2005 Domaine de Roally Viré Clessé 13.5%
Kids' rock collection minerals and garden variety white flowers. Chunky mouth feel, garnished with overripe, cloying sweetness that overwhelms the timid acidity. Marcia found some wood, I didn't. Very similar to the overripe 2004 tasted last week, except even riper. Similarly disappointing, compared to the 2002 Bongran Viré Clessé (made by Gauthier’s father, Jean Thévenet) from the week before.
At some point in my underdevelopment I was into treacle and this style of white Burgundy, most ably represented by Jean Thèvenet (Domaine de Bongran), but also by his son Gauthier (Domaine de la Roally) and Catherine and Claude Maréchal in the Côte d'Or (Claude apprenticed with Jean Thèvenet). They all use some botrytized grapes in the final mix, adding crowd-pleasing lushness but reducing geek-pleasing acid. Since a recent reticent 02 from Dad was lovely but the 04s and 05s from both followers have been consistently too ripe, I wonder if it's a matter of a) vintage variation; b) time absorbing the cloying sweetness; or c) the imitation never being as good as the original.