Chambolle Musigny Tasting - Roumier, Sirugue, Barthod

Tasted three wines from Chambolle Musigny. Overall impressions very positive. All wines stood out and there was not too dramatic a separation in quality or difference. Price was the only difference.

First was the Domaine G.Roumier 2002

Cloudy red colour, wet earth, ripe, mature strawberry, forest floor, mid level finish. The most expensive wine of the night but a delight. Price versus quality: 17/20. Overall 18/20.







Next was the Robert Sirugue Chambolle-Musigny Les Mombies 2010. This is a limited production wine of around 1700 bottles per year. Light, earthy red fruits, good mild short and sweet finish. Exceeded my expectations. Price versus quality 17/20. Overall 18/20.

Finally we tasted the Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Aux Beaux Bruns 2004. Darker in colour compared to the others, this was my favourite of the night. Out of the three this had lightest minerality but the wet earth ripe red fruit nose and one would expect. Out of the three price was in the mid range. Price versus quality: 17/20. Overall 18/20.

In conclusion there were slight degrees of difference in the earthiness, minerality and colour but all were very fine wines indeed.

Burgundy Wine Review

Vincent Girardin Chassagne Montrachet 2009

Tonight we tasted the Vincent Girardin Chassagne Montrachet 2009.

This was opened and poured gradually over a 2 and a half hour period.

First impressions were this was very closed with unexpressive nose that did not leave any distinct impression. Gradually however it started opening with citrus flavours beginning to show and minerality followed by a smooth but short finish. By the end of the evening its potential was increasing. Pale yellow in colour. Give this one time to open up before consuming. Price wise at retail stores this is quite reasonable.

Price versus quality: 16/20.
Overall: 15/20.

If allowed time to open up potentially increase score by a point or two.

Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard 2010 Tasting

I attended a wine tasting held at a Hong Kong retailer recently. The wines tonight were from Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard's 2010 vintage. I won't spend time to discuss the history of the estate - to do that, please visit their website direct here.

First up the Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chenes 2010. Allen Meadows rated this 92. It has the quality and distinction one would expect from Volnay. Impressive red fruit with strength and well structured. This wine will go the distance. Price versus quality 17/20. Overall: 16/20.

Next the Pommard 1er Cru les Rugiens 2010. Allen Meadows rated this 93. I liked this - the upfront fruit one would expect from Pommard is evident. This is well made good structure again, piercing fruit of good quality. Price was, am very pleased too. Price versus quality 17/20. Overall 17/20.










On to the whites and first was the Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Grandes Montagnes 2010. Robert Parker rated 90 and Allen Meadows 91. High quality wine, minerality showing, pale yellow in colour. Very good price for this. Classic citrus flavor. Impressive. Price versus quality: 18/20. Overall: 17/20.

Next the Criots Batard Montrachet Grand Cru. Parker rated 95 and Allen Meadows 94. Lovely Criots on display here - golden colour with striking minerality that gives way to deep, satisfying mid length finish. Of course price wise this is among the top end of the price range for Burgundy whites but among peers of Criots Batard Montrachet, the price is actually very decent so comes highly recommended.

Price versus quality: 18/20 (as far as Criots-Batard Montrachet goes).
Price versus quality overall: 17/20
Overall: 17/20




Finally the Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru. This is beautiful. It is floral, and minerality, has balance and charm, lovely smooth mid length finish, darker golden yellow in colour. Again top end of price range but as far as Batard-Montrachet goes, entirely reasonable pricing.

Price versus quality: 18/20 (as far as Batard-Montrachet goes). Price versus quality overall: 17/20. Overall: 17/20.

White Burgundy Tasting Featuring Wines From Olivier Leflaive and Francois Carillon

We tasted a series of wonderful white wines recently at an event held by Corney & Barrow. Unfortunately no photos were taken so all the better for this blog to serve as a permanent record of the wonderful wines tasted that evening!

Olivier Leflaive 2009 Meursault. This wine is one of my personal favourites in terms of price to quality  it is a superb daily drinking white which just so happens to be of outstanding quality. This has minerality, pleasant acidity and is well structured with citrus tones - it is fresh and Meursault of this level at its best. Price to quality: 19/20. Overall: 19/20.

Olivier Leflaive 2009 Puligny-Montrachet. Good wine - floral, smooth and leaves a good impression. Price to quality: 17/20. Overall 17/20.

Domaine Leflaive 2010 Macon-Verze. This was an outstanding wine - it has just about all the best things one would expect and desire from white Burgundy with the added bonus of being exceptionally well priced. It is yellow gold, has classic minerality and is well made. The tasting notes state that this will age well as well. It is a no brainer. Price to quality: 19/20. Overall 18/20.

Chassagne-Montrachet Clos Saint-Jean 1er Cru Domaine Francois Carillon 2010. This was a pleasant surprise and again passes my price to quality ratio with flying colours. It is pale gold, creamy, soft and smooth finish with a light and pleasant acidity to it. Wonderful. Price to quality 18/20. Overall 18/20.

Burgundy Wine Dinner Review

We tasted a series of wines at a leading restaurant in Hong Kong which had a specially prepared dinner and Burgundy wine pairing menu. We thought we would give this a try. While it is certainly worthy of discussing in detail the pairing itself  - especially as the food was outstanding, we opted to stick with the wine reviews themselves. Here we go:

2006 Henry Boillot Puligny Montrachet 1er cru La Mouchere monopole. Citrus with  strong mineral on the nose. Very impressive. A lovely finish and mineral deep gold yellow and slight honey best wine of the night without doubt. 18/20

2004 Chandon de Briailles Corton Grand Cru. Deep cloudy yellow. Closed with no strong view nor impression either way mild and unexpressive finish slightly flat. 13/20

2008 Michel Niellon Chassagne Montrachet 1er cru Les Vergers. Lovely nose of exotic tropical fruit and passionfruit. Excellent. Deep yellow. Lovely finish. 16/20.

Chandon de Briailles 2007 Corton Grand Cru Clos du Roi. Beautiful perfumed rose like nose followed by cherry and red fruit. Deep red in colour. This has power and was exceptional were my first impressions. It did have a weak finish however the minerality and earthiness was certainly felt. Mid finish excellent nevertheless. 16/20.

2007 Pascal Lachaux Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras. Great floral rose nose followed by wet earth and minerality. Long red fruit finish. 16/20

Bruno Clair 2008 Tasting

We had a chance recently to taste a series of wonderful wines from Bruno Clair's 2008 range. The domaine was founded in 1979 and Bruno is descended from a long line of wine makers stretching back to the start of the 20th century.

We tasted four wines all from Bruno Clair's 2008 vintage.

In summary the best overall characterization of the wines are its wonderful nose backed by good structure, light acidity, and mid length finish. These will certainly improve with time.




1/ Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru.

This was my favourite of the night. A wonderful nose that grabs your attention comprising of lime, mineral, wet earth. This was fruit forward followed by light and long finish. Opened for a few hours prior to serving. Price versus quality: 17/20. Overall 17/20,

2/ Vosne Romanee Les Champs Perdrix. A lovely rose coloured wine with red fruit, cherry, chalky flavours and decent finish. Slight sourness - give this one time.

Price versus quality: 17/20. Overall 16/20 - needs time.

3/ Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos du Fonteny. This is a monopole.Classic upfront fruitiness such as expected from similar wines. Chalk, mineral, earthiness opens up to red fruit. Decent structure with good mid length balanced finish. Price versus quality 17/20. Overall 16/20.

4/ Bonnes Mares Grand Cru. Opened approx. 4 hours before tasting. Again impressive nose - slightly closed and not particularly penetrating but a good finish. Too early to rate this wine yet as needs time.

Collection Bellenum Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 1993

The wine hails from a wine collection I am paying closer and closer attention to from Nicolas Potel's Collection Bellenum collection of older vintage Burgundy wines. This one I tried was the Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 1993. I understand 600 bottles are available of which this is bottle 61.

In short, this is superb. It has the nose of freshness even today and although first impressions of taste appear to show it is reaching its age of 1993, that quickly gives way to freshness and minerality with slight honey like flavor with strong citrus overtones. Its structure has held and there is a decent length finish to this of mild acidity. What a wine and the collection's overall price point is very attractive given this quality. White Burgundy at this level at its very best.

Price versus quality 17/20

Overall 18/20

Burgundy Wine Review (BWR)

Louis Latour Meursault 1er Cru Goutte d'Or 2002

Louis Latour's Premier Cru Meursault Goutte d'Or or 'drops of gold' 2002 is in short a wine that exceeded my expectations. It is ripe and perfect to drink now. It has retained its minerality, structure, and has a nice gentle finish to it. Expect honey, light citrus, earth, and a touch of sweetness.

There is no need to wait - this is for drinking right now.

Price wise this is reasonable given the quality. Highly recommended.

Price versus quality:17/20

Overall: 17/20

Burgundy Wine Review (BWR).




To learn more about the wine visit: http://www.louislatour.com/pages/index.php?id_page=41&id_vin=76&millesime=2002