I met with my Burgundy club this past week. With the warmer weather we moved on to whites and we tried 7 wines from the Corton & Pernand-Vergelesses regions.
The first two wines were village wines from Pernand-Vergelesses; Domaine Rollin Pere et Fils (which I learned means “father & son”). A 2004 & 2005. The wines were completely different. I found the ’05 to be a bit oaky while I thought the 2004 was a little oxidized.
We then tried a 2007 1er Cru from the same region; Chandon des Briailles that was sadly corked.
The next 4 wines were all Corton wines.
The 2004 Domaine Maillard Grand Cru had aromas of hay, pear & citrus. It was tart & creamy with citrus and honey flavors. It had a long, bright rising finish. Quite pleasant.
We then tried the 2002 of the same wine and I found it to be quite oxidized – burnt sugar & almost sherry like. Not my style.
We finished with the 2004 & then 2000 of the Domaine Chandon de Brailles Grand Crus. The 2004 had citrus & honeydew aromas. It was bright with Caramel, honey & red apple flavors and a crisp long finish. While the 2000 seemed a bit reduced at first – it had a rubbery citrus nose. It blew off and showed the most unique characteristic – artificial lemon ices. I thought that was cool and was pleased that the palate was also interesting showing minerality & citrus, leading to a sea shell kind of profile. It had a nice bracing acidity and a decent finish.
In all I really enjoy these wine club gatherings. Exploring the revered Burgundy region is a treat. BUT, this tasting was a bit underwhelming for me. As much as I enjoy whites – I really do, I think that generally they are less interesting. There are a lot of great wines out there these days, but many of them are kind of generic. Tasty, fruity and similar to lots of other wines. What I enjoy most about the Burgundy tastings is how unique Burgundy wines often are. And while I enjoyed the lemon ices & sea shell traits of the last wine we tasted, in all I was disappointed by having a corked wine, 2 oxidized wines and 3 others that were nice, citrussy with good acidity, but nothing special.
Happy Wine Tasting!
WTG
