Batard Montrachet..... Vosne - Les Chaumes..... Chambolle - Les Amoureuses

Dinner at our wine partners Daphna & Amihai. Chapeau to Daphna who spared no effort in preparing and presenting a dinner in the style of the best French restaurants we have sampled together lately.

Batard Montrachet			1990	L. Jadot

6/96. Acquired Sep-93 for $70 (imported from Beaune for $93 net).
This, one of the world greatest white wines, from a reasonably good vintage and a reliable source.
COLOR: Beautiful luster gold color. The color is so impressive, there must be some very special wine behind it.
NOSE: Amazingly rich! Creamy, nutty toasty bouquet, with a touch of smokiness. Very complex and intense. Absolutely enticing.
TASTE: Mouth-filling fruit, complexity and harmony with layer upon layer of concentrated flavors. A great and rare treat to the taste buds. Went magnificently with the freshly tasting shrimps.
LENGTH: Surprisingly, only medium long aftertaste.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: A Full bodied giant wine. Intense and concentrated. Everything about this wine is big, from alcohol to flavors to elegance and breed, with maybe just a touch lacking in acidity. A perfect example of this exalted vineyard, probably at its best now.
OVERALL: Outstanding! Have not tasted such a great white (B) in a long time.
MARK: 19/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.

Vosne - Les Chaumes			1988	Meo-Camuzet

6/96. Bought in auction July-95 for $55 (imported from Chicago for $66 net).
This 1er Cru Vosne-Romanee from a very good year and a highly respectable domaine.
COLOR: Normal medium-red color. Noticeable clearing towards the rim.
NOSE: Discernable red fruit, though not as powerful as might be expected.
Very light 'Bourgogne Nose'. Good nose all in all, but blind I would have guessed a village wine rather than 1er Cru.
TASTE: Extremely tannic with not too much fruit under. Quite elegant, but not even very concentrated. Some vegetative elements on the palate. Never opened up, and after an hour or so, became even worse.
LENGTH: Harsh tannins dominated aftertaste.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Too much tannins, too little fruit, not enough concentration. Poorly balanced.
OVERALL: Disappointing. I had this wine some six months ago. At that time I thought that in time the tannins will soften or subside to reveal what seemed to be a nice fruity wine. What actually happened is that the tannins have not softened. What subsided was most of the fruit this wine had...
MARK: 16/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? No.

Chambolle - Les Amoureuses	1989	J. Drouhin

6/96. Acquired June-94 for $43 (imported from Beaune for $57 net).
Les Amoureuses is my favorite Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru. My main complaint against Drouhin's wines in general is that many times they lack concentration and loose the terroir typicity to the house style.
Beforehand, I was pretty sure the Meo-Camuzet Vosne 1er Cru will eat Drouhin's Amoureuses alive. How wrong...
COLOR: Practically the same as 'Les Chaumes'. Even the same degree of clearing around the rim.
NOSE: What a difference! This one-year-younger Chambolle 1er Cru had a fully developed nose. Tons of red fruit, complex gamey tones, sweet plums - all surrounded by a beautiful and delicate 'Bourgogne Nose'. Excellent!
TASTE: Again, no comparison with the lukewarm example from Meo-Camuzet.
Extremely tasty wine. Full of flavors, though not a blockbuster. Delicate and lovely on the palate. Delicious!
LENGTH: Very good peacock-tail aftertaste that plays with and tickles the taste buds long after the sip.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Medium bodied. Surprisingly advanced and forward. Blind, I might have thought this is a 10-15 yrs old bottle at least. Fully mature now, with excellent fruit, acidity, and 'wininess'. The wine is surely at its peak now, though the total lack of tannins makes me doubt how long it will stay there.
OVERALL: Excellent+! Isn't it always fun when one bottle of wine out-performs a more highly regarded one? If proof was needed, this 'real-life' comparison serve to show how preconceptions - especially in Bourgogne - should be avoided.
MARK: 17+/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.

Reach Me? yak@yakshaya.com

Copyright 1996-2003.
Jacob "Yak" Shaya.