Tasted at Magnum Society, Wellington on 1 December 2013 blind without, and then with, food (ham off the bone and other Christmas fare). I took samples of each wine home that I had the next night with dinner.
Wines decanted before tasting. Tasted so young due to fears of premox.
The notes are just my own views.
2009 Dureuil-Janthial Rully 1er Cru Mont Palais
Clean, bright fruit on the bouquet. Aromas of honeysuckle, citrus, peach, with some minerality and a little oak. The next night the bouquet have moved more to honey and tropical fruit, particularly pineapple. Racy entry, quite intense, with good acid spine and balance. Good fruit weight on mid palate, with viscosity, good texture and reasonable length. Quite New Worldish expression. Other tasters found this wine a little too developed, broad or flabby, with which I did not agree. However, this wine, by comparison with others in the line up, lacked some structure and complexity. A well made wine but a little too straightforward. Also, a little too much heat on the back palate (but 13% alcohol on label). 89.
2009 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre
A lovely bouquet, expressing ripe fruit. Notes of honey, lemon, pineapple, pear, also ocean spray, oyster shell, chalk and minerals. On the palate, obviously ripe but laser-like precision and focused, with great intensity. A very good, young Chablis, rich and powerful, but well integrated, with excellent acid balance, freshness and detail. Classical style, showing no ill effects from the hot vintage. Nice minerality on palate. A lovely wine now, but obviously a wine for the cellar. A crowd pleaser at the tasting. May well go higher in the future, but for me now, 93.
2009 Blain-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets
An attractive, perfumed nose of white flowers, white peach and pear, lemon and some honey, and a touch of sulphur. On palate, unctuous texture. An elegant wine, harmonious and nicely balanced, matching the fruit and oak. Acids also in balance, with a good acid backbone. At present its fruit is more prominent than its structure. Good depth and weight. The perfume had dissipated on the second evening. On palate, the oak had become more prominent and the palate had become a bit disjointed. I concluded that notwithstanding its good showing at the tasting, this very good wine needs cellar time to really come together. For now, 92.
2009 Domaine Guy Roulot Meursault Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir
A nose of sulphur and some oak. The reduction is quite off-putting. Digging deep under the sulphur, there are floral, honey, peach and citric notes. After a sweet entry, the sulphur and firm oak are also quite prominent on the palate. If you get past this, I believe this is a very good wine with vibrant fruit, racy acids and a silky and viscous texture. Flavours of peach and pear, quite sweet on palate. This has serious fruit weight and structure, but I’m not sure it is built for longer term cellaring. It finishes very long, and was improved by food (softening the sulphur and oak).
On the second night, the sulphur had largely blown off with the bouquet still showing the wood, but more clearly expressing the florals and honey, and now tending crème brulee and vanilla. As with the Blain-Gagnard, now a bit disjointed on palate, and also quite oaky. However, the elements and structure seem to be there for the future, and perhaps the sulphur was there to ward off premox. Overall, an excellent Villages. Giving the benefit of the doubt, 92.
2009 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes
An attractive bouquet of butterscotch, white stone fruit, honey, almonds, candied fruit, with a little flinty reduction. On palate, a nice sweet entry and an opulent, silky texture. Quite vibrant with good intensity and, to me, acid structure. Good length. Excellent fruit weight but lacked a little structure. One knowledgeable taster said he thought the wine had been acid adjusted and found it quite unbalanced. The oak was quite prominent and the alcohol seemed a little elevated (13.5% on label). There was a lively debate between the merits of this wine versus the Boillot, with both supporters and critics of the Sauzet. Similar on the second night, with the reduction gone. 92.
2009 Henri Boillot Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet
An attractive, lifted bouquet of exotic tropical fruit, honey glazing, candied lemon, stone fruit, citrus, with some flinty reduction. A rich, mouth filling, unctuous wine. Great structure, concentration and power. The most complex wine at the tasting, with pineapple and exotic fruits on the palate and attractive minerality. Persistent with good length. Toasty oak well integrated. A big wine, a classy Grand Cru, all packed for the future. Just beats out the Raveneau for my WOTN, and the majority of other tasters thought the same. 94.
Conclusions
A good set of wines to show the 2009 vintage, at this early stage. I found none of the broadness or lack of precision in these that I feared, challenging my preconceptions about 2009.
What have been your experiences with 2009 White Burgundies?