We recently drank a set of white and red Burgundies with a range of home-cooked foods. Some highlights and some disappointments:
2004 Vincent Dureuil-Janthial Bourgogne Aligote Cuvee Unique Non-Filtree. Smoke, powdery minerals, faint lemon peel and crisp red apple appear on the nose, and lead into a distinctively sour but bright fruit profile of tart apples and pear in the mouth. It has decent length and makes for a nice summer quaffer.
1996 Baron Thenard Montrachet. Very open nose of soft lemon cream and hay, though it is more complex than just those elements. This has good body on the palate, but is cut through with bright acidity. It is creamy-textured and holds together quite well in the mouth. Overall, it is quite approachable and a little more giving than a bottle sampled last year.
1995 Domaine Veronique MacMahon Auxey-Duresses Premier Cru. This has a bright, lilting nose of warm red fruits, soft cinnamon stick and crunchy autumn leaves. In the mouth, it is medium-bodied with a fairly sappy mouthfeel. It demonstrates good drive, and it is a wine that has acids that make the mouth water. Lots of cherry and raspberry fruit, no tannins and a very dry, crisp finish. It is more angular and bright than deep and rich, yet it is quite a pleasing companion at the dinner table.
1996 Louis Jadot Nuits St. Georges. The nose is immediately open, offering up dark cherry syrup, bark, spice, cola, and a note of gently turned earth that slowly subsides with air. In the mouth, it is medium-bodied and smoothly textured, with lots of sour cherries and spices. The acidity really comes on toward the back and pinches the palate a bit, carrying through to a bit of a prickly tangy finish. I’m not sure how much longer I would go with these, but it has offered good pleasure for a while now.
1996 Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot Rouge. Beguiling aromas of dark cherries, root beer, bark, leather and all kinds of spice box elements are on display here. In the mouth, it has a tangy, bright and juicy personality, with cranberry, red currant and cherry flavors cascading over some darker savory elements. The finish is bright and high-toned, and makes a lovely pairing with our duck dinner. Very pretty now, but probably not worth aging much longer.
2002 Vincent Dureuil-Janthial Nuits St. Georges Clos des Argillieres Vielles Vignes. Dark ruby color. On the nose, it shares very little in common with the previous wines. There is a strong white pepper note on the nose to accompany scents of star anise, moss and wild dark berries. It is fuller-bodied by far, with plenty of fine tannins, bold wild berry fruit, cherry liqueur and a certain stemminess. This needs time.
1996 Domaine Robert Arnoux Romanee St. Vivant. This wine has a promising and moderately exotic nose, with pine, forest floor, deep dark cherry, persimmon and faint leather. However, it is a lot more basic and ungiving in the mouth with chunky, gripping, drying tannins to contend with. There is some quiet mixed berry fruit and fair doses of bitter woodiness, earth and mushroom flavors. It is not delivering much of a cohesive package at this stage of the game. It is safe to say that I was disappointed, but it is likely to be said it was opened too young. Live and learn.
-Michael