WanderCurtis Wine

Wine tastings, corporate events, reviews and recommendations

Rediscovering Burgundy, June 20th to 23rd 2019

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A lot of pre-planning goes into our wine trips. The final decision is the result of many discussions about the pros and cons of each region.
We try to somehow pull ourselves away from the obvious joys of Italy, only because we’d  never venture elsewhere!
Maybe Spain? Spanish wines these days are so varied, well made, good value and the weather in Spain more predictable.
Or should we cycle by the Danube in the Wachau, immersing ourselves in crisp fresh Gruner Veltliner?
The decision was Burgundy. We had been before, a decade ago and when we first started  Wandercurtis.
We wanted to experience again the long winding, gently undulating cycle route through the Cote de Nuits to the North and the Cote de Beaune to the South.
The wines here magically take on their sense of place with a history of wine making dating back thousands of years to Roman times.The craziness of the division of the land is arresting. More than 30 owners can share a few acres of earth often Grand Cru site only  possessing a few rows of vines.
The prices reflect this, and the demand in the market for Burgundy has rocketed making many of the wines oppressively expensive.

We made some great discoveries:

  • A champion of Aligoté in Marsannay,
  • Back vintages from the 1800’s at Chateau de Beaune including a Romanée st vivant 1865.
  • The cathedral like modern state of the art winery at Louis Jadot.
  • We revisited old friends at Olivier Leflaive and indulged again in the voluminous wine list at Ma Cuisine.
The Magnificent Chateau de Beaune

The Magnificent Chateau de Beaune

 

Tasting at Chateau de Beaune, Domaine Bouchard Père et Fils June 21st 2019

Founded in 1731 by Michel Bouchard, located in the magnificent Chateau de Beaune since 1820.

Philippe Prost, part of the furniture here, took us on a grand  tour of their huge  cellars, under the 15th century fortress, which house some of the best back vintages in Burgundy dating back to 1845.

They own 130 hectares of vineyards across Burgundy, of which 12 hectares (30 acres) are Grand Cru and 74ha Premier cru. In 1995 the Bouchard family sold to Champagne House Joseph Henriot, they have since  acquired Chateau De Ponce in Fleurie and William Fevre in Chablis.

Wines Tasted -Red Crus

Fleurie le Pré Roi 2017

Initially cranberry and bright red fruits and later red plum 6 to 8 months in barrels bright acidity, chalky

Monthelie 2017

Classic Pinot nose with red fruits earth and game lovely length of fresh strawberries

 


Gevrey-Chambertin 2017

Closed and reductive at this stage

Beaune du Château 2017

Blend of 17 premier crus
Lovely perfumed nose of wild strawberries and loganberries with a subtle violet aftertaste and nice soft tannins delicious!
Highly recommended

Beaune Grèves Vigne de L’enfant Jesus 2017

Another classic well made Pinot Noir
red floral fruits and red and dark plums earth spice silky tannins long length beautiful balanced wine

Volant Les Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot 2017

Blueberry red plum, brooding tense wine power underneath, complex holding back at the moment great potential

Le Corton 2017

Lighter colour impressive earthy nose and game lovely balance

Wines tasted White Crus

Pouilly Fuisse 2017

5,000 cases apples pears honeydew melon

Meursault Les Clous 2017

Butter green apples lemon curd melon sl grapefruit on the finish

Meursault Geneveieres 2017

White wine of the day complex lemon smokiness cream butter melon ripe apples pear and minerality really delicious

Corton Charlemagne 2017

sweet apple butter viscosity soft round mouthfeel

Chablis Montmains 2017 Domaine William Fevre

Lemon crisp apple lees good acidity

Chablis Bougros 2017 Domaine William Fevre

Crisp fresh lemon apples

 

The cellars at Maison Louis Jadot
Maison Louis Jadot
Above photos in the Cellars during our visit to Maison Louis Jadot. We were lucky enough to observe barrel transfers by candlelight.

Clos Vougeot

Wines Tasted
Bourg les setilles –  Served at the wedding of Prince Harry & Megan. Fresh crisp
Montagny – Mineral, chewy long quite big.
Puligny les Meix- Nice toasty citrus slightly closed nose slightly vanilla intense. Nice texture
Auxes Duresses la Macabre- Floral vanilla ripe golden delicious softer rounder vanilla lemon pith long
Puligny Referts  Lemon oil hint of citronella! Intense, pear pinapple great body fresh. Tingling finish. Sherbet dip!
Abbey Morgeot Chassgne Wider, not as intense slightly less ripe as pulignys, citrus

We arrived at Domaine Sylvain Pataille the far north of Cote d’Or towards Dijon. We were kept waiting for a length of time, before being greeted by the young, dynamic, bearded
Sylvain fresh from work in his vineyards. He welcomed us into his very compact cellar via a metal door off the small street next to his families’ house. We had no idea what to expect,  initially conversing with us in French.
It became clear this is a man of great passion and vision, using organic and biodynamic methods and some whole bunch, indigenous yeast and low sulphur. We discovered he is very much a champion of Aligote. We were in for a few pleasant surprises and a very long tasting!
Wines Tasted with Sylvain
Borgogne Aligote organic 50-50 barrel tank fresh slightly smoky flinty cumin zest. Lemon pith.
Borgogne les Mechalot. Smokey nose cloves orange, citrus, mineral. Sherbet finish.
Marrsannay  More classic nose wood more orange grapefruit more creamy.No sulphur,Only 1g sO2
Chardonnay Rose old mutation wood ripe citrus, floral smoke Lovely fuller mouth feel. Slight nice vegetal note
Aligote Les Champ ForeyStones Clove slightly bitter notes, Aligote ages more linear catches more smokey notes.
Aligote La Charmes Aux  Pretres  should be 1er cru Charm chaum chaume means field flatishLemon, pith, less clove long
Aligote Clos du Roy Floral citrus peel. In mouth ripe pear, lees, prickle, almond. Needs a couple of years.
Bourgogne Le chapitre Long extraction low sulphur but not young, Slightly funky nose, Lovely length body complex – ***
Marsannay La charmes Aux Pretres chardonnay, Smokey creamy elegant nose, Fabulous intense elegant full v long slightly saline finish
Marsannay Rose Fleur de Pinot Saignee skin contact,strawberry bit of smoke. Wow delicious with structure
Red Wines
Borgogne rouge Strawb jam and leaves, Lovely sweet fruit, fresh , balanced slight edge. VG
Marsannay RougeFruit, animal note, slight leafyNice rounded sweet fruit, balanced with savoury notes excellent complex
Marsannay La Montagne Strawberies and cream on nose.Gorgeous complex
Marsannay Les Longeroies V nice nose strawberry leaf cream Amazing vivid fruit complex intense
Marsannay Clos du RoyDeeper bit of blood, clove mineral balanced fruit savoury very long
Bourgogne le Chapitre  Chalk board, Lovely slightly more funky mineral. Some kirsh
Clos du Roy 2018 barrel sample Volcanic nose yeast reduction,  fruit, savoury stalks

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It was great to be back in Burgundy for may reasons, quiet dedicated cycle routes through the vineyards, the history, exquisite cuisine, excellent wines, friendly locals and as ever the joys of meeting like minded passionate wine folk.

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