong wine, but there’s finesse, too, linearity, precision. On the palate, the tannins are quite strong, there are strong bitter notes, some Cassis. Like in the nose, this is linear and precise. In the finish, the tannins are a bit drying, but in the back end of the finish the wine shows all of its qualities - tart fruit, cherries, cassis and great finesse. I’d say this needs another 5 to 8 years or more of cellar time. -
2005 Domaine Joseph Voillot Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru
Ruby red. In the nose, this red fruited, there are raspberries with powdered sugar, hibiscus blossoms, it’s super fine, transparent, dancing, full of nuances. In the mouth, this is equally great, there are raspberry with powdered sugar notes again, red and white currant, it’s very persistent, long with notes of hibiscus blossom tea. This is pure class, I’d say you can start drinking it, but there’s even more upside potential.
Posted from CellarTracker