| White Burgundy Tasting Report |
Well despite it being the very first staff tasting that our good friend Ian
had missed since our incarnation, we had a very good time at our
White Burgundy Tasting. White Burgundy is an excellent food wine
and to prove it, we created quite a spread of food to pair with our
Burgundy Challengers. We had fried Calamari from Maggiano’s,
Fresh clams in a lemon/white wine sauce, tortellini in a Cajun alfredo
cream sauce, four or five cheeses, several different breads with
assorted dipping sauces and even a Fear Factor tested and approved
Pate’ (I believe it was duck!). It was truly one of the best arrays of
food that we have ever provided at our staff wine tasting. A special
thanks goes out to everyone for their contributions and an extra-
special thanks goes out to Sheree for going above and beyond the call
of duty and for all of her help during the tasting!
More than likely, if you have stopped by this page with any purpose,
you are not interested in hearing about the food we all ate, you are
interested in the wines we tasted! Well okay, we certainly do have
some wines to talk about for you. We tasted a total of seven wines this
month and six of them were from the Burgundy region of France.
What’s that you say? Only six? I thought this was a White Burgundy
tasting Shane? Well I was so confident that our staff was going to love
White Burgundy that I decided to give them a little test. I threw in one
Chardonnay wine (Since White Burgundy is made from Chardonnay)
that came from Sonoma County, California. This is the style of
Chardonnay, after all, that American’s are used to drinking. To make
it even more interesting, I picked one that I personally like a lot and it
is the Chardonnay from Simi Winery. As for the Burgundy wines, we
had one from the Northernmost region of Burgundy being the Chablis
region, two from the illustrious Puligny-Montrachet Appellation, one
from the village of Milly-Lamartine in the Southern region of
Burgundy known as Macon, one from the world renowned Pouilly-
Fuisse’ Appellation, and our only 1er Cru (Premier Cru) Burgundy
from the village of Rully in the Cote-Chalonnaise region. The results
from tasting these seven wines were interesting, but certainly not
shocking.
There were three that stood out head and shoulders above the rest of
the wines and with the exception of the Verget Chablis, the other two
quite frankly were no surprise at all. Our bottle of Louis Latour’s
Puligny-Montrachet was off, which is to say that it was way past it’s
prime. Tired from improper storage by the vendor. That’s what I get
for buying it on closeout from the store. At least I got a great deal on
it. Although the Milly-Lamartine was good, it tasted like it came from
one of the cheaper regions in Burgundy and it does, the Macon region.
It lacked the depth of flavors that some of the other Burgundy’s
afforded us. I took great satisfaction in the fact that I was unable to
fool anyone with the California Chardonnay. Everyone on the tasting
panel knew instantly that it was the lone California Chardonnay and
most found it hard to drink when tasting along side of the rest of the
Burgundies. The Louis Jadot, Pouilly-Fuisse’ had us tricked into
believing that it was the California Chardonnay at first because it was
rich with oak shadings, but once we smelled and tasted the lavish oak
and vanilla aromas from the Simi Chardonnay, we were sure which
wine was from California.
I mentioned earlier that the Chablis was a bit of a surprise and I’ll
explain why. Chablis wines tend to be steely, very acidic, and full of
citrus. There is almost never any oak used in them and their flavor
profile, although delicious, tends not to have the depth of flavors that
some of the other Burgundies have from the more prominent places
like Puligny-Montrachet for example. Our Chablis however, was very
rich and full flavored with an enormous depth of flavors. It was the
first wine we tasted of the evening and it was most people’s favorite.
The Etienne Sauzet, Puligny-Montrachet, which was our most
expensive Burgundy in the tasting, definitely belonged with the top of
the class showcasing all of it’s bold flavors, but the wine that won my
heart over was the J.M. Boillot, Rully 1er Cru Burgundy. I loved it
because to me, it was the classic essence of White Burgundy wines
with its toast, nuttiness, minerals and earthy aromas.
All of the wines, except of course the Simi, were fantastic with all of
our food. The Simi was great with the cheese, but I would stop there
because of the lavish oak flavors. Our tasting panel would agree that
when it comes to great food wines, White Burgundy is certainly a
showstopper. Another thing that I believe our tasting panel would now
agree upon is that they all have developed a taste for fine White
Burgundy. Another mission accomplished for me! Oh yea, we learned
one more thing about White Burgundy, bring the visa because these
wines ain’t cheap!
Here are the results!
had missed since our incarnation, we had a very good time at our
White Burgundy Tasting. White Burgundy is an excellent food wine
and to prove it, we created quite a spread of food to pair with our
Burgundy Challengers. We had fried Calamari from Maggiano’s,
Fresh clams in a lemon/white wine sauce, tortellini in a Cajun alfredo
cream sauce, four or five cheeses, several different breads with
assorted dipping sauces and even a Fear Factor tested and approved
Pate’ (I believe it was duck!). It was truly one of the best arrays of
food that we have ever provided at our staff wine tasting. A special
thanks goes out to everyone for their contributions and an extra-
special thanks goes out to Sheree for going above and beyond the call
of duty and for all of her help during the tasting!
More than likely, if you have stopped by this page with any purpose,
you are not interested in hearing about the food we all ate, you are
interested in the wines we tasted! Well okay, we certainly do have
some wines to talk about for you. We tasted a total of seven wines this
month and six of them were from the Burgundy region of France.
What’s that you say? Only six? I thought this was a White Burgundy
tasting Shane? Well I was so confident that our staff was going to love
White Burgundy that I decided to give them a little test. I threw in one
Chardonnay wine (Since White Burgundy is made from Chardonnay)
that came from Sonoma County, California. This is the style of
Chardonnay, after all, that American’s are used to drinking. To make
it even more interesting, I picked one that I personally like a lot and it
is the Chardonnay from Simi Winery. As for the Burgundy wines, we
had one from the Northernmost region of Burgundy being the Chablis
region, two from the illustrious Puligny-Montrachet Appellation, one
from the village of Milly-Lamartine in the Southern region of
Burgundy known as Macon, one from the world renowned Pouilly-
Fuisse’ Appellation, and our only 1er Cru (Premier Cru) Burgundy
from the village of Rully in the Cote-Chalonnaise region. The results
from tasting these seven wines were interesting, but certainly not
shocking.
There were three that stood out head and shoulders above the rest of
the wines and with the exception of the Verget Chablis, the other two
quite frankly were no surprise at all. Our bottle of Louis Latour’s
Puligny-Montrachet was off, which is to say that it was way past it’s
prime. Tired from improper storage by the vendor. That’s what I get
for buying it on closeout from the store. At least I got a great deal on
it. Although the Milly-Lamartine was good, it tasted like it came from
one of the cheaper regions in Burgundy and it does, the Macon region.
It lacked the depth of flavors that some of the other Burgundy’s
afforded us. I took great satisfaction in the fact that I was unable to
fool anyone with the California Chardonnay. Everyone on the tasting
panel knew instantly that it was the lone California Chardonnay and
most found it hard to drink when tasting along side of the rest of the
Burgundies. The Louis Jadot, Pouilly-Fuisse’ had us tricked into
believing that it was the California Chardonnay at first because it was
rich with oak shadings, but once we smelled and tasted the lavish oak
and vanilla aromas from the Simi Chardonnay, we were sure which
wine was from California.
I mentioned earlier that the Chablis was a bit of a surprise and I’ll
explain why. Chablis wines tend to be steely, very acidic, and full of
citrus. There is almost never any oak used in them and their flavor
profile, although delicious, tends not to have the depth of flavors that
some of the other Burgundies have from the more prominent places
like Puligny-Montrachet for example. Our Chablis however, was very
rich and full flavored with an enormous depth of flavors. It was the
first wine we tasted of the evening and it was most people’s favorite.
The Etienne Sauzet, Puligny-Montrachet, which was our most
expensive Burgundy in the tasting, definitely belonged with the top of
the class showcasing all of it’s bold flavors, but the wine that won my
heart over was the J.M. Boillot, Rully 1er Cru Burgundy. I loved it
because to me, it was the classic essence of White Burgundy wines
with its toast, nuttiness, minerals and earthy aromas.
All of the wines, except of course the Simi, were fantastic with all of
our food. The Simi was great with the cheese, but I would stop there
because of the lavish oak flavors. Our tasting panel would agree that
when it comes to great food wines, White Burgundy is certainly a
showstopper. Another thing that I believe our tasting panel would now
agree upon is that they all have developed a taste for fine White
Burgundy. Another mission accomplished for me! Oh yea, we learned
one more thing about White Burgundy, bring the visa because these
wines ain’t cheap!
Here are the results!
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| Verget Chablis “Terroirs de Fleys” 2002 – Chablis - Burgundy, France |
Nose: Big aromas of citrus fruits, apples &
pears, followed by flinty minerals and floral
undertones.
Taste: A robust wine with plenty of green
apples, ripe pears and a luscious mouthfeel
brought about from a dose of Malolactic
fermentation. Finishes with plenty of crisp
acidity.
Comments: Since this wine came from Chablis,
I expected the wine to be “bone-dry”, but
instead, it was a little sweet. This was a
fantastic food wine and should be your first
choice with shellfish and light seafood dishes.
pears, followed by flinty minerals and floral
undertones.
Taste: A robust wine with plenty of green
apples, ripe pears and a luscious mouthfeel
brought about from a dose of Malolactic
fermentation. Finishes with plenty of crisp
acidity.
Comments: Since this wine came from Chablis,
I expected the wine to be “bone-dry”, but
instead, it was a little sweet. This was a
fantastic food wine and should be your first
choice with shellfish and light seafood dishes.
| Score - B+ |
| Around $25.00 |
| Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 2001 – Cote de Beaune - Burgundy, France |
Nose: Great nutty oak and almond shadings
followed by a touch of honey.
Taste: Unbelievably fat with a rich, full body.
An avalanche of fruit flavors rush you with the
likes of apple, pear, peach, and pineapples that
are topped off with a long, lingering dose of
honey on the excellent finish. Very complex.
Comments: Wow! What else is there to say? It
is a great wine. There is enough depth here to
make this wine stand up to heartier meat dishes
and food that you would not normally pair white
wines with. The only bummer I can see with this
wine is its price tag.
followed by a touch of honey.
Taste: Unbelievably fat with a rich, full body.
An avalanche of fruit flavors rush you with the
likes of apple, pear, peach, and pineapples that
are topped off with a long, lingering dose of
honey on the excellent finish. Very complex.
Comments: Wow! What else is there to say? It
is a great wine. There is enough depth here to
make this wine stand up to heartier meat dishes
and food that you would not normally pair white
wines with. The only bummer I can see with this
wine is its price tag.
| Score B+ |
| From $40.00 to $44.00 |
| Jean-Marc Boillot Rully 1er Cru Meix Cadot 2002 – Rully – Burgundy, France |
Nose: Gorgeous aromas of hazelnuts and heavy
burnt toast (like hanging out at Starbuck’s) with
a splash of stony minerals.
Taste: Another robust, full-flavored wine with
tons of balanced acidity from citrus edged pears
and tart green apples. This finish is long and
vibrant with more of those great nutty
fragrances.
Comments: This is what I think of when I think
about the way Classic White Burgundy’s taste.
I could get lost in the aromas of this giant wine.
A real powerhouse that could come down to
match the delicacy’s of a simple fish dish and
measure all the way up to a filet mignon.
burnt toast (like hanging out at Starbuck’s) with
a splash of stony minerals.
Taste: Another robust, full-flavored wine with
tons of balanced acidity from citrus edged pears
and tart green apples. This finish is long and
vibrant with more of those great nutty
fragrances.
Comments: This is what I think of when I think
about the way Classic White Burgundy’s taste.
I could get lost in the aromas of this giant wine.
A real powerhouse that could come down to
match the delicacy’s of a simple fish dish and
measure all the way up to a filet mignon.
| Score B+ |
| Between $20.00 & $22.00 |
| Les Heriteurs du Comte Lafon Macon-Milly-Lamartine 2002 – Macon – Burgundy, France |
Nose: Somewhat closed but offering up
suggestions of peach, pear, toast and vanilla.
Taste: More thin-bodied than most of the
others, but plenty of acidity to go around. Nice
layer of steely minerals with touches of honeyed
peach and pear that ripple underneath.
Comments: This to me was the everyday
drinking wine of the bunch. Great with food,
simple and unobtrusive, I could pair it with most
food items on our White Burgundy & Food
Pairing page. Very pleasant, but not bold or
complex.
suggestions of peach, pear, toast and vanilla.
Taste: More thin-bodied than most of the
others, but plenty of acidity to go around. Nice
layer of steely minerals with touches of honeyed
peach and pear that ripple underneath.
Comments: This to me was the everyday
drinking wine of the bunch. Great with food,
simple and unobtrusive, I could pair it with most
food items on our White Burgundy & Food
Pairing page. Very pleasant, but not bold or
complex.
| Score B |
| From $22.00 to $24.00 |
| Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuisse’ 2002 – Macon – Burgundy, France |
Nose: Light oak and vanilla aromas that mask
gentle fragrances of green apples.
Taste: A thick buttery mouthfeel with pretty
oak shadings and a strong green apple and pear
finish.
Comments: I honestly was expecting a bit more
from this wine. It had come highly
recommended and the Pouilly-Fuisse’
Appellation has a great reputation for wines. It
was good, but not great. It pairs pretty well with
food, but due to the higher pronounced levels of
oak tannins, I would probably suggest more
chicken and white meat dishes than delicate
seafood.
gentle fragrances of green apples.
Taste: A thick buttery mouthfeel with pretty
oak shadings and a strong green apple and pear
finish.
Comments: I honestly was expecting a bit more
from this wine. It had come highly
recommended and the Pouilly-Fuisse’
Appellation has a great reputation for wines. It
was good, but not great. It pairs pretty well with
food, but due to the higher pronounced levels of
oak tannins, I would probably suggest more
chicken and white meat dishes than delicate
seafood.
| Score B- |
| Around $20.00 |
| Simi Chardonnay 2002 – Sonoma County, California |
Nose: Huge waves of oak and vanilla aromas
with butterscotch accents.
Taste: Much sweeter than the Burgundy wines
with far less acidity. This wine shows more
tropical fruit style flavors with big layers of oak
along the way.
Comments: Again, I picked this California
Chardonnay to throw in the mix because I like it
and they make consistently good Chardonnay
wines from year to year. This was very good,
but when compared to the Burgundy wines, it fell
out of favor. Perhaps tasted on its own or with
other New World Chardonnay’s it would have
scored higher, but against the Burgundy wines,
the oak flavors were too overwhelming for us.
with butterscotch accents.
Taste: Much sweeter than the Burgundy wines
with far less acidity. This wine shows more
tropical fruit style flavors with big layers of oak
along the way.
Comments: Again, I picked this California
Chardonnay to throw in the mix because I like it
and they make consistently good Chardonnay
wines from year to year. This was very good,
but when compared to the Burgundy wines, it fell
out of favor. Perhaps tasted on its own or with
other New World Chardonnay’s it would have
scored higher, but against the Burgundy wines,
the oak flavors were too overwhelming for us.
| Score B- |
| From $12.00 to $17.00 |
| Louis Latour Puligny-Montrachet 1999 – Cote de Beaune – Burgundy, France |
Nose: Off putting mildew scents. There were
still some slight traces of nutty aromas, but this
wine was heading south for the winter!
Taste: Flat with no traces of acidity left. There
were still enough hints of greatness there to let
us know that it did show promise, but it was
greatly past its prime.
Comments: It was my fault, I bought this wine
from a store that was selling it at a greatly
reduced price. Burgundy wines are fussy and
need to be stored at ideal temperatures to
maintain their beauty and this one was treated
badly. At five years old, it should have still been
singing praises, but due to improper storage, it
had aged too rapidly. I can vouch for other
Latour Burgundies, they know what they are
doing and make great wines that are well worth
the money!
still some slight traces of nutty aromas, but this
wine was heading south for the winter!
Taste: Flat with no traces of acidity left. There
were still enough hints of greatness there to let
us know that it did show promise, but it was
greatly past its prime.
Comments: It was my fault, I bought this wine
from a store that was selling it at a greatly
reduced price. Burgundy wines are fussy and
need to be stored at ideal temperatures to
maintain their beauty and this one was treated
badly. At five years old, it should have still been
singing praises, but due to improper storage, it
had aged too rapidly. I can vouch for other
Latour Burgundies, they know what they are
doing and make great wines that are well worth
the money!
| Score C+ - Not Rateable |
| Around $30.00 to $35.00 |